Sidley is frequently engaged to help organizations proactively identify and mitigate risks before they materialize into crisis scenarios. Drawing upon our experience in highly regulated and high profile industries, our Corporate Risk Management and Critical Matters team crafts diagnostic risk assessments that efficiently detect and address threats to clients’ operations, strategies, and reputations to circumvent current issues, latent liabilities, and emerging transactional, enforcement, and litigation challenges. We work closely with management throughout our collaborative diagnostic review process to, ideally, prevent adverse events. Should a critical scenario arise, our team’s knowledge of clients’ businesses and risk profiles helps ensure implementation of prompt and holistic strategic action plans.
The best crisis is the one averted. Accordingly, Sidley’s Corporate Risk Management and Critical Matters practice team focuses first on risk mitigation. We conduct periodic risk assessments to ensure that the controls in place remain effective, guided by our understanding of our clients’ business and unique risk profile. These proactive reviews give management better assurance that their organizations are taking appropriate actions to address potential issues using a holistic approach.
Among other things, Sidley works with companies to manage risk by:
- Conducting diagnostic risk assessments
- Developing thorough plans that provide defined strategic and preventative actions to address identified risks and developing industry trends
- Working with companies to ensure that strategic and preventative actions are effectively and durably implemented (“effectiveness checks”)
- Supporting companies’ governmental reporting obligations
- Preparing plans and strategies to address critical scenarios that may arise in the future
“Strong interdisciplinary team fielding several former prosecutors with deep experience across the breadth of high-stakes enforcement issues faced by major corporations.”
Chambers USA 2021: Nationwide Corporate Crime & Investigations
An Insider’s Perspective
Our team includes former Department of Justice officials and prosecutors, senior government lawyers, and international enforcement and regulatory counsel. Leveraging Sidley’s global platform, our Corporate Risk Management and Critical Matters practice team is well positioned to provide seamless support to companies around the world.
The risks facing a company depend upon a host of factors, including industry, product, government enforcement, and regulatory regimes, and press and social media trends. Sidley’s expansive reach allows our lawyers to quickly deploy resources and help clients execute a consistent international strategy. With offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia, we are familiar with local laws across jurisdictions and can respond to urgent needs at a moment’s notice.
Critical Matters
If a critical event does strike, Sidley can mobilize a response that is swift and assertive yet careful and strategic. The Corporate Risk Management and Critical Matters practice team, complemented by other practice groups, can simultaneously operate and respond on multiple fronts, harmonizing critical company litigation, government investigations, customer inquiries, and public communications. Whether the situation involves financial issues, cybersecurity data breaches and network attacks, product recalls/serious quality events, an environmental or industrial situation, fast-breaking government criminal and civil investigations, or another evolving scenario, we help clients navigate critical challenges so they can focus on achieving their business objectives.
Among other things, Sidley’s roster of experienced lawyers can:
- Arrive quickly in order to help management scope the problem and plan initial legal and communications strategies
- Marshal key facts to develop company positions
- Initiate communications with appropriate governmental bodies to address concerns
- Develop communications plans for ongoing discussions with customers and the public
- Coordinate private litigation, governmental investigations, and legislative inquiries in multiple forums
- Provide support regarding briefings and updates to the board of directors
- Develop action plans to fully address issues and prevent future critical events
