Sneaking a Peek: Inappropriate surveillance techniques
Conducting surveillance is a juggling act between balancing the desire to obtain the client's desired result with the risk of pressing the coverage in a way that might be construed as harassment - or even stalking. Knowing the legal limits, and knowing when to say when, is an essential skill of the professional legal investigator.
When surveillance is being carried out in support of litigation, it is especially important to not give the opponent ammunition to use against your client. A skilled operative can usually spot signs that someone is becoming aware of their presence. To continue following the individual despite the detection of such signs can lead to a confrontation - one that nowadays is typically preserved for posterity using a cell phone camera. This, of course, can lead to disastrous results. At the very least it virtually eliminates the likelihood that you can come back later to obtain the desired results. At most it can lead to a counterclaim for harassment, subsequently jeopardizing the case, as well as the reputation of both the attorney and the investigator.
There are numerous media accounts of investigators who went so far as to be arrested for stalking. A common denominator was the... Read More
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