"I want to keep this out of the hands of lawyers" is almost universally understood to mean "please do what I say so that I don't have to sue you, which is what I will do if you do not comply".
Maybe someday the response to this sort of threat will be "In the interests of sharing, I already passed on this information to your favorite class action law firm and the media. It's already in the hands of lawyers and your company is already being sued."
