In addition to asset searches, physical surveillance, and research into litigants and other individuals of interest, our litigation support services also include witness location. Sometimes our clients know who the witnesses are and simply need help finding them. They know the witness’s name and some personal details about them (e.g., address history, age, family members, etc.), and we use this information to track down the individual.
Sometimes, however, law firms need to identify potential witnesses, such as people who may have been present when an incident occurred. Finding these witnesses requires a multi-pronged approach and the cooperation of different team members.
Witness Location: Initial Fact-Finding
To start, our investigative team reviews any information and documents provided by our client. Then, an investigator will interview the client to uncover any additional details that will help our research team.
Witness Location: Preliminary Research
Once we have some information to work with—such as a place of employment for potential witnesses, for example—our research team attempts to gather more information from open-source intelligence, including the Internet, news databases, and social media, to find names of people and companies or organizations that might be worth contacting.
Digging Deeper Through Databases
Once we identify targets of interest, we cross-reference multiple proprietary databases in search of contact information, using information such as geography, age, and other details uncovered by research to narrow down the results.
Sometimes, we have too many potential targets, perhaps because of a common name, for instance. In such cases, we ask the client for any additional information that will help us narrow down our list.
Making Initial Contact with Potential Witnesses
Once our research analysts have identified contact information for persons of interest, our investigators reach out to the potential witnesses. Sometimes the contact is a success, and we find a witness who is willing to testify. Sometimes we hit a dead end. The contact may not be the right person; even if it is the right person, he or she may not be willing to provide testimony. In some cases, the person has passed away. Sometimes, however, a lead that doesn’t pan out as a witness may provide us with useful information, such as the names of other potential witnesses.
Locating witnesses can be challenging and time-consuming, especially when you don’t know whom, exactly, you’re looking for. But with the right investigation and research team, it is possible to identify and find witnesses even with limited information.
