A Paralegal’s Guide to Building Contacts like a Private Investigator

A good PI tries to be a jack-of-all-trades, working not only as an investigator but also as a researcher, interviewer, analyzer, and lastly, a thinker. After getting a case from a law firm, a skilled investigator immediately prioritizes his or her tasks, thinking about where to start, who to contact for help, what issues to uncover, what potential problems to clear up, and how much time to spend doing research, talking by phone or in person to people, and chasing down other leads. This organizing process helps investigators save time and effort-not just theirs, but yours as well.

But while good investigators try to think of all the things they can do to complete a case, they also realize that to maximize their efforts they may need to "synergize" their approach. Some case-oriented tasks may be beyond their scope of expertise or knowledge, so they reach out into their large network of friends, colleagues, and peers to get good, qualified help with these various aspects. By coordinating the efforts of others, they can focus their activities on the parts of the case they feel best qualified to handle.


As an example, many investigators who work for personal injury and traffic-collision firms have some limited background in traffic- accident scene examination. This basic knowledge may carry them through dozens of traffic cases with few problems. But in more complex or serious cases, perhaps involving deaths, multiple cars, and multiple serious injuries or extensive amounts of complicated physical evidence like skid marks, scrapes, or equipment failures, these same competent investigators may need to call on colleagues with even more training.

Typically, accident reconstructionists have proven backgrounds in engineering, physics, vehicle accident characteristics, tire wear and skid mark evaluation, and even metallurgy. These highly trained reconstructionists become the investigator's own "expert witnesses," helping discover the truth in difficult cases where the weight of evidence is too overwhelming and important to leave to chance.

Just as some attorneys go outside their firms to hire veteran trial lawyers to take their cases to court, a good investigator will know his or her boundaries of knowledge and call on others for assistance when necessary.

As another example, if the investigator is asked to conduct a complete asset search of a defendant, he or she may call upon a colleague with access to bank accounts, stock portfolios, real estate, or similar financial instruments. This associate, who deals in these areas on a regular basis, can get far more accomplished, and in less time, than the investigator.

And so it should go with you as the paralegal professional. From the beginning of your career, gather names of people who can help you later. A paralegal who spends a few hours per month networking with colleagues in various legal, social, and professional organizations and attending society and association meetings can come away with a vast library of resources, all contained on single two-inch by three- and-one-half-inch pieces of paper known as business cards.

Be prepared to collect business cards and to give yours out in any social situation that may relate to your profession. Your goal should be to collect at least one Rolodex® file, if not two, of competent professionals who may be able to give you assistance at some time in the future.

It's been said that you are only three or four phone calls away from anyone you would ever want to meet. A case in point: I have an associate who is on friendly terms with the personal accountant for a United States Senator. I have another friend who is a U.S. Secret Service agent, assigned to the Washington, DC, presidential protection squad. Should I ever seriously wish to meet our President (assuming I could get to the White House and his schedule-makers could find a spare five minutes), I only have to make a few calls to start the wheels in motion.

While this example may sound a bit fantastic, it would be possible to achieve that outcome if I really wanted to undertake it. The point is that many of your obstacles to help and information are self-imposed. By expanding your network of qualified associates, you can develop a personal list of people who may be of help to you tomorrow, next year, or in five years. The beauty of this well-stocked list is that the people whose names are in it represent a huge source of untapped energy at your disposal. It's not necessary to call everyone in your phone list once a week to check in, but rather, once a year, go through it and call the people you haven't encountered on a regular basis. Find out if they are still doing the same things. They may have changed jobs, changed careers, or perhaps have moved into your own office building.

As I look through my own full phone list, I see names and numbers for specialists of every type. If I were working as a paralegal today, I could call on: a friend who specializes in copyright law, an expert in electrical construction matters, a real estate appraiser, an engineer, a newspaper reporter, a banker, a polygraph operator, a chiropractor, a stamp collection expert, a forensic photographer, a video camera operator, a jewelry appraiser, a firefighter, a labor relations expert, a bus accident expert, a psychologist, a police homicide detective, a helicopter pilot, a computer security analyst, a hypnotist, a mortician, a postal worker, a tax expert, a chemist, and a sports injury therapist.

Do you think even one of these 25 experts could help me if I were a paralegal working on a personal injury, criminal defense, product liability, worker's compensation, civil, or business law case? If you were a paralegal who might be faced with any cases like these, wouldn't it be worthwhile to save the business cards of all these contacts for just the right set of circumstances? Yes!

This is not to say that everyone you meet will be able to further your career, lighten your caseload, or make you look like a star in front of your boss. But who's to say that someday, some time, you won't come across the one person who has a unique job or specialized training that can save you hours, days, or even weeks worth of time on a case. You can start this whole process by digging through your phone list and making a call. Keep the power of this network-oriented approach in the back of your mind at all times. Give out as many business cards as you collect and start to develop business relationships now so that they may pay dividends down the road.