Law360, New York ( May 11, 2015, 7:15 AM EDT) -- Companies under scrutiny by the government routinely conduct internal investigations. One of the key benefits of doing so, of course, is to position the company for leniency in the form of cooperation credit by uncovering the relevant facts and providing them to the investigating agency. Policies of both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission contemplate giving credit to companies that share information acquired through internal investigations. At the same time, however, sharing the fruits of an internal investigation with the government risks waiving the protections of the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine that generally cover materials prepared in the course of an investigation directed by company counsel. If sharing information with the government is deemed a waiver of these protections, then the investigative information is subject to discovery by private litigants and other third parties. As a result, the decision of whether to share information with the government should be carefully considered, and once the decision to share has been made, close thought should be given to the process for communicating this information to the government....