Cost-Effective, Thorough Investigations

DUE DILIGENCE

Investigative due diligence is distinct from but complements traditional legal and accounting due diligence. It can help you gain and maintain a competitive edge.

Some clients request a due diligence investigation on themselves, to know in advance how others might see them. Long before they are ready to do a deal, these clients can understand their vulnerabilities and shore up any weak points.

Others want to investigate potential business investments, acquisitions, joint ventures, board appointments and executive hires. Clients in certain industries also want investigations into all potential contractors and vendors.

Investigations should be tailored to the client's specific needs. They typically include business and media database research as well as public records searches in courts and regulatory agencies. At the client's request they can also include interviews of confidential or open sources and questionnaires to be completed by the subject of the investigation.

LITIGATION AND ARBITRATION

The early use of private investigators in anticipation of litigation or arbitration and their continuing services through trial as needed can pay big dividends.

Investigators can:
--vet their own and their adversary's expert and fact witnesses
--identify, locate and - when appropriate - interview current or former associates, rivals, analysts and others familiar with the adversary's background.
--provide key information for use in taking depositions and in fleshing out deposition testimony.
--investigate jurors and judges for conflicts of interest.

These services can be especially useful in arbitration, where discovery is limited.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

Whether charged with a white-collar crime or a violent offense, defendants and their attorneys need creative, thorough investigations. An investigator who understands the nuances of Blue Sky registrations may not be good at locating and interviewing witnesses from other walks of life.

There arenot a lot of investigators who are equally good at finding military records to support a PTSD defense, looking for ways to poke holes in forensic evidence and scouring the courts and databases for prior testimony by an expert witness.

NEWS MEDIA SERVICES

Print, broadcast and web newsrooms rely on Strategic Research to:

--Find specific facts and documents to help individual stories, on and off deadline.
--Provide support for long-term projects, from planning through completion.
--Train reporters, editors, producers and researchers on investigative techniques and strategies.
--Advise newsrooms on the best mix of databases for their individual needs, based on budget, geographic location and news priorities.
--Provide additional research firepower when vacations, breaking news or other exigencies overload their in-house capacity.

Because many of our investigators have extensive backgrounds in print and broadcast journalism, we understand reporting's special deadlines, technical requirements and ethics.