Global Investigations Playbook and System Implementation
Swiftwater designed the global investigations operating model and playbook for an American-Asian global technology company and built a proprietary tool within Onit to deploy it globally, giving the department one set of stages, roles, and decision points across jurisdictions while preserving local legal requirements.
At a glance
- Service
- Investigations operating model, playbook, and a proprietary Onit tool
- Scope
- Global legal department across multiple jurisdictions and investigation types
- Outcome
- One global framework with managed local variation, deployed globally; greater consistency, visibility, and governance
What the problem looked like
Leadership wanted stronger, more consistent management of investigations and litigation. Processes differed by region.
Confidentiality, employment, and regulatory constraints differed by jurisdiction, and leadership had limited visibility of what was open, where, and at what stage.
What Swiftwater did
Assessment and operating model
Swiftwater assessed the existing investigations processes and designed a global investigations operating model.
Playbook
The playbook defined investigation stages, roles, and decision points; matter intake and triage; and workflow and approval design.
A proprietary tool within Onit
Swiftwater built a proprietary tool within Onit to deploy the process globally. Investigations were tracked alongside other legal matters, with management reporting for leadership.
Global framework, local flexibility
The model was deliberately flexible. Local legal requirements, regional practices, investigation type, confidentiality restrictions, employment considerations, and regulatory obligations were handled as documented variations inside one framework.
What changed
- One process deployed globally through a proprietary tool built within Onit.
- Consistent stages, roles, and decision points across jurisdictions.
- Leadership visibility into open investigations by region, type, and stage.
- Governance over a highly sensitive area of legal work.
See also risk and compliance solutions.
Best for
- Multinational departments handling investigations in several jurisdictions
- Compliance and employment teams that share intake with Legal
- Departments that want investigations tracked in the same platform as matters
Frequently asked questions
What belongs in a global investigations playbook?
Stages, roles, decision points, intake and triage criteria, workflow and approvals by investigation type, reporting requirements, and the documented local variations for each jurisdiction.
How do you keep an investigations process consistent across jurisdictions?
By fixing the framework globally and treating jurisdictional differences as explicit, documented variations inside that one framework.
Can investigations be managed in an ELM platform?
Yes. For this client, investigations ran in Onit alongside other matters through a proprietary tool Swiftwater built within the platform, with their own intake, workflow, confidentiality controls, and reporting.
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