Jed I. Bergman and Cynthia M. Jordano summarize the key principles courts generally apply in deciding whether to permit Fifth Amendment adverse inferences in civil suits against corporate defendants.

Former special counsel Jack Smith did not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during eight hours of testimony Wednesday behind closed doors to the House Judiciary Committee, the panel’s chairman said.

Facing a far-reaching probe into the inner workings of Joe Biden’s White House, a growing number of his top aides are invoking the Fifth Amendment, underscoring how fraught their legal predicament has ...