Internal Investigations

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Business, nonprofit, and government entities that suspect wrongdoing within their ranks have frequently turned to the attorneys at The Weinhardt Law Firm for help. In numerous cases, the Firm’s attorneys have conducted thorough and confidential investigations, ferreted out the facts, developed the applicable law, and reported the results to upper management or the board.

Where the results of the investigation suggest a need to communicate with law enforcement, the Firm’s attorneys work with federal or state law enforcement agencies to guide their clients through the government enforcement process and to assist the government when necessary.

While the Firm’s internal investigations for its clients are generally highly confidential, recent public examples demonstrates the Firm’s capabilities:

• In 2018 Govenor Kim Reynolds appointed The Weinhardt Law Firm to investigate allegations of sexual harassment committed by David Jamison, the recently-terminated Executive Director of the Iowa Finance Authority. After conducting a wide-arranging investigation, the Firm issued a report (available here) that concluded that Mr. Jamison not only engaged in the sexually harassing conduct that led to his termination by the Governor but that he engaged in more egregious conduct that had not previously been reported. The Firm also offered recommendations for improving reporting of inappropriate behavior in state government. In a press release following the publication of the report, Governor Reynolds said: “In his report, Mr. Weinhardt suggested that our policy should be clear when it comes to making harassment complaints against a director. We will immediately take up this issue and make that change.”

• In 2013, the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court appointed Mark Weinhardt as special counsel to the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee to investigate allegations that Senator Kent Sorenson violated Senate ethics rules in connection with the 2012 Iowa Presidential Caucuses. The Firm conducted an in-depth investigation and issued a report (available here) that found that Senator Sorenson violated ethics rules regarding by taking money to chair the campaign of Representative Michele Bachman. The Firm also the uncovered evidence suggesting Senator Sorenson committed similar violations by accepting money to jump to the Ron Paul for President campaign just days before the caucuses. Five hours after the Firm released its report to the public, Senator Sorenson resigned. Nearly a year later Mr. Sorenson pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance and obstruction of justice charges based in large part on the matters described in the Firm’s report.