8 Ways a Private Investigator Can Help Solicitors
A legal private investigator can aid a solicitor in many different ways, the majority of which will stand up in a court of law. Highly skilled and trained to ensure evidence is compliant, hiring a private investigator for court cases can prove to be invaluable when it comes to uncovering crucial and often well-hidden information that can change the outcome of a case. Here are eight ways a private investigator can help solicitors.
How Private Investigators Can Help Attorneys?
Helping In Diverse Areas:
Legal investigators are indispensable across a multitude of law practices. Family lawyers engage them for intricate matters such as divorce proceedings and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and handle complex issues in estate planning, child custody, child support, and will contests. These investigators delve into family backgrounds, scrutinise personal and family finances, uncover any undisclosed children, previous or current marriages, hidden legal obligations, arrests, or convictions, and assess business assets. Employment law attorneys rely on them for thorough employee background checks and screening and to probe into allegations of harassment and discrimination. In the realm of criminal law, they are pivotal for procuring vital records, finding and interviewing witnesses, collecting and verifying evidence, and readying it for trial.
Gathering Evidence That Holds Up In Court:
Private investigators adeptly and lawfully gather evidence that is admissible in court. Consider a scenario where a criminal lawyer requires locating a witness with potentially critical testimony and evidence. To achieve this, private investigators employ various legal strategies. They thoroughly search public records, including death certificates, property records, and court filings. Additionally, they conduct interviews to gather leads on the whereabouts of the individual in question. Digital footprints are also explored, with investigators analysing social media and other digital platforms. Their network is not just local; they have the capability to connect with human sources both nationally and internationally.
They do not resort to illegal methods like hacking into bank accounts. Instead, they utilise publicly accessible databases and engage in conversations with relevant parties. Their scrutiny extends to financial records, looking for signs of hidden assets. The methodology employed by private investigators is meticulous and aligned with legal standards, ensuring that the evidence they gather is robust and will stand up to scrutiny in a court of law.
Divorce cases:
Although often amicable, some divorce cases can become bitter and tangled, especially when they involve child custody, spousal maintenance, and separating assets. A private investigator can be brought on board to help solve difficult problems and win a case. This can include anything from tracking financial relationships and property ownership to hidden assets and secret liaisons. Serious indiscretions can be brought to light through asset tracing, surveillance, and both background and criminal record checks. Evidence can be gathered against allegations of infidelity, and surveillance of day-to-day activity can be carried out to aid any disputes about child custody.
Recovering & Investigating Electronic Evidence:
Electronic evidence is absolutely crucial in a case nowadays as every piece of information is recorded in electronic format. This is where a solicitor can leverage the help and expertise of a private investigator. A PI can recover electronic evidence even if they are hidden, deleted, or removed. A private investigator can go further than a solicitor to review online documents and emails and recover important information that can make or break a case.
Supporting a Claim:
A private investigator can also conduct surveillance, review documents, analyse evidence, and interview witnesses in order to submit a claim. The information and intelligence gathered can prove highly valuable in submitting and settling the overall value of the claim. It is not just helpful for the attorneys but also for insurance companies as well.
Predicting the Opponent's Next Move:
Any solicitor or lawyer will tell you how important research is in order to win a case. One part of the research involves predicting and uncovering your opponent’s next move. All and every lawyer and solicitor has a certain way of fighting a case. A private investigator can help you get this information, which will help you understand how your opponent is thinking and what he/she could be planning next.
Finding 'untraceable' people:
In some court cases, there may be a witness or person of interest who has done an exceptional job of going into hiding. Hiring a private investigator to trace a person who is needed for a testimonial in court can help free up a solicitor’s time. A private detective agency has access to investigative databases, public and historical court records, news archives, and social networks. They will use precision and accuracy to unearth that, which, to a layman, may be very well hidden. This can be crucial when a case relies on an ‘untraceable’ person’s testimonial. A PI has unrivalled access to numerous tools and is highly skilled at verifying and interviewing potential witnesses, which can strengthen or even close a case.
Cross-examination prep:
A private investigator’s surveillance and research can reveal plenty about an opponent’s weaknesses, patterns, and most likely behaviours. This can prove to be a valuable resource when prepping for cross-examination, giving a solicitor a clear strategy during the course of litigation. A private investigator’s work can unveil biases, discredit testimonies, uncover fraud and even reveal evidence that establishes reasonable doubt.
Third-Party Investigation:
A Private investigator for attorneys can conduct an investigation and make background checks on third parties who may not be directly involved in a case but were possible investors in the business as such. Any information collected by the detective can prove beneficial for a solicitor and lawyer in getting a better sense of the case overall and covering every risk that may be involved with the third party.
Finding Potential Witness:
It is not easy for any solicitor or lawyer to uncover all the witnesses in a case, and in many cases, the number of witnesses can make or break a case. A private detective can help uncover all or the majority of the witnesses to a case, which can greatly help a solicitor and a lawyer.
Professional private investigators can work with solicitors in many valuable ways to help argue cases effectively and fundamentally improve the chances of winning in court.
For discreet private investigation services in the UK, get in touch with PIUK today. You can contact us by completing the enquiry form here, Contact Us or else call us on 0800 002 9858 | 07730439156
Members of: WAPI | CII | UKPIN | ABI
FAQs
Indeed, many law firms have in-house private investigators or contracts with private investigators. Private investigators can provide the law firm investigation support, which is a very important resource in the shaping of the legal cases taken on by the firm. There exist Specialised forms of expertise in some legal fields, such as family law, criminal law, and employment law, among others. They deal with cases like divorce, child custody disputes, estate planning in family law, collecting and verifying evidence, and finding and questioning witnesses in criminal law. This is done by strictly carrying out their activities in the most professional and legally accountable way. Thus, private detectives offer an important resource to law firms and create a way to better assist their clients.
Yes, lawyers do employ private investigator litigation support. Private investigators are used by lawyers to gather evidence, locate witnesses, and provide expert testimony, among other roles. They help lawyers stay ahead of the competition and make informed decisions regarding their cases and business partners. In the UK, it’s common for lawyers to employ one or more investigators or work in regular partnership with an investigative company. Their skills are particularly valuable in various legal domains, including family law, criminal law, employment law, and more.
Currently, there is no such compulsion for private investigators in the UK to have a licence; however, things can change in future. This means that anybody can work as a private investigator without having any formal training or qualifications. However, the industry is not completely unregulated. Within that structure, private investigators must follow laws, and it is possible for them to register with independent regulatory bodies, such as the Association of British Investigators (ABI), to prove they meet ethical and legal standards.
Theoretically, even a UK lawyer could have been acting as a private investigator in such a regulatory framework. However, in this case, the attorney private investigator must do his professional investigation legally and ethically like any other private investigator. These consist of the Data Protection Act 2018 over the manner of the holding of personal data and the Human Rights Act 1998, affecting several dimensions of investigation.
