Investigative Techniques and Case Management
From intake to closing file
Strong case management starts before any field work. Intake captures the client's identity, the lawful purpose of the investigation, scope, budget, and deliverables. Put the engagement in writing. Licensees are expected to maintain records of clients and cases, and a written scope protects both the client and the investigator when the client later asks why something was missed.
Plan the case as a hypothesis-and-verification loop: define the question, list the sources that can answer it, rank them by cost and reliability, then execute. Common sources include public court and recorder records, BMV and property records obtained for a permissible purpose, corporate filings, news archives, open-source social media, canvassing, and interviews. Interviews should be funnel-shaped: open-ended narrative first, then specifics, then clarification. Record the witness's exact words. Never suggest facts to a witness, and never interview a represented opposing party about the subject of litigation.
Traps: promising a result ("we'll get you the video"); accepting a case with an unlawful objective, such as surveillance intended to harass; failing to log time and expense; and losing original notes. A second trap is scope creep - an activity check quietly becomes a full asset search the client neither authorized nor paid for.
Worked example: an insurance-defense client wants "proof of fraud." The correct plan is to establish the claim's alleged restrictions, then document activity by date, duration, and observable conduct - not to build a theory and hunt for support. If two weeks of surveillance shows nothing, the honest report says so, and the file closes with the negative finding documented.