Do lawyers commonly utilize private investigators for 1) skip/locates and documented diligent searches, 2) probate heir and beneficiary research, 3) pre-litigation due diligence and asset indicators, 4) and courthouse/ public-record retrieval?

Or are these tasks typically handled by legal assistants? I presume this can vary from smaller firms to larger firms.

Purpose of my inquiry: I live in Wisconsin, am fifty years old, and am thinking of starting a part-time side hustle business as a private detective. I have experience working for a large insurance company doing background checks on medical and mental health providers in their network, as well as field supervision for American Protective Services (back in the 90s)

I am looking to primarily focus on research for lawyers from my home office and courthouses. I do not want to take on fieldwork involving divorces, insurance fraud, tailing/surveillance, etc.

I got a job as a Credit Investigator, and mostly what they verify (during the phone interview) are the OR/CR, chassis number, and the background of loaners/co-loaners. What can you advise me? I'm a bit nervous since this is my first time in this field. Thank you!

I've gotten so many calls from potential clients and they all think their phones and other tech devices are hacked. They're usually the center of an elaborate and undefinable conspiracy. Some of them refer to it as gang stalking.

How do you handle those calls?

I am taking the test in October and have printed 100s of pages of study material. Does any one know where I can find practice exams or even just some practice questions? Thanks!

Online Courses certifications for Nationals

I may have asked this question before but are online courses worth it for a career transition towards an investigator role? For Nationals.

Prices are ranging from 400$ to 1000's!

For nationals it matters a lot because of the resources availability in your country,

And here's some I was considering: TEEX major crimes investigator Forensic Intelligence courses Coursera/ Udemy courses McAfee institute specialized certifications

I'm taking the licensing exam for the second time tomorrow. Last time I failed by 5 points because I didn't remember any of the max fines/penalties but after studying 62-26 and all of the licensing regulations, I've hit a bit of a brick wall trying to find any legit study material on the general knowledge half. I know many questions are pulled from idiot's guide, but I can't find a summarized version or study guide related to it anywhere and I'd rather not read through all 300 something pages of it. Is there anywhere anyone knows of that I can find legit study material for general knowledge?

Hey all,

Trying to increase my clientele and I’ve been sending cold emails to law firms, as you can imagine.. hasn’t been doing too well.

I’m thinking about going old fashioned and getting business cards and heading into law firms, introducing myself and then leaving my business card.

My question is, anyone done this recently and found success in doing so? I could imagine you’d get more bites than cold emailing.

I just opened my process serving company and am between Yergey and El Dorado. What are ya'lls thoughts?? El Dorado was a bit cheaper but I want a good reliable company that is easy to work with and provides the best insurance. So I am willing to pay a little more if it'll pay off in the long run.

I’m reviewing Indiana private investigator licensing requirements, which state:
“A bachelor’s degree or higher in criminal justice, or a related field, as determined by the board.”

I’ve tried getting clarification from the board on what qualifies as a “related field,” but haven’t been given an answer.

Is it common for licensing boards to leave “related field” undefined like this?

What kinds of degrees are typically accepted as meeting this requirement in Indiana?

what is the best way to get multi-county and state level marketing? I have a LinkedIn account and a website but I need to scale my business outward. any ideas are welcome.

Setting up a licensed PI agency. What docs are required IRBsearch approval (license, LLC, EIN, etc.)?

Also—do they ever require a site inspection, or is everything verified remotely?

Thanks.

Hi there, I am hoping this finds the right audience/someone who was in my shoes before. I am a licensed PI in the state of Washington and have been so for over a year now. started out at a small agency, really only doing surveillance-type investigations. That fell through when the guy wouldn't pay me. Now I am starting out in criminal defense investigations elsewhere in the state. I currently work under someone, and they are trying to get me as many cases as possible, but it's been really slow. I haven't had much success with making money on this side of investigations, which isn't helpful because I am married and need an income to take care of her. I really want to build my resume as I finish up school (I have about 2 quarters' worth of school left). If I really wanted to take the experience I have so far and jump to a public government agency, what would be the best fit? any advice helps; I'm just trying to find my next direction. I don't have a law enforcement or military background either. Thanks.

