Civil Investigative Services
Local-National-Worldwide

Quick Link:
Witness Location and Interviews
Process Service
Database and Internet Research
Skip Tracing
Paralegal Services
Court and Government Offices - Research, Retrieval and Filing
Asset Location
Judgment Collection
Surveillance
Pre-litigation Profiling

Witness Location and Interviews - Skiptracking 

With the rapid proliferation of online databases, including Internet "people finders," many attorneys and legal professionals have sought to do much of their own work in identifying, locating and skip tracing witnesses, parties, heirs, and others.    If you have tried to do this, you may have found that the costs of searching through commercial databases escalates rapidly while the information you find is either stale or just plain wrong.  You may also have found that identifying the exact subject of your search amongst all the same named individuals can be confusing, and costly. As information gatherers and online data aggregators continue to use cross-referencing software, much of the information available online has become intermingled and confused, further complicating your search, both in time and money.

Do you Google?  The Google search engine continues to grow in popularity, and much of the information obtained is useful, valuable, accurate, and free!  However, search results, here, as well as with Yahoo! and other Internet search engines, are not exhaustive, nor complete.  And you may still have the continuing problem of assuring that the results you find pertain to the actual person you are concerned with. 

We have been using public and proprietary online databases since their inception.   Sorting through the huge amount of information now available requires a thorough understanding of the methods by which information providers gather and sort their information.  We maintain online accounts with hundreds of available databases, public and proprietary, and we access these sources at costs generally less than you must pay.  For many of these sources, access is strictly limited and monitored, so you may not even be able to use these on your own..  In addition, we maintain relationships with a nationwide and international network of document retrievers, abstractors and investigators to do the follow-up and confirmation work necessary which just cannot be done online.

In addition to helping you identify and locate your subjects, we can help identify and locate relatives, friends and business associates of those subjects.  

And when we're out in the field,  we only allow experienced investigators to conduct witness interviews.  This includes our own staff as well as our direct affiliates, in the United States and around the world. 

Process Service 

Experienced, Knowledgeable, Professional:
 

Over more than twenty years working with the legal community, we have developed and have maintained longstanding relationships with attorneys and legal professionals in private practice and at government agencies. Our reputation has been built on integrity, trust, our knowledge of pertinent laws and rules, and especially our practical abilities and techniques to accomplish difficult assignments.  Our staff members, including many former law enforcement professionals, have the legal training and practical experience required to meet your needs for process service and related litigation support.

Where Do We Operate?
 

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut:  Our primary area of operation consists of the area roughly bounded by the 100 mile radius from the United States Courthouse at Foley Square in Manhattan, New York.  In these areas, we direct our own staff to perform process serving and the ancillary services often required, such as research at public agencies, including the United States Postal Service, as well as clerical services at area courthouses.
 

The Rest of the United States:
 

Why use us if you need to serve process out of our primary coverage area when you can find the names of process servers in other states through dozens of available directories?  Because, we've been providing these services for 20 years. Not only do we have close associates in dozens of cities around the country, we also belong to numerous associations, meaning we know more people in more places than you do.  We direct hundreds of services to be performed around the country on a regular basis.  Our agents and associates  have a long term relationship with us and a corresponding understanding and desire to see that each and every matter is handled professionally and expeditiously.  In addition, we directly handle all ancillary matters attendant to the efforts to serve process.  This includes not only close supervision, but intervention in contacting the target, skip tracing and identification services. We also attend to all the clerical matters, including the often needlessly difficult matter of receiving proofs of service both in suitable form and on a timely basis.

Foreign Services:
 

Serving process in foreign countries is too often a daunting task.  There are often questions of acceptable documents, language translations, services via the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, and the time and expense of accomplishing these tasks.  We can help guide you through both the theory and the actual practice and practical considerations of effecting service upon persons and companies on foreign countries.

Click on this link to download official form:
Request for Service Abroad of Judicial or Extrajudicial Documents
as provided by the U.S. Marshals Service

Also see:

U.S. Deptartment of State
International Judicial Assistance, Notarial Services
and Authentication of Documents

Fees:
 

Our fees have always been based upon the most fair and equitable manner of having the most professional and reliable people handle these assignments at the least necessary cost.  We're well aware that all costs associated with litigation must be kept to the least necessary to accomplish the assigned task properly.  Unlike other firms which often charge either for each document served, or for each person or entity served, we have always found the most equitable manner is to charge you only for the man hours involved in effecting these services.  In the way, service of process is charged no differently than any other professional cost.  You will find that we group services together so that you are charged for man hours, not per person or entity served.  Should you have any questions, please feel free to call us at your convenience. 
Click here to go to our fee schedule.

