Investigating Jurors: The Ethical Bounds of Using Social Media
We recently read that one of the jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial had both tweeted at a famed criminal defense attorney and posted a comment about Arias having “Latina blood” on her Facebook page after the jury had convicted…
IRS Form 990: The Investigator’s Friend
If we had five dollars for every time someone asked us to get hold of someone’s bank accounts (pretty much always against the law and therefore off-limits), we would have enough money to buy a lovely lunch for two.
Sometimes, people who…
Big Data? Good Investigators Prefer Their Data Small
When you see two big book reviews and an entire special section of The Wall Street Journal devoted to a topic, a curious person should ask: how does this affect me, my family, my business, the world? The book is Big Data: A Revolution that Will…
The Library’s Hidden Treasure: Librarians
When they’re stuck on a piece of research in my course on fact investigation, I often tell my law students that the loneliest people in the world are waiting to help them: reference librarians. That line came to mind this week after I…
Smartphone Security: Newer is Not Always Better
An entertaining piece in the Wall Street Journal today describes the preferred mobile phone for Japanese philanderers. It’s an older Fujitsu model that the faithful get reconditioned to keep it running for three years and longer. Its main…
The Half-Life of Facts: Required Reading for Lawyers
A wonderful new book called The Half-Life of Facts by Samuel Arbesman makes riveting reading for anyone in the business of gathering information. Don’t let the fact that the author is an applied mathematician scare you off. Arbesman keeps…
Confidentiality in Interviews: What You Can Promise and What You Can’t
"Three may keep a secret," wrote Benjamin Franklin, "if two of them are dead." While attorney-client privilege confers a lot of power on lawyers and their agents to keep a secret, the privilege is never absolute. It can be waived by the client anytime, and can be breached in all sorts of ways.
Avoiding Due Diligence Failure: Follow Up on All Red Flags
This blog takes no position on the malpractice allegations by HSBC that its law firm, Troutman Sanders, dropped the ball on its due diligence of a borrower who ended up costing the bank $75 million when the borrower put fake securities up as collateral. You can read about the lawsuit here and here.
Due Diligence on Expert Witnesses: Assume the Worst
For expert witnesses, websites abound that help to connect a particular specialty with the trial attorneys who may need someone to speak about pediatric cardiology, warning labels, or the particulars of earthquake insurance. Fewer in number are the people who can sort through the experts' backgrounds.
Due Diligence for Employees and Small Businesses: Turnaround is Fair Play
One of the biggest misconceptions about due diligence is that it is a one-way street. People assume that either they are scrutinized or doing the scrutinizing, but never the twain shall meet. But this shouldn't always be the case. In some instances, the person under the microscope also has a responsibility to make sure that they subject the other party to thorough due diligence.
