How to Act During a Search in the Office

“How to Act During a Search in the Office. A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Employees” is a manual by Borysenko & Partners law firm, 2026 edition, published in Ukrainian. We use it in closed training sessions for our clients’ staff, where we teach two things – not to be afraid of those conducting the search, and to act correctly during it.

The guide contains no filler and no mere quoting of laws. Instead, it offers specific algorithms for specific situations, sample dialogues with law enforcement officers and document templates that will be useful during a search.

Eleven rules of conduct during a search

1. Stay calm.
2. Insist that the search does not begin before your attorney arrives.
3. Keep silent, especially if nobody is asking you.
4. You do not have to answer every question.
5. Log out of all accounts and forget your passwords.
6. Do not let officers move freely around the office.
7. If someone tries to question or interrogate you.
8. Do not sign anything without an attorney.
9. Do not allow your personal belongings to be inspected.
10. If officers find your personal money.
11. Make sure everything seized is listed in the search record.

Sample dialogues and document templates

Eight sample dialogues cover the most common situations – from the question “Whose workstation is this?” to a demand to go to an interrogation immediately. The appendices contain templates of a motion to involve an attorney in the search, a summons for questioning and a search record, as well as the hotline numbers of law enforcement agencies.

Attorneys of Borysenko & Partners have defended businesses in more than 70 searches and 400 interrogations. If a search has already begun, call +38 050 930-00-25, and read how we work on the White-Collar Crime page. A short one-page memo is available on the How to Communicate with Law Enforcement Officers page.

Download the guide “How to Act During a Search in the Office” (PDF, 28 pages, 2.5 MB, in Ukrainian).