Five Questions to Ask an Investigator Before Hiring
Where do you start in deciding which investigator to hire for a sensitive job?
It should be a business of trust, just as it is when choosing someone to come up with an estate plan, to sue a former business partner, or to handle a complex…
The Value of a Divorce Asset Search: $2,000 to $5,000 Well Spent
Everyone would love to have more information, but getting information is not always free. At what point does it become too expensive to pay for more?
We get this question a lot, especially when divorcing parties call us directly about our asset…
The New Risk for Banks Operating in Canada
Due diligence is about trying to look around corners. Not only do you look backward at a person’s history, but you also want to try to anticipate potential problems for the client if they hire Mr. X. or go into business in Country Y.
Country…
The Ethics of Handling Stolen Data from the Dark Web
We were asked recently about the ethics and legality of Dark Web searches, increasingly part of many investigations. I realized we had never posted on this issue and it’s about time.
Since a lot of what we use from the Dark Web is stolen…
Power of Attorney: If You Signed One and You are Divorcing, You Probably Need an Investigator
Now and again a client comes to us for information on a spouse’s assets. But if the client has already signed a power of attorney, the search could involve both spouses’ assets.
A power of attorney between married people could work like…
Way After Madoff Ponzi Schemes Are Still With Us: How to Avoid Them
Nearly ten years on since the arrest of master Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, the Ponzi fraudsters are still with us. Maybe not with as much money as Madoff’s billions, but powerful enough to do a lot of damage.
Being devoted to finding assets,…
Attorney Ethics 101: Fraud is Not Allowed
The non-legal press doesn’t usually get very deep into questions of legal ethics, but New York Magazine did a reasonable job of it in its hard-hitting piece this week on “The Bad, Good Lawyer” David Boies.
The article asks whether Boies…
The Right Questions in Discovery
Finding assets can be satisfying work, but frustration sometimes comes in realizing that a client’s lawyers haven’t been asking the right questions in their depositions.
We have written repeatedly that getting bank account information…
“Offshore” Assets Here at Home
We’ve written plenty about why it makes sense to do an onshore search within the U.S. when you’re looking for offshore assets. See for instance our Offshore Assets Playbook and here.
What comes as news to many clients is how secretive people…
The Cosby Trial’s Lesson: Evidence is Good, Admissible Evidence is Better
One lawyer we know has a stock answer when clients ask him how good their case is: “I don’t know. The courts are the most lawless place in America.”
What he means is that even though the law is supposed to foster predictability so that…
