Lawyer Monthly Magazine - August 2019 Edition

reporting as safe and as easy as possible, but an employee does not have to take this route and they will maintain legal protection against retaliation by their employer. No general counsel wants to be first told about an alleged crime at their company by a news reporter. Not least of all because, if a journalist calls, there is a good chance that it has already been reported to the authorities. But even if organisations cannot prevent public allegations of whistleblowing, there are steps they can take to ensure any damage to their reputation is limited in the process. Given many firms will now be looking at how they can improve mechanisms to support internal whistleblowing, they would also be wise to put in place robust plans for when an allegation is made in public. The biggest part of this is having the right team. In our experience, organisations are better placed to positively handle whistleblowing allegations when they have people around them who have seen both sides of the equation: people who have advised companies on how to resolve such an incident but who have also supported whistleblowers themselves. That means having a team of internal and external lawyers on standby, as well as the supporting IT and communication experts who can help manage the fallout when the story goes public. Whistleblowing remains a contentious and varied issue across the globe, with states falling into two camps when it comes to dealing with the issue: protect whistleblowers or reward them. The picture in Europe remains seas apart fromthat of theUnited States, where the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) can award individuals a significant proportion of funds recovered as a result of whistleblowing. The SEC has awarded more than $320 million to 57 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012, including a record-breaking $39 million to a single whistleblower in September 2018. It would be a mistake to think that the new rules will make whistleblowing easy. Anyone who has worked with whistleblowers can testify to the courage it takes to expose misconduct, and to the professional and personal turmoil involved from which many whistleblowers, sadly, never recover. The decision to report wrongdoing is never taken lightly. There is no question that, as EU states implement extensive new rules to protect whistleblowers, companies also need to make sure they have the teams in place to manage serious allegations and protect their reputation, wherever an allegation is first aired. LM ABOUT MATT BELL Matt’s fascinating route into communications began at the sharp end of under- standing public opinion and sentiment. He began by running poll- ing and focus groups around highly sensitive are- as of corporate reputation, public engagement and policy at one of the UK’s leading polling firms. From there he moved into international strategic communications, using his insights to advise corporate and Government clients in environments typically in- volving a high degree of political, regulatory and le- gal scrutiny. He has brought to the Pagefield Global team ex- perience of advising on complex matters such as inter-state diplomatic dis- putes, restructuring issues, preventing the expropria- tion of company assets, political branding and po- litical and media engage- ment for companies and not-for-profit organisations. ABOUT PAGEFIELD GLOBAL Pagefield Global are a driving force in changing howbusinesses and lawyers approach legal disputes. They support their clients through disputes to help deliver the best outcome, and ensure that when the dispute is over, their clients move on from the strongest position possible. 27 AUG 2019 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM Special Feature Written By Matt Bell, Pagefield Global