When might legal investigations and inquiries be relevant?

When private companies, public authorities or organisations need to in-vestigate a matter or a course of events, legal investigations and inquiries may often be a relevant tool. For example, this may be the case if there is suspicion of an unlawful act, or if there is doubt as to whether legislation in a given area has been complied with, or perhaps whether there is a basis for a legal claim.

When a client is faced with such a situation, Norrbom Vinding can con-duct a legal investigation or inquiry that can contribute to uncovering the specific circumstances at the client and, thus, provide a solid decision-making basis for management.

Norrbom Vinding’s expertise and experience

For more than 25 years, we have conducted a large number of legal investigations and inquiries – especially in the field of labour and employment law in a broad sense but also focusing on other areas, such as public authorities’ liability for damages.

We therefore have unique capabilities in terms of organising and conducting an effective investigation process, and we also have the necessary expertise and experience in handling the various issues that may arise during such a process.

Some of the public legal investigations and inquiries we have conducted in recent years include:

• Legal investigation for the Municipality of Frederiksberg into the political and managerial responsibilities in the Family Department
• Legal investigation for the Danish National Girls’ Choir as well as a number of additional investigations into offensive behaviour (i.e. MeToo cases) and working environment within various sectors, including the media industry, political parties and organisations as well as sports federations
• Legal investigation for the Municipality of Albertslund into the Municipality’s possible liability for damages in relation to the so-called ”Rosenly case”
• Legal investigation into the tender process relating to the emergency department at Bispebjerg Hospital
• Legal investigations for the City of Copenhagen, including the ”whistleblower case” concerning the supportive housing facility Ringbo as well as the ”Arena case” on certain employees’ participation in various events
• Legal investigation for the Danish Ministry for Taxation in the so-called ”Helle Thorning Schmidt tax case” regarding the question of whether, based on the investigation, there were grounds for initiating an official inquiry into the conduct of two senior employees

How does a legal investigation or inquiry take place?

A legal investigation or inquiry will typically start with fact-finding, which will be followed by some form of legal assessment. For example, this could be an assessment of whether there is basis for taking employment-related steps based on the facts. Often legal investigations and inquiries will also include a forward-looking perspective in the form of specific recommendations on how the client can best protect themselves against similar cases.

When organising the process, we carefully consider the circumstances of the matter. This can range from the needs of the individuals involved and affected employees to the client’s need for communication – internally as well as externally.

Not two legal investigations or inquiries are the same, but typically an investigation process will have three phases:

01

Initial start-up phase where we organise the investigation process in the form of a process description and define the terms of reference. At the same time, we ensure that the process takes place in accordance with the data protection rules and the guidance on legal investigations and inquiries of the Danish Bar and Law Society. 

02

Conduct of the investigation where we review the relevant written material and, if necessary, perform interviews and prepare the written report outlining the conclusions of the investigation etc.

03

Final phase where we report on the findings of the investigation, typically with a discussion of whether the conclusions of the investigation give rise to any follow-up actions or measures.

Internal investigation processes

In some situations, where there is a need to investigate a matter or course of events, the client prefers to carry out the investigation themselves.

Such internal investigation processes, which have a number of overlaps with legal investigations and inquiries, can prove difficult to navigate and the client may therefore need assistance along the way.

Over the years, Norrbom Vinding has assisted companies, authorities and organisations in handling multiple internal investigation processes, thus contributing to ensuring that such processes were performed properly and efficiently.

Norrbom Vinding’s team for legal investigations and inquiries and investigations of a similar nature

If you would like to discuss the possibility of commencing a legal investigation or inquiry, or an investigation process of a similar nature, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact one of the members of the team:

Partner Jørgen Vinding, Partner Elsebeth Aaes-Jørgensen, Partner Søren Skjerbek or Partner Rasmus Linding.