In most U.S. jurisdictions, surveillance conducted in public spaces is entirely lawful — no consent is required when a subject has no reasonable expectation of privacy. Parking lots, public streets, restaurant entrances, and loading docks are fair territory. What changes is the moment the subject enters a private space: a home, a private office, or any location where a reasonable person would expect not to be observed. We operate exclusively within these legal boundaries. Every engagement begins with a jurisdiction review so you know exactly what is and is not permissible before a single hour is logged.

No — and any investigator who claims otherwise is either lying to you or about to hand you a lawsuit. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) prohibits intercepting electronic communications without consent. What we can do: document call patterns through lawfully obtained phone records, identify device registrations through OSINT, and correlate communication timelines with observed physical activity. The combination is often more probative than raw message content anyway.

Multi-state operations are routine. Each state has its own licensing requirements for PIs conducting work within its borders, and we maintain reciprocal arrangements with licensed affiliates in all 50 states. When a case crosses state lines, we brief you on any jurisdiction-specific constraints upfront — for example, certain states have stricter rules around recording consensual conversations. Your case file reflects the legal framework of wherever the subject is located, not where you are.

Properly conducted surveillance strengthens a case rather than jeopardizing it. The risk comes from unlawful methods — accessing a spouse's email without permission, placing a GPS tracker on a vehicle you don't own, or conducting surveillance inside a private residence. We have worked alongside family law attorneys in over 400 domestic cases. Our documentation protocols are designed specifically for family court admissibility standards, and we can coordinate directly with your counsel before and during the engagement.

Admissibility turns on authentication and chain of custody. Every piece of media we collect is timestamped at capture, logged in a chain-of-custody document, stored on write-protected media, and accompanied by an investigator's affidavit attesting to the circumstances of collection. We use professional-grade cameras with embedded metadata, and our reports are written to the evidentiary standard used by family courts and civil litigation counsel. In 94% of cases where our evidence was submitted, it was admitted without a successful challenge.

Digital forensics involves the lawful recovery and analysis of electronically stored information — deleted files, metadata, device activity logs, and communication records obtained through legal process. Admissibility depends entirely on how the data was obtained. Evidence pulled from a device you own and have legal access to is generally admissible. Evidence obtained through unauthorized access to another person's device or accounts is not, and may expose you to criminal liability. We work only within the former, and can coordinate with forensic accountants or e-discovery counsel when a case requires court-ordered access.

They are written to be. Our standard investigative report includes a factual narrative, timestamped photographs or video captures, a chain-of-custody log, applicable database documentation, and an investigator's affidavit suitable for attachment to a motion or submitted as an exhibit. We have testified in deposition and at trial, and can be retained as an expert witness for an additional fee. If your attorney has specific formatting requirements or needs a supplemental affidavit, we accommodate those requests before the report is finalized.

Surveillance work is billed hourly, typically between $85 and $150 per hour depending on complexity and geography, with a minimum engagement of four hours. Skip traces and background investigations are flat-fee: $350 for a standard skip trace, $550 for a comprehensive background investigation, and $800 for a full asset search. Retainers are required for ongoing surveillance cases. We provide a written scope of work and cost estimate before any engagement begins — no surprise billing, no vague hour counts.

Client confidentiality is both a legal obligation and a professional standard we hold above everything else. We do not discuss client identities, case details, or findings with anyone outside the engagement — including other clients, media, or law enforcement absent a court order. Our intake process uses encrypted communication channels. Case files are stored on air-gapped systems and destroyed per a documented retention schedule. We have never had a breach of client confidentiality in twelve years of operation.

Less than you might think. For a skip trace: a full legal name and last known address is sufficient to begin. For surveillance: a photo, vehicle description, and a general location or routine. For a background check: full name and date of birth, with Social Security number if available. We ask questions to understand your situation before we ask for documents. The initial consultation is free and confidential — nothing you share in that conversation is logged or retained.

We tell you. If a skip trace exhausts available databases and fieldwork without a confirmed current address, we close the case and charge only for hours worked. If surveillance yields no probative activity after an agreed number of hours, we brief you on what was observed and recommend whether continuation is warranted. We do not string engagements along to run up hours. Our reputation is built on giving clients accurate assessments — including the assessment that a case may not have a satisfying answer.