Congress often launches investigations to “soften” the battlefield in advance of legislative initiatives. Since the 111th Congress could be the most active in a generation, you could face more investigations and more testimony than at any time in your career.
Are you prepared? Many organizations think they are. But testifying before Congress is nothing like appearing in committees or courtrooms. Rules and due process simply don’t apply — and you could quickly find yourself and your interests in trouble.
What does it take to be ready? Better yet, how can you avoid becoming the focus of an investigation in the first place?
Register for Congressional Investigations and Testimony: Practical Strategies for Proactive Prevention, Damage Control and Success . The 90-minutes you invest in this audioconference could literally make the difference between promoting your agenda successfully and losing everything. Top GR attorneys map out steps to take now that will empower you to prepare executives to testify successfully and avoid becoming the focus of a congressional investigation. Plus, if Congress does call for answers, you’ll know best practices for managing the interaction.
You'll learn how to:
- Avoid investigations and hearings by understanding what triggers a congressional subpoena, document request, and request for testimony
- Negotiate the terms of a hearing and prevent escalation
- Reduce risks – and surprises -- by understanding committee powers and the tools congressional investigators use (e.g., interviews vs. depositions)
- Anticipate how to address the special challenges of oversight for Government contractors
- Keep any Congressional interaction from putting you at a disadvantage in other criminal or civil investigations by the Department of Justice or other agency investigations
- Deal with Congress’s position that it need not respect the attorney-client privilege when seeking documents
- Protect privileged information when investigators call for disclosure of documents that may damage you in civil lawsuits and other contexts
- Conduct an effective “murder board” to anticipate questions and practice your response
- Exploit pre-hearing interviews or depositions to gain an edge
- Deal with PR issues and the media impact — including dealing with leaks
Register now to do everything in your power to reduce your exposure — and risks — with the active 111th Congress.
Meet Your Training Team
Robert Kelner, Covington and Burling. Chair of Covington’s Election and Political Law Practice Group, Mr. Kelner was named by Washingtonian magazine as one of the "Top Lawyers" in Washington for election and political law His practice includes defense against government investigations, including white collar criminal and congressional investigations. Mr. Kelner regularly defends clients in investigations by the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. House & Senate Ethics Committees, the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, the House & Senate Judiciary Committees, the House Energy & Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, the Senate Finance Committee, and other Congressional committees, including the University of California and Los Alamos National Laboratory in long-running Congressional investigations of the world famous nuclear weapons lab and Freddie Mac in the FEC’s largest-ever investigation of a corporation.
Alan Pemberton, Covington and Burling. Chair of Covington’s Government Contracts Practise Group, Mr. Pemberton has practiced in the government contracts area since 1982, and his practice includes bid protest and other procurement litigation before GAO, agency boards of contract appeals, the federal courts and ADR tribunals. He advises contractors and grantees about the full range of government proposal, performance, compliance, regulatory, transactional and legislative issues.
Who Will Benefit
This session offers essential guidance for personnel in any organization which might become involved with a congressional investigation or request for testimony, including:
- Corporations — especially those in finance, real estate, defense and government contracting, automotive industry, or healthcare
- Lobbying firms, including law firms with lobbying arms serving clients in targeted areas
- Trade associations with corporate members in targeted areas
- Law firms with clients involved in government affairs