Conducting Interviews
We have performed thousands of interviews in all types of civil and criminal cases and have a proven track record for getting the information we need. Approximately 40 percent of our billable time is spent conducting ex parte interviews; when you factor in travel time and writing interview reports that number jumps to 85 percent. Simply put, conducting interviews is what we do best.
Our investigators are adept at interviewing witnesses about any subject matter. We have years of experience conducting complex investigations in various fields: finance, government, medical and many other specialized areas. We know how to identify salient legal issues amid technical jargon, and we ask the right questions to uncover evidence vital to each case.
We conduct interviews in person or over the phone; we can schedule or conduct them without notice. The tact for each case depends on the witness’s whereabouts, the perceived likelihood of cooperation, the interview’s purpose, the deadline and the budget.Case study
In one case, we interviewed employees of a company that distributed supplies to medical providers. A person in their accounts receivable department was suspected of submitting fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Medicare, and their counsel wanted to know if the fraud was limited to just the one employee. Our DC private investigator, who had never worked in the medical field, interviewed several employees, eliciting exacting details about how the transactions were processed. She recognized that the core issues were whether the necessary forms for reimbursement were actually filled out and, more importantly, whether they were filled out honestly. Through skillful and patient questioning, she was ultimately able to determine that the fraud had been limited to a single employee.
While not all interviews are as complex, sometimes the biggest challenge is convincing people to cooperate with you. One such case involved a sexual harassment claim at a highly respected nonprofit institution. Plaintiff’s counsel hired us to find out if the supervisor suspected of harassing their client had harassed other women in the past. Our investigators located and interviewed dozens of female employees who had worked for this supervisor. Many of the women were initially reluctant to speak out. However, approached impromptu at their homes by a professional and sympathetic investigator, the witnesses confirmed the attorneys’ suspicions: the supervisor had engaged in nearly fifteen years of egregious sexual misconduct in the office, including multiple retaliatory terminations and a theretofore unreported sexual assault.