In the Big Country I am seeing more and more of this. There are P.I.’s out there who are making a business out of subcontracting investigative services. It is often disguised with phrases such as, “partners or part of our network” etc.
The primary problem with this approach is that when you hire someone who is “subbing out” the work, you are losing control of who is handling the case, how much experience they have, what their credentials or reputation are and what kind of results they are known to get.
So why wouldn’t I sub contract and take a percentage of the fees? Our policy at BCI is we will not subcontract with other P.I. firms! If your case is not in our general area we send cases to P.I. firms across Texas and the USA with that firm handling the case 100%. We at BCI know some, must I say, outstanding professional investigative firms in Texas and are proud to send a case to firms we know with a proven track record in the area of services requested.
Once again, looking for a local address on the investigator’s website, along with a local telephone number, should ensure you are dealing with an investigator who will be handling the work themselves and not a general contractor who is subbing out the work and paying a cut rate fee to someone who doesn’t have the experience, reputation and expertise to earn premium rates on their own accord.
I you have any concern or doubt that the work is being subbed out, simply ask the investigator if they are handling the investigation themselves. If they fumble with, or dance around the answer, thank them for their time and move on.
I have dealt with several very competent P.I.’s who had no law enforcement experience. However, I will say a law enforcement background is usually an advantage for private investigators when it comes to issues like credibility and knowing how to think on your feet in stressful situations. Most LEO have a good working knowledge and plenty of experience dealing in and with the courts.
On the other hand, many if not most spent a career dealing with criminal incidents and complaints. This often created a void in the civil paradigm.
If I may and you wish to continue reading this, I will share with you how I came up with the tag line “When Experience Counts”. While reflecting back from an LEO career, I spent the majority of this working in criminal investigations whereas I retired a senior investigator for the 2nd largest county in the USA. Yes, I was with a Sheriff’s Office. I saw a void in officers not working and/or investigating civil cases. Hmmm….I observed many criminal cases have civil repercussions and found some civil cases do turn criminal. I ran a private investigation agency out of state for 10 years prior to moving back to my home State of Texas. My tag line then was “When You Need to Know”. I enjoy the balance of criminal and civil investigations with our main focus in the civil field. Don’t get me wrong, we have been very successful in some high profile criminal cases here in the big country. Thank God for our criminal defense attorney’s! With all said, it remains a privilege to serve our clients every day in an absolutely fascinating profession.
And Yes…Experience Counts!
Don’t panic, there is a clause in there that customers must decide whether or not to opt out of the continued Surveillance Monitoring System. I’m betting most people did not read the article or small print to say the least.
I ask, what if you bought a vehicle and haven’t activated it? Hmmm… guess all products of OnStar services will not activate your vehicle since you bought it used and didn’t activate it in the first place. Then you must have a say in whether your vehicle is activated or not….any bets here? Any reason the government owns two of the three major automakers? Surely they wouldn’t be interested in you the Registered Owner of your vehicle and keeping records of everywhere you go.
And I still have that Beach in Arizona.
In addition, spousal Privilege exists in certain jurisdictions, although limited by a Supreme Court decision in 1980 to include only a spouse taking the witness stand.
At Big Country Investigations we work very closely with many professionals in their respective field. We typically work hand to hand in the trenches with attorneys on most of our cases. Many investigations can start as a civil investigation with discovery of criminal element. And, many criminal investigations have civil repercussions which coordinate the paradigm of having investigative knowledge in both areas.
It amazes us at BCI of how many clients that do not consider an attorney in the early stages of an investigation that we feel could go to criminal and/or civil litigation. At BCI we Protect our Clients! Let me take you a step further. Attorney / Client privilege is the most longstanding and perhaps the most recognized form of privileged communications. Its purpose is to encourage honest and complete communication between a client and his or her attorney and vice versa.
