Companies under criminal investigation may — subject to conditions — retain counsel for their employees who are also targets or may become witnesses, the New Jersey Supreme Court held on Monday.
The decision, in In the Matter of the State Grand Jury Investigation, A-80-08, puts the court’s imprimatur on an Illinois company’s provision of a list of preapproved attorneys that employees could retain free of charge. As long as the employer does nothing to interfere with the lawyers’ representation of those employees, the retainers comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct.
