Overview
Audit committees face a specific legal and governance challenge when they commission an independent investigation: they need counsel who is genuinely independent of management, capable of producing a factual record that outside auditors and regulators will accept, and experienced enough to recognize when findings require immediate disclosure or government notification.
Michael Garcia has represented audit committees of publicly traded U.S. and European companies in multiple internal investigations across Latin America, including matters that required coordination with outside auditors on restatements and SEC disclosure obligations. His CPA-level accounting knowledge is a practical advantage in every audit committee representation, allowing him to engage directly with the quantitative dimensions of accounting fraud investigations that most lawyers must outsource to forensic accountants.
The firm's audit committee practice is structured to maintain strict independence from any existing relationship with management or the company's outside counsel. We report to the audit committee directly and communicate with outside auditors, regulators, and disclosure counsel based solely on the committee's instructions.
Our Approach
Audit committee investigations require a parallel track: the legal investigation (document review, witness interviews, legal analysis) and the financial investigation (forensic accounting, restatement quantification, internal controls assessment). We run both tracks simultaneously, with the financial analysis informing the legal findings rather than following them.
Outside auditors have their own obligations and timelines. The investigation must be designed from the outset to produce findings in a format and on a timeline that allows the auditors to complete their work, and to preserve the attorney-client privilege over legal analysis while cooperating fully on the factual record.