Originally constructed to prevent the attorney from having to testify against the client, the attorney had the privilege. The attorney-client privilege has developed over the years to be a matter of common law. It is important that professional investigators understand the difference between what is privileged communication and what is not. Supreme Court Rule 201(b)(2) recognizes a privilege as to matters in preparation for trial. “Material prepared by or for a party in preparation for trial is subject to discovery only if it does not contain or disclose the theories, mental impressions, or litigation’s plans of the party’s attorney”. Privilege means that communication is legally private. The other side is not entitled to know what you are saying (or doing).
Work Product is the term used to describe that which is protected by privilege under the auspices of attorney strategy, theory, notes and communication to and from others. This is not as wide a margin as some investigators may think. The Supreme Court ruling makes it clear that we need to guard our communications to some degree. Black’s definition of Work Product is: “Tangible material or its intangible equivalent in written or oral form that either was prepared by or for a lawyer or prepared for litigation, either planned or in progress.” The Work Product doctrine was born from a 1947 case, Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 91 I.Ed. 451, 67 S. CT 385, 393, (1947), in which the Court rejected “an attempt, without pur-ported necessity or justification, to secure written statements, private memoranda and personal recollections prepared or formed by an adverse party’s counsel in the course of his legal duties.”
Generally speaking, if we are not sure our communication with our attorney and/or client will be considered by the court to be privileged attorney work product, we don’t write it down. Verbal reports to our attorney-client are always the preferred method of communication, unless we are instructed otherwise by the attorney. The attorney’s notes from your verbal reports and discussions Are Not Discoverable.
NOTE: A prosecuting attorney is required to turn over exculpatory information to the defense, but the defense attorney is not required to turn over inculpatory information to the prosecution. A quick E-mail seems to be the route used in today’s world, but we must be careful what we put into E-mails directed to attorney-clients. We cannot assume that because we are communicating with, or even working for, an attorney that what we say or do is going to be safe from a dreaded subpoena. Sounds scary but you will like the next paragraph.
Kovel Privilege: What is it and what does it do for us? In 1961, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York handed down their decision on a pivotal case that defines the application of the attorney-client privilege as it extends to third party consultants. The case was U.S. v Kovel 296 F2nd 918 (2d Cir. 1961). The litigated issue was whether or not communications between a client of a law firm and an accountant hired by the law firm to work on his case, were considered to be privileged communications. The firm, and the accountant, argued that they were. Louis Kovel, an accountant and former IRS agent turned consultant, was hired by Kamerman and Kamerman to work on a case of their client Hoops who was being investigated for tax violations. When Kovel refused to testify in grand jury regarding communications with Hoops he was cited for contempt of court. He spent a year in jail while his case was under appeal. Kovel eventually won and laid the groundwork for third party consultants to communicate with attorney-client without fear of being forced to testify about those communications. But Kovel does not give us carte blanche. It is a common mistake of investigator to assume that anything we say or do is going to be protected under this privilege. As a result of Kovel, the rule of thumb is that the attorney-client privilege Does Extend to a Third Party (Investigator) if the communication is conveyed for the express purpose of obtaining advice or discussing strategy on a case at hand or that is anticipated. To summarize, the courts have furthered the scope of Kovel to protect the attorney work product doctrine and to include communications or materials of third party consultants, if they were “prepared by a party, her agent, attorney or consultant in anticipation of litigation”.
Bottom line is, professional investigators working for an attorney regarding litigation or possible litigation, are considered third party consultants afforded the attorney-client privilege. In another case out of the Southern District of New York, the lower court ruled in Welland v. Trainer that investigator notes, which had been prepared prior to attorney involvement in the case, were not afforded the status of privilege. On the other hand, notes prepared after attorney involvement were considered protected under work product privilege. See No. 00 CIV.0738 (JSM) 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15556 (S.D.N.Y. Sept 28,2001). Regarding this case an Illinois Investigator recently posted this pertinent comment on the National Association of Legal Investigator listserv: “Decisions like that in Welland highlight the wisdom of involving a lawyer in even the earliest stages of an investigation. Waiting until later can forfeit important protections.
