Defining Pre-Legal Investigative Services
Pre-Legal Investigative Services is a general term for investigative services that precede any commencement of legal proceedings or the preparation to commence such proceedings. These services cover many types of private investigative services. The purpose of these investigatory services is to support and assist with a lawyer’s legal case in preparation for a lawsuit if possible. The objective is to develop evidence in order to support the underlying claim. In other words, the investigation is centered on uncovering facts or evidence that will tend to support the essential elements of a cause of action. To put it another way, the investigator looks to substantiate the facts of a legal theory or defense. An investigative finding at this point in the legal process may prevent a lawsuit. Findings may support a counter argument, defense , or preclusive argument. This type of investigation is common in insurance investigations, and can ultimately avert a lawsuit. Still, the purpose of pre-legal investigation is to eliminate the risk and uncertainty of a lawsuit. Of course, not all cases can be settled. However, Insurance investigators will often provide reports to the insurer and/or counsel setting forth the relevant facts. These reports seek to explain or assist in the analysis for known outcome or actuarial purposes. The investigative work product may include, but is not limited to: Overall, pre-legal service is for the purpose of assisting and supporting the ensuing attorney client relationship. This type of work product is usually under the domain of privilege, or generally exempt from disclosure. The purpose of this information is to add efficiency and/or potential lessen the discovery burden, or insure against it.
The Advantages of Pre-Legal Investigative Services
One of the primary benefits of pre-legal investigations is the time they save – for both attorneys and their clients. A private investigator can work on a case much more quickly than an attorney. Some background information needs to be gathered before the client can sit down with the lawyer to discuss the situation. Also, in some cases, like after an accident, the client is injured and probably not able to meet. In any case, the sooner you get started, the sooner your case will move forward.
Pre-legal investigations can also save you money. By hiring a private investigator to do some of the upfront work, including gathering evidence and talking to witnesses, clients can save money on a lawsuit down the road. In addition, the sooner you start investigating the evidence, the better the information will hold up in court. As time goes on, people forget details of what they saw or what they said. If they say something different, the judge or jury is likely to wonder if they are telling the whole truth. In addition, witnesses are harder to find over time.
Another benefit of a pre-legal investigation is that it allows the client to gauge the probability of success in a lawsuit. For example, if witnesses have a clear recollection and evidence is overwhelming that a defendant is in the wrong, the client may be more willing to settle out of court. If the investigation reveals that the client is the one at fault, this may be a valuable first step in devising a good legal strategy – even if no one else knows it yet.
Different Kinds of Pre-Legal Investigative Services
The broad scope of pre-legal investigations includes:
- Background Checks
- Asset Searches
- Witness and Subject Interviews
- Online Investigative Services
- Surveillance (performed by private detectives)
- Trial Preparation
- Testimony
- Deposition Services
- Process Serving
- Final Analysis
BACKGROUND CHECKS
The most common example of background services are criminal and civil checks. These services are often performed as a result of the pre-legal investigation a private detective is hired to perform for a client. This includes reviewing prior lawsuits against your business, vendor, or employee (in some cases). It is also one of the services utilized to make a decision on who to hire and who to fire.
Criminal investigations are utilized to make hiring decisions, as a part of a defense strategy, and in many other manners.
ASSET SEARCHES
An additional example of a service performed by a private detective is an asset search. This type of search is often performed for the purpose of determining what a person or entity owns. This is helpful for a number of reasons, including determining what to ask for in a lawsuit if the person is hiring you for a lawsuit.
WITNESS/SUBJECT INTERVIEWS
This would be a typical service offered by a private investigator. If a you were retained for a civil or criminal defense, it could involve locating and interviewing potential witnesses.
Online Investigative Services
Other types of online investigative services might be engaged in through various databases and other sources, including social media.
How to Select a Pre-Legal Investigative Service
A reliable and effective pre-legal investigative service provider is essential to the success of your case. When choosing an investigative service, there are a number of criteria to consider in order to ensure the highest possible chance of success. Here are just a few of the key factors for choosing an investigative service provider: It’s important that your investigative service provider has extensive experience in the field of pre-legal investigations and has a trial record as a litigation investigator. While your case may not go to trial, having an experienced attorney backing the investigative services will ensure that everything that needs to be done before trial is done properly from the beginning. This will help to ensure the success of your case. Expertise in trial and discovery matters for litigators is a key component of any pre-legal investigation. There are a number of legal issues involved with pre-legal matters that without the understanding and expertise of an experienced litigator handling the investigation, can spell disaster for your case. Using the latest and best technology in the field is a must when conducting pre-legal investigations. Technology is moving at breakneck speed and those who do not keep up with the latest tools available are doing a disservice to their clients. Technology should be a major component of a pre-legal investigation. Read customer testimonials and check with the Better Business Bureau regarding services rendered by an investigative service provider. Testimonial letters and feedback are a crucial component to understanding who the best service provider in the field is. Always check the Better Business Bureau record before working with an investigative services provider to see if there have been complaints lodged against them. It’s important to research and ask friends and family members if they know of a reliable pre-legal investigative services provider. Personal references are the best way to assure you who the best service provider in the field is. When you find the right one, you will have the peace of mind knowing you have put your case in the hands of the most capable professionals in the field.
Legal and Ethical Implications
As with all professional services, pre-legal investigations must not only be effective and efficient but also must be handled within legal and ethical guidelines. Consideration of these issues is vital to ensure that the information gathered will be admissible in Court or may otherwise be used to help achieve a fair resolution of a matter. This section will give a broad overview of the main legal and ethical guidelines to bear in mind when contracting for pre-legal investigative services.
