Private investigators are the perfect multi-tool for law firms. The applications of their body of expertise could be endless from the onset of an investigation to the conclusion of legal proceedings. One typical area of difficulty is process serving. Hiring private investigators as process servers could be the answer to dislodging case progression
When it comes time to serve an individual with a legal summons to appear in court or before a judge, the powers that be elect to engage a process server—an independent party tasked with putting legal notification to appear in a person’s hands. This is to ensure that the person has been officially notified that their presence is required and therefore failure to appear lies directly at their feet. Whatever the cause for the summons, it is not uncommon for legal counsel on both sides to run into a roadblock when the subject of the summons suddenly disappears. Process servers may be trained to hand off these documents, but are they trained to find the subjects?
Private investigators as process servers may sound unconventional, but private investigators have the perfect skillsets to find subjects and deliver notices to appear in a clear, professional manner. Private investigators as professionals have a cultural reputation for shady surveillance tactics and documenting the movements of unfaithful spouses. It is these same skillsets that can also make them great process servers. Private investigators’ training and experience is diverse and can be applied to a myriad of investigation types, beginning with their access to licensed resources.
Through their licensure by the state, private investigators have access to verified databases on par with that of law enforcement. They can view a subject’s address history, criminal history, and a wealth of other personal information about a subject that can develop leads in finding out their whereabouts. It can also develop leads on their associates and friends, and other relevant witnesses who might have information about the subject. Private investigators spend years honing their interpersonal skills so that witnesses with relevant information will feel comfortable opening up to them and increase the chances of bringing about case resolution. This skill comes in handy when the subject of the summons is for whatever reason unwilling to be found. When subjects know that officers of the court will be requiring their presence, it’s not uncommon for them to make themselves unavailable. They purposely do not return to work or to their home address on record, because they know that process servers could have the place staked out, waiting to serve them with documents. After all, if you haven’t been officially served, you cannot be expected to appear in court. When this is the case, legal officials often require an extra professional edge to get the job done. With the assistance of verified databases and expert witness skills, private investigators can locate even the most slippery of subjects and serve them papers so the legal process can continue to move forward.
Hiring private investigators as processer servers is a good way to keep process serving efficient and professional. When you have a problem subject who needs to be served, hiring a private investigator to get the job done means you’re buying independent verification, as well as professional operations that can only serve the integrity of your business. If you’re a legal professional trying to serve a subject with papers, consider the services of Lauth Investigations International for your service needs. We have an overall 90% success rate in all of our casework, and we come with an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Call today at 317-951-1100, or visit us online at www.lauthinveststg.wpengine.com for more information.
When it comes to finding the truth in a corporate lawsuit investigation, attorneys might want to consider a private investigator to supplement their fact-finding. COVID-19 prevention and social distancing are continuing to affect the way employees and consumers imagine the workplace landscape. With many business-to-consumer operations remaining limited or shut down completely, more leadership and employees are finding the mental space to consider their jobs and the corporate culture of the companies they serve. This has led to a new wave of calls for accountability when it comes to toxic corporate culture and how it effects employees. This means more litigation between employer and employee over issues such as discrimination, harassment, nepotism, and hostile work environments. With many corporate attorneys facing a higher caseload, they have been searching for ways to mitigate the footwork involved with quality, comprehensive investigations.
Private investigators are the perfect multi-tool for attorneys looking to lighten the load while they focus on caselaw. Many attorneys use private investigators for precisely this reason, as their diverse experience gives them valuable insight into many types of investigations, including fraud, non-compete violations, violence and threat assessments, and white-collar crime. Such diverse experience means that private investigators are less likely to leave a lead unexplored, giving the investigation the full benefit of comprehension and transparency.
Private investigators have access to verified databases comparable to that of law enforcement to get the best cross-referenced intelligence on relevant subjects in a corporate lawsuit. Private investigators have access to the most intimate details of a person’s life and contextualize those details in the framework of the lawsuit. This intelligence is not limited to the opposition, however. Attorneys rely on a degree of trust in their contract with their client—meaning that the client is transparent with the attorney so they can anticipate factors that might complicate the lawsuit. Private investigators can run background checks on the client and persons related to them and attorneys can prepare for any unpleasant surprises lurking around the corner.
The same due diligence that private investigators apply to background checks can be applied to witness location and rapport. Attorneys can often find themselves at a loss because a crucial witness cannot be located to assist in the court proceedings. When attorneys utilize a private investigator for their corporate lawsuit investigation, they have access to comprehensive witness location services. Private investigators view background checks, identify individuals close to the witness, interview them, and develop a strategy for locating and contacting that witness. No attorney wants to subpoena a crucial witness, and sometimes it takes the Because private investigators are independent, have no powers of arrest, and no dog in the fight, witnesses in a corporate lawsuit investigation might be more willing to open up to them about relevant facts in the case.
Hiring a private investigator for corporate lawsuit investigation may seem counterintuitive. One of the greatest advantages of conducting an internal investigation is just that—it’s internal. Internal investigations allow the corporation to keep vital intelligence in-house and those stakes are often never higher than when a legal judgement is at stake. However, private investigators can deliver the same brand of due-diligence and discretion as any in-house corporate investigator.
When facing the judgement of a civil court, facts in evidence are often called into question and subjected to a high degree of scrutiny on behalf of the court. Attorneys must do their best to mitigate this scrutiny by providing mountains of documentation and full transparency to the court. Internal investigators are typically employed directly by the corporation or nonprofit, rather than contracted for their services. This means that they have an indirect stake in the outcome of that investigation, and their findings might be called into question by the court.
Even if the corporation’s legal representation is in-house, that does not mean the investigator must be. Because a private investigator is typically independent of any corporation or law firm, their findings are viewed as more objective by civil courts. In a corporate lawsuit investigation, corporate attorneys can reap the benefits of placing a private investigator on the case and then having them serve as an expert witness to the court, because their independence from implicit bias adds another layer of integrity to their testimony.
If you’re an attorney in search of a private investigator for your corporate lawsuit investigation, consider Lauth Investigations International as your multi-tool. Our private investigators are comprised of former military and law enforcement personnel with seasoned experience in intelligence-gathering operations. We provide detailed reports, expert recommendations, and are prepared to give expert testimony in civil court. We regularly received glowing recommendations from former clients and carry an outstanding A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. For more information on our attorney support services, please visit us online at lauthinveststg.wpengine.com.
