No matter your stance on them as a whole, whistleblowers are an important part of holding various agencies, businesses, and other entities accountable. Of course, being a whistleblower is also highly risky, even if you have not been able to say anything yet openly.
Blowing the whistle on something that needs to be punished or rectified can often be a frightening experience, putting you under a huge amount of mental and social pressure. For this reason, it is often important to have protection, even if you have not spoken out about anybody.
A whistleblower attorney is exactly the type of person – or, in most cases, business – that you need for this sort of protection.
What Does A Whistleblower Attorney Do?
A whistleblower attorney is somebody who is specifically hired to represent an individual who has either spoken out or is considering speaking out against some form of abuse or malpractice. In other words, they are the protection for a whistleblower.
Whistleblowing can be an inherently risky move, especially if you are blowing the whistle on a business or agency with much reach and influence. One of the most obvious is groups like the CIA, which exist as powerful federal agencies and have a poor opinion of those leaking information.
A whistleblower attorney offers their client legal protection against those who might seek to harm them as a result of their decision to speak out. They must ensure that you are protected through every possible legal channel and receive safety measures like a hidden identity and protection against legal silencing.
A whistleblower’s biggest issue is that the agencies and businesses they might blow the whistle on can have a lot of sway, even while operating completely legally. By working with a fully-fledged attorney service that understands the surrounding laws, you can better protect yourself from any unfair risks.
How To Choose The Right Attorney For You
There are a lot of great attorneys who deal specifically with whistleblower cases. This makes it all the more important to choose wisely and carefully, ensuring that you have the right people working on your case. Specialized protection for whistleblowers is important because you are not always going to be faced with purely legal threats.
There are some times when whistleblowers will be targeted through illegal or dubiously legal means, and proper recourse against these can often be hard to achieve without an attorney.
You are very likely to face a lot of legal threats when you choose to blow the whistle on a business, agency, or any other entity. The first thing you should look for in a lawyer is that they are able to protect you from legal action
1) Consider Their Reputation
Many of the best attorney services tend to have a bit of a reputation already. Some are well known for their success with difficult cases, some are known for their tenacity, and some are just known for having a good track record.
This does not necessarily mean that a lesser-known service is not a good choice. Sometimes, the smaller firms are less well known precisely because they are good rather than due to a bad reputation.
That said, you should still have an idea of the reputation your prospective attorneys have. You do not want to commit to legal experts who are not equipped for your situation or who have an inconsistent track record of winning their cases.
2) Understand Their Process
Whistleblowing is stressful, so you want to work with experts that can break things down even slightly. As a whistleblower, you want to be in the loop of what is happening since you are the one at risk.
Look for lawyers who will communicate clearly with you and will not leave you in the dark. The whole point of whistleblower protection is so that you are never in a situation where you do not have the full details.
3) What Cases Have They Worked On Before?
A good attorney for your situation will have worked on similar cases to yours in the past. They may have even worked on a similar case involving the same organization, which means that they probably understand what silencing tactics (if any) the opposition may use.
You want an attorney who has a firm grasp on the ins and outs of the organizations and individuals that you will be exposing. A solid knowledge base is vital to making sure you are not putting yourself at additional risk.
4) Can They Keep You Safe?
Beyond all else, you need attorneys who can keep your identity hidden and your whistleblowing under wraps until the time is right. If a group like the CIA knows you are trying to expose their wrongdoings, it puts you in danger.
The point of whistleblower protection is so that your safety is not threatened. If you end up exposed before you are ready, then your lawyer can keep you safe, but it becomes a lot harder to make the whistleblowing actually meaningful in the end.
In this case, choose an attorney who will be able to keep you off of any radars. A good attorney will know how to protect their clients through every legal option available and will have the common sense to avoid leaking their identity by accident.
5) Look At Their Past Experience
In general, it is important to look at their past work and their overall success rate as a legal service. For example, using a CIA whistleblower attorney from Oberheiden P.C. is a good choice since multiple whistleblowers have used an Oberheiden P.C. whistleblower attorney for CIA whistleblowing and exposing.
This is a sign that Oberheiden P.C. knows how to protect whistleblowers and that the whistleblower attorneys there have the tools and knowledge required to keep their clients safe. This might seem like common sense, but it is easy to overlook if you are not paying attention.
Always make sure that your potential whistleblower attorney is experienced enough and qualified enough to represent you and your concerns. Whistleblower protection can be complicated, and you need the right experts if you are going to have a good chance of staying safe.
