Internal Investigations

On February 1, 2019, Hans-Joachim Fritz, partner in the Frankfurt office, gave a lecture at the University of Regensburg as part of its new LL.M. Compliance program. Focusing on the topic of "Internal Investigations," he addressed the fundamental problems of gaining knowledge, especially in the case of interviewing company employees. In doing so, he critically considered the question of whether and to what extent employees have the right to refuse to make a statement in these interviews, which are frequently performed by external service providers on behalf of management, in order not to incriminate themselves. In addition, he discussed the possibility of confiscating corresponding survey protocols, which have recently been the subject of court decisions and are the subject of controversial discussion. The subsequent workshop focused on case studies with role play in which the participants were able to experience the special features of a personnel survey for themselves on the basis of a fictitious case. They learned various questioning and interviewing techniques as well as the possibility of verifying the truth of the statements made.