A background check is a deep dive into someone’s professional, education, and personal history that reveals who he or she is as a person. This service can reveal things like criminal history, employment history, participation in civil lawsuits, family history, education history, and more. Background searching is critical for attorneys in their investigations for criminal and civil cases. Many times a look into someone’s background will reveal secrets, lies, crimes, involvement, activities, or lies that a person is trying to hide from the world.
Below is a full list of what background searches can reveal about an individual, organized group of people or business entity:
- Addresses,
- Phone numbers and other points of contact,
- Social media posts and involvement,
- Employment records,
- Education records and degree,
- Financials,
- Court records,
- Marriage records,
- Bankruptcies,
- Driving records,
- Credit records,
- Licensing records,
- Litigation records,
- Drug tests,
- Interrogations,
- Military records, and
- Birth certificates and legal status
One of the most important types of cases that background checks can be useful are family law cases. Family cases such as divorces and custody battles are extremely difficult on families, children, and attorneys that handle these cases. From handling the legal proceedings, getting to know the families, and building relationships with the clients, family law attorneys have their hands full. However, background checks should not be passed by because they can reveal critical information for cases. For instance, background checks can reveal information that could lead to a person’s hidden secrets. These hidden secrets could include a criminal history, substance abuse, lies about employment and education, finances and residence. Any and all secrets that spouses may tell could be covering up crimes or other negative behavior that could affect family law proceedings.
Private investigators use many different resources for background checking individuals. Special databases and resources are used to get information that may not be available to clients, attorneys, or the general public. Investigators can also do a deep dive into social media accounts and interview family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and employees. Investigations could also include looking into business involvements, assets, contacts with others, and other traces of evidence.
Background checks can reveal much more than a criminal record. Attorneys and individuals often reach out to investigators for help with finding out someone’s new business relationships, hidden financials, staff members and employees, infidelity and romantic relationships, and providers like nannies, elder care, and daycare staff.
For attorneys looking to hire a private investigator to dig up background information for a case, private investigators will often use more than just a background check or database search. Private investigators have resources such as undercover work, surveillance, interviews, tracking, internet searches, and more.
Hiring an investigator to conduct background searches brings the advantages of receiving accurate and reliable information as well as eliminates the need for attorneys to spend all of their time on background checking and obtaining a client, witness, or opposing party’s background information. Background searches can also be customized to fit individual needs such as the specific requirements that are most critical to the attorneys’ needs.