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Regulatory Inquiry Response Template

Three documents and three sheets that map each numbered specification to what was produced and the scope position taken on it.

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What you get

Pack of 6 files: 3 documents, 3 spreadsheets

Regulatory Inquiry Response Template
  • Response LetterDocument
  • Internal BriefDocument
  • Privilege and Scope NoteDocument
  • Request to Document MapSpreadsheet
  • Production LogSpreadsheet
  • Deadline TrackerSpreadsheet
RiverRegulatory Inquiry Response Template

Request to Document Map  ·  Halvern Foods Co.  ·  FTC CID 2026-CID-0417

Two specifications both show real documents produced. Only one of them needed a full certification.

The scope position, not the document count, is what the sworn certificate is actually certifying.

SpecScope PositionDocs ProducedCertification
14Complied as issued212Certified complete
3Privilege withheld156Certified for non-privileged material only
20Quashed in full0No certification required

24 specifications, 4 scope positions, 1 sworn certificate that has to match every row

Specification 20's zero documents is not a gap. It is the correct result of a granted petition, and the map is what tells a reader that on sight instead of leaving a zero indistinguishable from a specification nobody actually searched.

Most templates for responding to a regulatory inquiry are a project-plan checklist: assign an owner, set a legal hold, track the return date on the calendar. None of them record the one fact that actually matters if the response is later called incomplete, the specific position taken on each numbered specification in the letter or demand, and exactly what was produced against it. A generic checklist proves the company did something. It does not prove what was decided about specification 14 specifically, or why specification 20 shows zero documents produced.

The deadlines behind that record are specific and unforgiving. A recipient of an FTC civil investigative demand must meet and confer with staff within 14 days of service, under 16 C.F.R. § 2.7(k). A petition to limit or quash is due within 20 days, under 16 C.F.R. § 2.10, and it stays the compliance clock only for the specifications actually challenged, not the whole demand. The production itself must carry a sworn certificate of completeness.

Applied to Halvern Foods Co.'s 24-specification CID, 15 specifications are complied with as issued and 2 are narrowed by agreement. Two more are narrowed or quashed by a Commission ruling, and 5 are produced in part with 47 documents withheld on privilege grounds. Three productions total 4,032 documents on one contiguous Bates range. Fourteen months later, staff asks about specification 14 by number, and the map already shows 212 records on a specific Bates range, the same mapping habit a wider compliance program runs on.

Every specification's scope position, the dates that drove it, and the withheld-document log behind five of them

The Request to Document Map, the deadline math behind it, and the privilege log five specifications actually needed.

Regulatory Inquiry Response Template
RiverDocument Map

Request to Document Map (excerpt)

8 of the CID's 24 specifications, spanning all four scope positions.

SpecScope PositionDocsBates Range
1Complied as issued210HALV-000001–000210
6Narrowed (meet-and-confer)187HALV-000767–000953
14Complied as issued212HALV-002009–002220
19Narrowed by ruling134HALV-003899–004032
20Quashed in full0None produced

15 complied, 2 narrowed by agreement, 2 by ruling, 5 privilege-withheld

All 24 rows sum to exactly 4,032 documents produced. A specification missing from this map is the one a follow-up letter will find first.

RiverDeadline Math

Every deadline computed from one date of service

Service: Feb 3, 2026. Every date below is computed forward from that single anchor, not looked up separately.

DeadlineRuleDateStatus
Meet-and-confer16 CFR 2.7(k), 14 daysFeb 17Held Feb 11
Petition to quash16 CFR 2.10(a), 20 daysFeb 23Filed Feb 20
Commission ruling16 CFR 2.10(c), 40 daysApr 1Issued Mar 25

The stay only ever covered 2 of the 24 specifications

The other 22 specifications' return date never moved. A tracker that pauses the whole matter because one petition is pending would have missed the March 5 production entirely.

RiverPrivilege Log

Privilege log: 47 documents across 5 specifications

Logged the same day each document was pulled from the production set, the contemporaneous record Fed. R. Evid. 502(b) asks for.

