Having Your own Attorney Could Help in Financial Crime Cases

When your company is being investigated for financial crimes, it is essential that you retain an attorney to represent your own best interest. Failure to do so could lead to severe consequences and potentially even prison. If a corporation is the subject of an SEC, FBI, or IRS criminal investigation, each member of the board and the CEO should hire their own counsel to advise them. This could become an expensive proposition for a company because each lawyer bills the client on an individual basis.

However, it is the only way to ensure that each individual is protected in their own right as opposed to simply hiring somebody who is looking out for the best interest of the corporation. They may be willing to sacrifice the chief financial officer or the chief operating officer to avoid having the corporation fined, driven out of business, or have its assets seized, so it is essential that each individual retain a lawyer to represent their own interests. If there are any questions about how an attorney could help in Michigan financial crime cases, each individual should remember that they have everything at stake and the company is in no way obligated to protect them.

Even if a person didn't want to hire their own lawyer, there is often no other way of proceeding. This is because there could be a serious potential conflict of interest issue that could arise internally from the lawyers bar association. The government may seek to address that issue and say, "Attorney A cannot represent the corporation and all the members of the board of directors because their interests are not mutually coextensive." Each one of those people needs their own counsel.

The court's opinion relative to how they perceive the role of the attorney may involve a belief that the attorney is trying to represent everybody when that is not in the best interest of each individual. At the beginning of a case, one attorney may represent the corporation, but as it becomes clear that the government wants to talk to and perhaps even target the CEO, the chief financial officer, the accountant, or other members of the board of directors, each of those people will be forced to make the choice for themselves. Even if not "conflicted out" it is always best that each person not rely on the corporate attorney and instead have their own counsel helping with their Michigan financial crime case.

In a federal financial crime case arising out of Michigan, one of the biggest ways an attorney can help is by zealously representing one individual party. When many lawyers represent different parties, they sometimes have a joint defense agreement where they decide to work together and share information among themselves as to the nature and scope of the investigation and try to present a united front. Often, the joint defense agreements break down and one person may withdraw from the agreement. Their attorney could withdraw from the agreement and that often creates bad blood with the other attorneys. The more common way to withdraw from the joint defense agreement is to get another lawyer who was never a party to the joint defense agreement to represent the person withdrawing from the agreement.

When the parties are engaged in the activity and were potentially aware of what was happening, the best approach is to present a united front via a joint defense agreement. When everyone has their own experienced lawyer, they can strategize on the best way to represent the case, understand where the government is going, and plan how to best defend the case.

One or two lawyers with little to no experience in the field may go off on their own in a way that damages their client, the other parties, and themselves because they are not fully cognizant of how best to defend the case. They choose to go in another direction they feel is the best way to go for their client. It is necessary for all the attorneys representing various members of the corporation and the corporation itself to present a united front if that is in the best interests of all parties. Presenting a knowledgeable and united front is one of the strongest ways how an attorney could help with Michigan financial crime cases. Call today to retain your own personal legal counsel.