Background Checks
Background checks can prove invaluable in civil litigation. Whether you are evaluating the merits of a possible case or preparing for trial, conducting background checks on opposing parties, witnesses, and potential jurors can help you uncover hidden biases, motives and agendas, reveal conflicts of interest, assess credibility, and objectively analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each side’s case. Millennium Intelligence Agency provides critical support in this area by conducting thorough, professional background checks that give you the information you need to evaluate and assess your person of interest.
Background Checks Help Complete the Picture
Background checks cover many aspects of a person’s life, delving into critical areas such as the personal, professional and financial. Background checks help you understand the person you are dealing with so you’ll have a better sense of where they are coming from and how they might react – on the witness stand, in the jury box, or during settlement negotiations. A comprehensive background check can tell you about, for example:
- A person’s past behavior and patterns of conduct
- Their associations and activities
- Prior legal actions as plaintiff, defendant, or other party in interest
- Criminal history, including arrests and convictions
- Employment history
- Academic credentials
- Address history
- Family members and associates
Background Checks Have Many Uses in Civil Litigation
When building a case for trial or preparing for mediation, arbitration, or settlement negotiations, knowledge is power, and having the most high-quality information in hand prepares you to move forward confidently and strategically. Background checks are a key source of knowledge and information. Depending on your needs, it could be beneficial to your case to run background checks on a number of different individuals, notably opposing parties, witnesses, and potential jurors, as discussed below.
Opposing Parties
The motives driving parties in litigation are not always clear. Background checks can illuminate those motives and help you evaluate claims, counterclaims, allegations and alleged statements of fact, checking them against reality as revealed by the results of the background investigation. An objective analysis of background facts can help you determine a party’s finances or other critical aspects of their situation that may be relevant to the strengths and weaknesses of your case and your opponent’s, settlement options, and more.
Witnesses
A witness’s impact ultimately relies on their credibility. Background checks could reveal conflicts of interest and relationships you wouldn’t otherwise know existed. Evidence of past ethical violations or other misconduct could impeach a witness’s credibility and render their testimony useless or even harmful. Whether the witness is lay or expert, yours or theirs, getting a clear picture of their background beforehand can be useful in formulating your trial strategy, including how to cross-examine an opposing witness or whether and how to use a witness of your own.
Potential Jurors
Jury selection is one of the most critical stages of a trial, and a great deal of preparation goes into the voir dire process to winnow the venire into an empaneled jury you trust will hear your case fairly and impartially, without hidden motives or agendas or an axe to grind that could doom your trial before opening statements have even begun. Picking a jury is an art as well as a science, but conducting background checks on potential jurors can help you identify biases and guide your voir dire so you can make judicious use of your peremptory challenges and have the basis you need to justify challenges for cause as well.
Contact Millennium Intelligence Agency for Background Checks Done Right
Part of providing competent representation to your clients includes conducting due diligence on the people relevant to your case. Background checks are a key part of that due diligence and can also be instrumental in forming and fine-tuning your case strategy. Millennium Intelligence Agency provides you with thorough, accurate information you can count on, gathered by a California Licensed Private Investigator who has nearly 40 years of experience and is widely versed in traditional and modern methods of intelligence gathering. For help with background checks and other investigations to support your civil litigation, call Millennium Intelligence Agency at 213-986-9888 to discuss your needs.