SpecSubjectWithheld
3Outside counsel's labeling review12
12In-house counsel's review notes14
17CEO-to-counsel communications6

9.4 documents withheld per specification, on average, across the 5 privilege-reviewed rows

Every withheld document still has a row. Nothing simply disappears from the count between what was requested and what was either produced or logged as withheld.

What's in the pack

01

Response Letter

The regulator-facing summary, grouped by scope position, complied with, narrowed, challenged, or withheld, cross-referenced to the map underneath it.

02

Internal Brief

The plain-language summary for the executive team and board: what triggered the inquiry, current status, and who decided what.

03

Privilege and Scope Note

The contemporaneous record behind every specification narrowed, challenged, or withheld, logged the way Fed. R. Evid. 502(b) protects it.

04

Request to Document Map

One row per numbered specification: its scope position, its document count and Bates range, and the certification note behind it.

05

Production Log

Every production round logged by date, specifications covered, document count, and Bates range, reconciled against the map.

06

Deadline Tracker

Every procedural deadline computed as an actual date from the date of service, not left as a day count.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Open in River, or take it blank

    Open the pack in River and send the inquiry letter or demand, or download the Word documents and CSV sheets from the template library and build the map yourself.

  2. 2

    Build the Request to Document Map before collecting anything

    Every numbered specification gets a row, its plain-language summary and a scope position, before documents are gathered, so nothing gets decided by what happened to be found.

  3. 3

    Track every deadline from the date of service

    A meet-and-confer window, a petition deadline, a return date, each computed as an actual date, and logged as met on the day it actually happens.

  4. 4

    Log every production and draft the letter last

    Each production round ties its Bates range back to the map, and the Response Letter and Internal Brief both summarize a record that is already complete.

Frequently asked questions

Is this template free?

Yes, no account or card required. The download is Word documents and CSV sheets in a zip. Edit with AI is the second half: the agent builds the Request to Document Map from the inquiry letter itself, then tracks every deadline from the date of service.

What am I actually downloading?

Three Word documents and three CSV sheets, zipped. The sheets open in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets straight off the download, and the Response Letter, Privilege and Scope Note, and Internal Brief open in Word or Pages.

Why isn't a project checklist enough for a CID or similar inquiry?

A checklist proves the company assigned owners and tracked a return date. It does not record what was decided about any one numbered specification, complied with, narrowed, challenged, or withheld, which is exactly what a follow-up months later asks about, and what the sworn certificate of completeness is actually certifying.

Does filing a petition on one specification pause the whole demand?

No. A timely petition to limit or quash stays the compliance clock only for the specifications it actually challenges. Every other specification's original return date still applies, so a production covering the uncontested specifications still has to go out on schedule while the petition is pending.

What if the inquiry becomes a discovery request in litigation instead?

The scope-position logic carries over directly. The discovery response template answers each request for production the same way, tied to the objection stated and the Bates range that satisfies it, and the document review and privilege pack builds the withheld-document log a formal privilege log requires.

What if the inquiry surfaces conduct the company hasn't investigated internally yet?

Route that specification's underlying conduct to the internal investigation pack before certifying the response. Its Investigation Plan classifies every witness into a warning tier before the first interview, the same before-not-after discipline this pack applies to scope positions, and its findings often become the position taken here.

How does this fit with the other legal packs?

Regulatory change flags the new obligation; this pack responds once a regulator actually asks about it. A privacy-specific inquiry often routes through the dedicated privacy pack instead, since its rights-request and breach clocks need their own tracking rather than a specification-by-specification map.

Sources

  1. Cornell Law School16 CFR § 2.7 — Compulsory process in investigations (opens in a new tab)
  2. Cornell Law School16 CFR § 2.10 — Petitions to limit or quash Commission compulsory process (opens in a new tab)
  3. Cornell Law School15 U.S. Code § 57b-1 — Civil investigative demands (opens in a new tab)
  4. Cornell Law SchoolRule 502. Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product; Limitations on Waiver (opens in a new tab)

Written by

Chandler Supple

Co-founder & CEO, River

Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.

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Reviewed by

Brian Joseff, Co-founder, River

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Map every specification before the documents go out

Take the Word documents and CSV sheets blank, or open this exact pack in River and send the inquiry letter you received.

Edit with AI