Readers who are interested in Virginia A-G Cuccinelli's ongoing battle with Michael Mann and the University of Virginia will want to take a look at the Virginia Qui Tam Law blog, which is posting regularly on the legal ins and outs of the case. I found the following quote instructive.
...most lawyers representing targets of a [civil investigative demand (CID)] take advantage of the opportunity to try to convince the government that there has been no wrongdoing, and that the client has nothing to hide.
There are very good reasons for this, because this epic battle over this CID is much ado about nothing. Even if a target "wins" and the CID gets set aside, they haven't really won anything at all, because a CID is just a preliminary investigative tool......even if a party fighting a CID wins and successfully quashes the CID, guess what? They may not have to respond to the CID, but they have spent thousands and thousands of dollars, and the winning prize is normally a freshly-filed lawsuit by the OAG. And then, as soon as discovery begins in the case, the OAG will ask for exactly the same materials they requested in the CID. At that point, the defendant will have no choice but to produce the material.