You just received an SEC subpoena. It’s certainly natural to feel uh anxiety and
to panic, but it is critical that you first retain experienced SEC defense
council to advise you and protect your interests. It is in this early stage
where many individuals perhaps due to panic, perhaps due to fear and uncertainty
will do certain things that may make their situation a lot worse. For
example, you do not want to speak to SEC lawyers while unrepresented. Even innocent conversations
seemingly with the SEC can be dangerous because the SEC will use every word you convey to them potentially against you.
Additionally, you should preserve all documents. deleting, altering,
um, fabricating documents can take what is a containable SEC civil matter and
potentially convert it into a criminal matter by engaging in acts that could be viewed as obstruction of justice.
Furthermore, it’s also very important to remember that while it may feel good to
speak to your best friend or to a trusted colleague about the SEC investigation, that conversation is not
privileged and your friend or trusted advisor can be called as a witness to
testify about what you discussed. That also includes not putting things in
writing about the SEC investigation in emails, texts, or social media
communications because those too can be discovered during the investigation by
the SEC. So bottom line, if you’ve received an SEC subpoena, immediately
contact and retain counsel to ensure that your rights are protected, to ensure you do not make the situation
worse, and to increase the likelihood that your case can be successfully resolved.