The National Law Journal quoted McGuireWoods partner David Hirsch in a Sept. 25, 2026, article that examined how the growing number of whistleblower reward programs across the federal government is pushing companies to act quickly on possible misconduct. Those programs include the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s program and long-standing programs at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Hirsch is a member of McGuireWoods’ Securities Enforcement & Regulatory Counseling Practice Group and former chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. He told the NLJ that an inside source to corporate wrongdoing can “dramatically shorten” an investigation and lighten the work of government attorneys by providing background and pointing to where the evidence is.
“I’ve never seen a situation where the [SEC] looked at an enforcement recommendation negatively because there were whistleblowers involved,” he said.
Hirsch described the difficult balancing act companies face now that employees have more ways than ever to report misconduct. Companies don’t want to be seen as limiting employees’ rights to report wrongdoing, he said. At the same time, they want an open dialogue that encourages employees to bring problems to management first. Hirsch noted that most whistleblowers he worked with came forward because they were frustrated that their employer would not fix an ongoing problem on its own.
“Companies that work well with their employees and create a legitimate feeling of trust and that their concerns will be addressed have a much better chance of receiving those things internally rather than having people go up to the agencies directly,” said Hirsch.
He also spoke about the urgency companies face once they learn of a possible whistleblower. “It creates a ton of challenges and time pressure for the company,” he said. “Should we be self-reporting or do we have vulnerability? Is this somebody just disgruntled or is this a live issue that we should address?”