The area of privacy law is important in both the USA and Canada. However, the way in which it is implemented is very different. In the USA, there is an expectation of heightened privacy particularly in the following locations:
This meant that, in many areas, the private investigator could obtain information by simply walking up to the person of interest and asking them questions. Only in the case of health information for uses such as trying to recover medical bills was there any type of regulation controlling what information could be obtained for legitimate purposes.
In Canada on the other hand there is a much more comprehensive approach to privacy. The Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act set out strict rules covering the use of personal information by organizations in the private sector. Amongst other things these acts compel organizations to be upfront about the reasons for collecting personal information and to obtain the consent of the subject before they may collect, use or disclose personal information. Nonetheless, there are exceptions to this for use of information for purposes such as fraud prevention and law enforcement purposes. In addition , some provincial legislation establishes a level of privacy protection for residents of that province who are receiving healthcare in a hospital or facility for outpatient care.
There is also the Criminal Code of Canada (RSC 1970) which lays out criminal penalties for invasion of privacy. These include the publication of material obtained by invasion of privacy including voyeurism and the interception, use and disclosure of private communications. However the scope of this is limited and does not extend to a person surreptitiously communicating, listening in on or recording telephone conversations when there is no intention of committing a crime.
Because of the complexity of the privacy laws and how they can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction across the different states and provinces it is recommended that clients seek legal advice in order to ensure that the information collected and the method employed complied with the law of the state or province in which the work was conducted. The laws of Ontario and Alberta are useful guides.
Privacy laws are not the only legal obstacle that may crop up during pre-legal investigations. In 2011, civil and criminal laws relating to trespass, unlawful assembly, causing a disturbance, criminal harassment and counselling an offence gave police considerable latitude in dispersing or arresting individuals believed to have broken these laws. These laws upon first glance may be obliquely related to pre-legal investigations however it is important to be aware of them and that one should not conduct oneself in a way which might give police the benefit of the doubt. There is also the issue of liability for companies and their employees for negligence in hiring a private investigator who conducts illegal activity or who simply makes mistakes which result in harm being done. In addition to this there is the issue of insurance coverage. The absence of insurance coverage can lead a company into financial risk if an employee is sued after engaging ‘thugs’ to infiltrate a target location or to gather evidence otherwise unlawfully.
Examples of Pre-Legal Investigative Successes
Real-life examples of pre-legal investigative services include these scenarios. A New Jersey commercial leasing company engaged us to locate a tenant for its vacant 10,000 square foot office space. The previous tenant had amassed an unpaid balance of $100,000 in back parking and rent fees owed to the owner of their office building. The foreboding rumor that they had no intention of paying it did not help. After consideration of the fee structure proposed by this tenant, which was paid in cash and in full, the decision was made to hire a pre-legal investigative firm to perform a background investigation on them, and a search of their business records. The tenant was subjected to fingerprints taken by the investigative firm, and the conducting of a search of public record information. We found the following: Because the potential tenant was clearly and categorically financially unsound, someone in the leasing department at the landlord company chose to refuse them as a tenant, and avoided the effort of undertaking eviction proceedings a few months down the road. A New York retail shop requested our assistance in obtaining vehicle information and locations for a number of vehicles. Some of the vehicles were in the possession of a former employee who was no longer employed or on payroll. The investigative firm used covert methods to ascertain the locations of these vehicles. We then coordinated with the R&D Department of a small investigation company in the city, and had them place a GPS device on the vehicles while they were parked unattended. This provided the client with the vital location information without endangering the asset of the retail shop, and also placed us in a position where we could give notice to the former employee that the shop would be taking action against them if they did not return the vehicles. They soon returned them voluntarily. An independent industrial truck dealer in Ohio contacted us to obtain the financial information of the principals of a small delivery service. The delivery service had financed a small fleet of trucks with the client company. They were behind on their payments, and the client wanted to know if they still had the ability to continue making payments at all. At that point, they could either refinance or skip the cost of repossession altogether. The client application had stated that the principals of the delivery service had excellent credit ratings, and had shown them to be forthcoming about their financial history. The investigative firm conducted delicate interviews of all the principals of the delivery service, and found that two of them were in the process of filing for bankruptcy. We also found bank statements which showed large unexplained withdrawals from their accounts. The extra money had not been used to pay bills, but had instead been withdrawn in cash. We were able to alert the client in time to alert them of their suspicion. Instead of loaning the money or assets to the delivery service, the independent industrial truck dealer was able to sell these assets to another buyer outside of the delivery service, and one where they would be safe.
The Evolution of Pre-Legal Investigative Services
As we transition into an increasingly connected world, the prevalence and variety of data sources will continue to scale exponentially. Every individual leaves behind a digital footprint. From social media profiles to geolocation tagging, the personal details that are meticulously cataloged by social media platforms, before ultimately being mined and sold to the highest bidder, can be the most useful and insightful information obtainable, with regard to pre-legal investigations. When you think about pre-legal investigations targeting defendants, you think about background checks in the form of civil and criminal record searches, but in 2019 and beyond, focused employment and social media investigations will become the norm . When you think about pre-legal investigations targeting witnesses, you think about criminal record searches; however, in the near future, focused employment, social media and other background searches will be ubiquitous, and will take the place of traditional criminal searches, as the dominant form of witness vetting. Simultaneously, the availability of bigger, better and more accurate data datasets on which to base background searches, will create more difficult hurdles for pre-legal investigators to overcome. As a result, the personal services that only an experienced and professional pre-legal investigator can deliver, will continue to eclipse increasingly commoditized off-the-shelf search products.