Do You Need to Subpoena a Witness Located in New York for Your Action Pending in Another State?
 

State and local courts outside of New York  do not have jurisdiction over the residents, businesses or government agencies located in New York.  We can assist you every step of the way in procuring and serving a compelling subpoena upon your witnesses. 

In New York:  See the Civil Practice Law and Rules section 3102(e).  This provides an ex-parte procedure made before the state trial court in the county where your witness is located.  You'll need New York counsel to handle this for you. 

Need counsel in New York?  We can recommend attorneys in New York to prepare and file the 3102 application and to conduct examinations.  Call our office at 212.227.9600

Database and Internet Research

We have been using public and proprietary online databases since their inception.   Sorting through the huge amount of information now available requires a thorough understanding of the methods by which information providers (also known as information aggregators) gather and sort their information.  We maintain online accounts with hundreds of available databases, public and proprietary, and we access these sources at costs generally less than you must pay.  For many of these sources, access is strictly limited and monitored, so you may not even be able to use these on your own..  In addition, we maintain relationships with a nationwide network of document retrievers, abstractors and investigators to do the follow-up and confirmation work necessary which just cannot be done on-line. 

Internet sources proliferate on a daily basis.  Google, Yahoo! and other search engines continue to expand both in content and sorting abilities.  You may care to try to conduct research on your own, or, given the value of your time, and that we have years of experience in working with information sources, we trust you will find it to be more efficient and fruitful to work with us in conducting information research, whether online or offline. 
 

Paralegal Services

Paralegals provide an infinite variety of services.  They work in law firms, government agencies as well as in many private businesses.  While we do not provide temporary or project placement services, we are able to provide specific services to you when needed.  These might include preparation of legal documents as well as the supervision of the delivery and/or execution of documents.  Our paralegals are often engaged to visit with witnesses to wills as well as distributees in estate settlement matters to facilitate the execution of necessary documents during probate proceedings. 
 

Court and Government Offices - Research, Retrieval and Filing

For any Court or Government Agency (Federal, state or local), we have our own staff as well as affiliates to conduct research, to examine dockets and files, to copy, to acquire copies, and to file or record any document.
 

Asset Location

Asset location goes hand in hand with judgment collection.  But there are other reasons to research and locate assets that belong to another person or business entity, including due diligence investigations conducted with regard to business formations, mergers and acquisitions.  You may also want to research assets when involved in partnership and other business disputes and dissolutions.  And before you even file to commence litigation, you may want to conduct this research to see if there is any 'pot at the end of the rainbow.'  We look for hard assets such as real property and chattel, including motor vehicles.  We look for business interests as well as assets that are sometimes overlooked, such as patents and trademarks.  In keeping with restrictions which may exist due to federal or local laws and rules, it may also be possible for us to examine and confirm liquid assets such as bank accounts and brokerage accounts.
 

Judgment Collection

As we all know, having a judgment entered in your favor is only half the battle.  The other half is collecting the money.  We have provided assistance in this area for more than 20 years.  We work collaboratively with counsel as we believe this is the most efficient and cost effective method (from the view of the judgment-creditor) to provide the best efforts to satisfy judgments.  In addition to standard asset location, we are authorized to access and provide consumer credit reports.  In keeping within all Federal and state regulations, including the provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, we work with counsel to confirm judgment-debtor bank accounts and brokerage accounts.

Working together with counsel's ability to issue subpoenas and to pursue post judgment enforcement procedures, we search for avenues for you to follow.  We work to ascertain information which will help gain and focus the debtor's attention.   We call this "shaking the tree." To the extent that we can disrupt the debtor's activities, the debtor will be compelled to address the debt.   Among other things, we look for family members, business associates and other witnesses you can call on for examination.
 

Often, the only way to learn where your subject is going, and what he or she is up to, is to watch them, to surveil them.  It is important to conduct this operation properly and in keeping with the constraints of Federal and local laws.  Our agents are licensed and bonded, and even more importantly, experienced in this work.  In the private field, most of the agents we direct to conduct these services are retired from law enforcement agencies wherein surveillance was an integral of of the job.  Surveillance services also include safeguarding home and business locations.  We also use our affiliates and associated investigators in the United States, Europe and Asia, to intercept and continue surveillance operations when the target travels to other states or abroad.