Giving clients a dawn raid response app that keeps critical guidance close at hand

During a dawn raid, a company must balance the competing objectives of cooperating with the authority while protecting its rights of defence.

BCLP identified several areas of concern in the existing handling and knowledge of dawn raids in UK businesses. These relate to staff, reference materials, computer access and efficiency in responding to dawn raids.

• Staff are not always aware of the procedures to follow, particularly front line or reception staff who are the first to greet the authorities.
• Not all staff who receive training for managing a dawn raid can remember all of the steps they must follow.
• Guides, checklists and background information tend to exist as paper documents in cumbersome folders that are difficult to reference in the event of a dawn raid.
• Access to computers is sometimes prohibited during a raid, restricting time critical flow of information to the business.
• Businesses often lack efficient processes in place to ensure they are ready to respond as soon as the raid has finished. This includes effective recording of key information to help the firm prepare their response and timely alerts for key stakeholders.

Responding to this need, BCLP’s Litigation and Corporate Risk team created a Dawn Raid First Response App for front line staff, which includes:

• Detailed guidance and checklists to follow before, during and after a raid.
• Directory of BCLP experts to contact at each step of a dawn raid.
• Pre-populated email templates that can be sent to BCLP and the wider company with minimal effort during a raid.
• Forms for easy submission of key information to help prepare the firm’s response.
• Overview of inspection powers of key UK and EU regulators.
• Secure single sign-on login access.
• The latest relevant legal updates.

BCLP delivered the app as part of the broader Dawn Raid training and preparation service. The app is the perfect ongoing reference material as it is always up to date and easily available on smartphone, tablet and computer.

The primary benefits of the app for BCLP’s clients are:

• Information in an accessible and concise format that they can use in a stressful situation.
• Easy access to all of the tools to be fully prepared in the event of a dawn raid.
• Comfort in the knowledge that all the information and guidance is always up to date.
• Secure access on mobile, tablet or computer, in the event that some device usage is restricted.

The key benefits of the app for BCLP are:

• Delivering a higher value dawn raid proposition to clients.
• Increased interaction between clients and BCLP’s Dawn Raid response team.
• Reducing risk of out of date content with the ability to easily update and improve information, guidelines and key contact details.
• The app helps to differentiate their training offering and Dawn Raid support.