2019 Corporate Investigations Survey

Investigations are an unfortunate fact of life for most corporations. To better understand this intricate landscape, H5 partnered with Above the Law to conduct a survey that would take a closer look at the principal actors involved in corporate investigations and their perception of the ways in which such matters are handled within their companies.

Find out what the pros think.

Survey Highlights below.

Download the full survey

Investigation Types and Triggers

Nearly half of respondents said their companies face more than 50 investigations annually, with 14% saying 250+

Most common investigation triggers

A private or public complaint by a consumer/employee/competitor (45%)

Routine internal audit (17%)

Proactive monitoring of network traffic to identify non-conforming behavior (14%)

A whistleblower action (12%)

An anonymous tip via hotline (7%)

A manager or Board member learns of impropriety or anomaly in business practice (5%)

0 %

Going up?

63% of those surveyed said investigations will increase over the next three years.

0 %

Proactive Data Monitoring

More than two-thirds of respondents (67%) said their companies monitor networks and data to identify potential wrongdoing.

0 %

ESI Collections

Nearly 60% of respondents said that for their number 1 ranked investigation type, more than 100GB of data is collected.

Primary Concerns

Cost of the investigation

Reputational damage to the business

Potential cost of damages or fines

Potential disruption to the business

Areas of spend

Where does the money go?

We asked respondents to select their 3 top areas of spend. 86% said Outside Counsel Costs, 59% said Analytics Technology, 53% said eDiscovery service provider costs.