What to do if illegal activity occurs in your organization with Gunster Law Firm’s Jonathan Osborne

Our episode guest is Jonathan Osborne, business shareholder and co-chair of White Collar Defense and Investigations with Gunster law firm. Jonathan  tells what to do after alleged or confirmed illegal activity in your organization.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:

The first step you need to take when you are aware of the investigationThe difference between a subpoena and a search warrant and what you're allowed to knowThe rights whistleblowers have with your company after communicating an issue with the governmentWhat companies can do to establish communication with employees so they bring up the issue before taking it to the government What you can do with client privilege during an ongoing investigation

Quotables

“The first call you make is to your trusted legal adviser, whether that's in-house counsel or outside counsel. Even if they're not a criminal attorney or have any experience with these matters, they know through a referral network or just their training and otherwise, their network, to be able to quickly get somebody available.”  — @JonathanOsborne“Having a really robust compliance program that includes training, either from your in-house attorney's team or a compliance team or external counsel and compliance professionals, is key.” — @JonathanOsborne“However, it is important in that moment for everyone that's in that premises to know that they still have their constitutional rights, which include the right to remain silent. They don't have to speak with the agents without an attorney present.” — @JonathanOsborne“The first thing that, you know, even if the government isn't willing to provide any information, is that there's a serious problem at your business.” — @JonathanOsborne

About Jonathan Osborne

Jonathan K. Osborne began his practice at Gunster and later returned to the firm after serving in the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida.

Guest’s contact info and resources:

Jonathan Osborne's LinkedIn Jonathan Osborne's Bio & Contact Info 

Additional resources:

Gunster Law Firm's WebsiteManaging Public Relations in a Crisis e-bookCrisis Management Webinar Axia's Crisis Management Services 3 Key Ways to Use Social Media for Crisis CommunicationsWhat to Do After a CrisisDefining a Corporate CrisisSupport the show On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands. On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.