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Selecting And Utilizing A Private Investigator In Your Law Practice
By: Michael J. West and Claude Bookout |
Introduction
One of the significant decisions an attorney makes during his/her career is how to choose and utilize a private investigator. A good investigator can often be the difference between a favorable and profitable or a dismal outcome. The major point we will make here is to NOT limit your thought process, but you should open up to options that you might never have thought about before. As experienced private investigators and owners of licensed private investigative agencies, we will attempt to provide not only advice on how to select a qualified investigator, but also how to ensure that they are reliable and be able to use that insight to expand your business. Unfortunately, developing business practices and marketing are not subjects that are emphasized in law school. Most of that is learned through the school of experience. If there was one principal guideline that we'd offer when it comes to selecting an investigator, we strongly suggest that you not delegate this process to any subordinate or any individual that isn't a decision maker in your litigation or trial process or to anyone who has little or no experience conducting research or dealing in government bureaucracy.First of all, we'd like to ask how many of you would be interested if you can free up an hour or two per day so that you could use that time to bring in a new client? Maybe your practice is enough that you don't want to add more clients but you might want to take that extra time per day and use it to be with your spouse and family. Maybe you need to spend an hour marketing your practice so that more people will know what services you provide. Or maybe you don't want any of the options above; and you want to use some of that time out on the golf course, yet you want to continue to have at least the same standard as you have right now.
How many of you have been in situations where you needed to find someone that was important to one of your cases, but you only had a short period of time to locate them? How many of you feel you are particularly well qualified to do this? How many of you feel that you might not have asked all the questions you need to during an interview or that you need to reinterview people a second or third time to get facts that you should have developed during the first interview? Have you ever attended a professional interviewing or interrogations course? Are you comfortable with interviewing someone that might be a witness that could corroborate your case but they just weren't being cooperative? Would the study of kinesics have been of value to you? Are you trained in the detection of deception; or better yet, are you comfortable in that role? How many of you have the time, energy and resources to learn the proper way to conduct complex interviews of a variety of subjects, including fraud, death investigations, elder abuse, computer crimes, email tracing, pedophilia and the like? Unfortunately we have seen many transcripts of depositions that could have been improved upon with the help of someone that has experience in that area.
How many of you are Certified Fraud Examiners who know the subtleties of fraudulent activities and how to defend against them? How many of you are experts at evaluating law enforcement agencies and evaluating their investigative practices? Do you simply rely on your basic skills when you run across a police agency that you suspect hasn't been following their own internal procedures and their actions might have adversely affected your client?
Do you know where to go to find out about all these things?
One of the biggest barriers that we encounter is overcoming the misconception that many people have about what a private investigator does. We don't all lurk around trying to find what husband or wife is cheating on each other or what boyfriend or girlfriend is cheating on each other. As a matter of fact, some investigators don't advertise that they handle domestic cases. That's not to say that they don't. They are just not interested in getting in between adults that are having relationship problems. If the couple has gotten past that stage and has engaged an attorney or has filed a petition for divorce, then that's a different story. Modernday investigators do not reflect Hollywood characters such as Sam Spade or Matlock and there are numerous television programs that just love to catch cheating lovers. Chances are the next time you are sitting in a restaurant enjoying a nice meal and good conversation, there could be some type of investigator within "earsreach" of you or observing someone close by. In order to remain inconspicuous, private detectives always dress accordingly and use props that enable them to blend in with their surroundings. A good detective will have the ability to quickly adapt to a specific environment, or engage an associate who may be better suited for the task.
What Private Investigators Do
Michael J. West is a Certified Fraud Examiner, a Certified Law Enforcement Instructor and an experienced legal investigator in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. With 33 years of investigative experience, Mr. West has worked with commercial firms, local, state and federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General's Office, the US Attorney, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and others. He is considered an expert at evaluating the investigative practices of investigative agencies.
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