Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group is a team of highly trained private investigators with many years of experience investigating cases on behalf of attorneys. We specialize in civil, plaintiff-side work, with a focus on employment litigation and whistle-blowing cases. However, we also regularly accept cases on the behalf of the defense and in criminal matters. Our private investigators understand the needs and concerns of law firms because we work almost exclusively for attorneys. We are experts at gathering and analyzing evidence and performing the physical legwork required to build successful cases.
We were founded in 2004 by three partners, Benjamin Dinolt, Philip Becnel and Brendan Wells. Ben relocated to London in 2010 to form Dinolt (UK) Ltd., our member firm in the United Kingdom, and Brendan left in 2011 to continue working for the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, where he is presently the Deputy Chief Investigator. Our Washington, DC office is now comprised of Philip and several seasoned associates, including Kenneth Hallenbeck, David Flaherty, Kathleen Moriarty and Summer Dietrich.
Our firm is a member of the DC Chamber of Commerce.
Partners
Philip Becnel
Philip Becnel is the managing partner of Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group. Philip is the author of Principles of Investigative Documentation and Private Investigator Entry Level (02E). The latter is the only textbook for the entry-level course required for all private investigators in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is the president of the Private Investigators Association of Virginia and has been an investigator since 1999. He has performed thousands of hours of interviews in civil, criminal and independent investigations and has also taught undergraduate courses in criminal procedure, white-collar crime and criminal investigation. Philip is also an active member of several state and national investigative associations, including the following:
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- Washington Metropolitan Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- National Council of Investigation & Security Services
- Investigative and Security Professionals for Legislative Action
- Professional Investigators and Security Association
- Maryland Investigators and Security Association
Dinolt (UK) Ltd.
Benjamin DinoltManaging Director
Benjamin Dinolt has managed a wide variety of complex civil and criminal investigations since 1998. His investigations have covered everything from complicated employment matters, such as whistle-blowing cases involving Sarbanes Oxley and the False Claims Act, to capital defense and consumer-protection investigations. After being trained at the DC Public Defender Service during 1998 and 1999, Ben conducted investigations for the defense in more than twenty death-eligible capital murder cases, including “Beltway Sniper” Lee Boyd Malvo. A Certified Fraud Examiner, he has worked for law firms and corporations throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Central America and Canada. Ben received his B.A. in Communications, Legal Studies, Economics and Government from American University in Washington, DC and an M.B.A. from San Francisco State University. He is a member of the Council of International Investigators and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He is a licensed private investigator in California.
Associate Spotlight
Kenneth Hallenbeck
Investigator
Ken Hallenbeck, a Philadelphia native who has a B.S. in Business Management and a M.A. in Employment and Labor Relations from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), started with Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group in 2008. Prior to joining the firm, Ken spent a year as a professional interviewer for the IUP, which at the time had the largest university run, employment based, mock interview program in the United States. He also worked for a year as both a recruiter and an account manager for an information technology staffing company. Since joining the firm, Ken has conducted over a hundred employment investigations on matters ranging from harassment to fraud. He is a member of the National Council of Investigation & Security Services and the Private Investigators Association of Virginia. Ken is a licensed private investigator in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.
David Flaherty
Investigator
David Flaherty worked as an intern investigator for the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia prior to joining our firm in 2008. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in English. Since joining the firm, David has worked primarily on felony criminal cases, including death penalty mitigation work. He has also done several investigations regarding employment litigation and in immigration cases. He is a member of the National Council of Investigation & Security Services, the Private Investigators Association of Virginia and the National Association of Legal Investigators. David is a Certified Criminal Justice Act (CJA) investigator in Washington, DC, and he is a licensed private investigator in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland.
Kathleen Moriarty
Office Manager
Kathleen Moriarty, who joined our firm in 2009, has over ten years of experience as a legal assistant and paralegal working in many areas of the law, including real estate, probate, corporate and litigation. Prior to this experience, Kathleen worked as an architectural designer on both residential and commercial construction projects. She has a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and a Master's of Architecture from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Kathleen is a registered private investigator in Virginia and is a member of the Private Investigators Association of Virginia.
Summer Dietrich
Investigator
Summer Dietrich joined our firm in 2012. Prior to joining Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group, she spent two years as an investigator for the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia. She previously worked as a detention officer at a juvenile detention facility in Ohio. Summer has a B.S. in Criminal Justice from the Bowling Green State University and is a registered private investigator in Virginia.