SUMMARY: The Work Product Doctrine casts a wider tent of protection than the attorney-client privilege. Its purpose is to allow an attorney to prepare for a case without fear of the other side knowing the evidence. Waste Management, Inc. v. International Surplus Lines Insurance Co., 144 I112nd 178, 579 NE 2nd 322,329, 161 Ill.Dec. 774 (1991), citing Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 91 L.Ed. 451, 67 S.Ct. 385 (1947) Simply put, fair is fair and the other side is not entitled to take undue advantage of another attorney’s production, including work performed by a professional investigator. (Source PI Magazine).
Our goal is to let you practice law while our experts perform the investigation. We save clients money by providing many services that would be more expensive for a law firm to handle in-house, such as gathering evidence, running background checks on clients, tracking down witnesses before trial and researching a potential defendant’s ability to pay a judgment. We are accustomed to working on tight schedules and can cater to the unique needs of your law firm and case, whether it’s attending weekly meetings, giving frequent status updates or providing our bills in a format that can be incorporated into your total bill. We are ethical, flexible and responsive, and as agents of attorneys we are covered by legal privilege (see under our “Did You Know” page – Attorney / Client Privileges).
The work of private investigator has evolved a lot over the years. While many investigators do continue to specialize in surveillance for domestic matters – a staple of private investigation work, we take your case a step further by working with and for your attorney to enhance the successful resolve of our cases. This involves interviewing and taking sworn statements from witnesses, writing detailed reports to document our investigative efforts and sometimes testifying about our investigations.
Whether you need to check the background of a potential nanny for you child, perform a pre-employment background investigation for your business, or even undertake a criminal background, BCI can help you perform the critical background investigation research you need to make informed decisions.
A background investigation is a smart and cost-effective way to gather more information about individuals or businesses. If someone else’s past is going to become part of your future, performing a background investigation simply makes sense.
The fact is many applicants do not want you to know their background, be it civil to criminal. BCI has observed most individuals and/or corporations will spend the very minimum for a simple background check. We have the extensive experience needed to conduct reliable background investigations for you in the area of employment, business, personal matters, insurance matters or legal concerns. Our specific background investigations include;
At BCI we look well beyond the smile and handshake. Our experienced background investigators will conduct an extensive history of each applicant in many areas not traditionally known by employers. Employers are in the business of hiring, training and trusting their judgment to who they hired. BCI is in the business of letting you know of any discrepancies with your current employees or potential employee candidates.
Deciding to conduct a background investigation prior to any hiring is not devious or pessimistic. It’s ethical, legal and wise. And, in today’s world, it’s more important than ever. Background investigations can save you a lot of money and time. We say;
If you suspect your domestic partner of any type of misconduct, don’t agonize over your suspicions. In these matters of a personal nature, an investigator is usually the last step for closure to your decision making process. Allow our professional investigators to help you set your mind at ease. We will investigate your domestic partners movements to establish the elements of innocence of any wrongdoing, or you’ll have the proof to confront him or her about any inappropriate actions.
If needed, BCI will direct you to our base of attorneys who specializes in family law to assist your legal needs.
Our Firm has recovered millions of dollars in fraud related cases, disclosed many cheating partners and performed background/pre-employment investigations over the years which resulted in many satisfied clients abroad.
According to the Collins English Dictionary 10th Edition fraud can be defined as: “Deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage”. In short, Fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. Fraud is a crime which can open avenues for serious civil litigation.
Types of Fraudulent Acts:
To mention a few……..
Elements of Fraud:
Common Law Fraud has nine elements:
Most jurisdictions in the United States require that each element be pled with particularity and be proved with clear, cogent and convincing evidence (very probable evidence) to establish a claim of fraud. The measure of damage in fraud cases is to be computed by the “benefit of bargain rule” which is the difference between the value of the property had it been represented, and its actual value. Specific damages may be allowed if shown proximately caused by defendant’s fraud and the damage amounts are proved with specificity.