Professional Ethics, Conduct, and Business Practices
Ethics questions test judgment: what you refuse, how you bill, and how you keep the file credible. The Board disciplines conduct that discredits the profession even when no statute is broken.
Core duties
- Competence, diligence, honesty, confidentiality, and loyalty within the law. Reports and testimony must be accurate and complete, including unfavorable facts.
- Do not accept work that requires illegal conduct, do not exceed the authorized scope, and do not offer legal conclusions - that edges into unauthorized practice of law.
- Screen for conflicts: prior representation of the opposing party, a personal relationship with the subject, or a family matter where both spouses might approach you.
Business practices
- Written engagement letters, clear fee schedules, retainers, and itemized invoices. No fee-splitting with unlicensed persons and no contingent compensation for findings or testimony - it destroys credibility on cross and invites board action.
- Maintain licensing for every employee, carry general liability and errors-and-omissions coverage, and secure client data with written retention and disposal procedures.
- Advertising must be truthful: no invented credentials, no law-enforcement-style badges or titles, no claim of official affiliation.
Testimony and records
- Respond to subpoenas, prepare from your file, and preserve everything once litigation is reasonably anticipated. Destroying notes after a hold is issued is spoliation.
Worked example
A custody client offers a $5,000 bonus to find something. Decline and put the refusal in writing. Contingent payment lets opposing counsel argue bias, may violate board compensation rules, and pressures the investigator toward the finding the client is paying for. Convert to an hourly or flat fee with a defined scope.
Traps
- Taking a case where the real purpose is harassment or monitoring an ex-partner.
- Posting case details on social media or discussing the matter with the opposing attorney.
- Billing surveillance hours that were never worked.