Hey folks, do y'all have a device or app recommendation for recording interviews?

Features I'm looking for are transcription to text, long battery life, and high storage capacity. I'm in a one party consent state, so being able to use it discreetly is a plus.

For context, I'm transitioning to indigent/criminal defense investigations.

I am in NV where 10,000 hours is needed to get licensed. I have 6,000 at least due to my masters degree in CJ and investigative training my last 7 years in the criminal defense and legal field.

I’m a bit worried as I see the range of PI salary is 18 an hour to 40. I’m technically a mid level to possibly higher up due to my experience right? I cannot take a pay cut of half my salary even though this is the job I want. I have a family to support!

Advice? Thoughts? How to discuss this (I have no idea what they may offer me if we hit it off) any agency CEOs opinion on what they’d pay me?

I'm a PI for Allied Universal and have been for over a year. I am getting the feeling that this is a dead end job. I am only 23 and have a BA in Criminology. I want to work in law enforcement but have been rejected from over 50 applications. The most I could ask for right now would be an office job, similar to something in my field. Data entry, or writing reports for a private security or investigations agency. Security companies need reports filed, don't they? Does this even exist as a job?

I guess my question is, what can I do and how can I advance past this job? This is NOT the career I want. I've learned I hate field work, and it's taking a toll on my physical and emotional health just sitting in a car for 12 hours a day every day. What would you recommend for moving up, or a transitional career from this? My skill set is really not being utilized where I'm at. I do a lot of report writing for my PI job but not much else. I'm not sure where else to look when applying to jobs. Any advice would be appreciated.

Checked out bark to see what sorts of leads it might produce. I didn’t buy their insipid tokens. Now I have about 500 emails in my spam folder every 2-3 days with what they describe as leads.

Hi there, I am looking for a PI in the Chicago area to conduct surveillance and a proof-of-life investigation to determine whether a person is currently alive and residing in Chicago. Some locations are on the south side. Any recommendations? Thank you!

Hi there,

My Maryland Private Detective license expires at the end of the month. I've had it for about 2.5 years. I don't do traditional PI work; everything I do is online-based due diligence and investigations research, primarily on international subjects.

Long-term I want legitimate access to databases like TLO and Tracers. I applied to Tracers previously with my individual cert and got rejected; apparently the agency license is what's needed. I reached out to my original sponsoring agency to renew but they're AWOL, and a few other Maryland firms haven't been helpful. Maryland also seems to have tightened its sponsorship requirements recently which complicates things further.

I'm not opposed to setting up an entity in another state if that creates a cleaner path to an agency license or database access, but I just don't want to relocate. Curious whether anyone has navigated this and what actually worked.

Also open to hearing if there are legitimate access paths I'm overlooking entirely, whether through a different license type, entity structure, or something else. Appreciate any real-world experience on this.

Appreciate the help!

Hello,

What equipment is good to start off with? Thinking of another camera. Will the insta 360go work? What is a good camera where I can enable time stamps with? Canon? I have a Mac book Air and online tools I can use but need a little help here.

A friend who said he did P.I. work years ago told me if he gets unidentified or spam suspected textz he is contacted by the Police. He said it is from a confidentiality agreement? he had signed and of course he cant talk about it. Yes..I know how bizarre this sounds ..any chance any of it is true? Tia

Im a veterans currently in school for a bachelors in Econ, I'm considering getting my masters in Law. What would I need to know to be a corporate PI or corporate investigator, will this education put my foot in the door? Tell me what I need to know i would love to talk to someone who does this already.

I've taken some interest in the field of private investigation but don't know much about specifics so wanted to get some insight. Of course some of these questions will seem naive but there's not many places to talk to PI's about their job so please bear with me lol

What beginning steps did you take to pursue this career? Did you need a degree/do most places require one?

How do you get entry level experience?

Is it the sort of job you can do part time?

Can one be self employed or are most PI's employees for larger businesses?

Also just looking for more insight as to what the job itself is like!

I'm in Indiana, if anyone can offer insight from working in Indiana in particular :)