Upcoming Events

November 2012 - Palm Beach County Bar Association Flower Sponsor of the Month, celebrating the Bar's new building

January 15, 2013 - Palm Beach County Bar Association, Solo & Small Firm Luncheon; Ethics, Advertising & Marketing

 

March 6, 2013 - Palm Beach County Bar Association, Solo & Small Firm Luncheon; Website Marketing

 

May 24, 2013 - Palm Beach County Bar Association, Solo & Small Firm Luncheon; An Exchange of Ideas from Colleagues on What Works and What Doesn't

 

 

We want to write about topics that you can use in your day-to-day practice. Please e-mail us your topics of interest to   

InvestigativeReport@completelegalinv.com.

 

"Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all. "

~ Dwight D. Eisenhower 

 

 

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The client owned a massage therapy business. One of the client's massage therapists quit and went to work at another spa, which was located a few miles from the client's business. The client suspected the employee had taken several of her clients with him. The client wanted video of the employee entering and leaving the business, along with videos and license plates of the customers and vehicles entering the business and its adjacent parking lot.

 

The investigation became problematic, as the location was a large shopping plaza and poorly suited for surveillance. After a frustrating day trying to ascertain who was entering the spa, and with hundreds of vehicles entering and exiting the plaza, we discussed an alternate strategy with the client. We decided to send in a female investigator to ask for the therapist and to engage in conversation about his clients.

 

The investigator made an appointment for a massage with the former employee. After beginning the massage... Read More 

 

  

 

The client had purchased a small accounting firm from a gentleman who claimed he was leaving South Florida and moving to Central Florida. The seller entered into a non-compete agreement, restricting his involvement in another accounting business to an area outside a 100-mile radius of his former business location.

 

A few months after the sale was completed, the client noticed that several of the customers that he had acquired from the seller were no longer coming to him. He called one of the customers with whom he had established a friendly relationship, and a short, uncomfortable conversation ensued. The client suspected that his customer was now seeing the seller at his new location, which the client believed was not in Central Florida, but still in the area.

Our investigation developed information that the seller had not, in fact, sold his home in South Florida, but had... Read More 

 

  

Verifying Violations of Non-Compete Agreements    

 

Employees who sign employment agreements that include a "non-compete" provision are generally prohibited from working in jobs or businesses that would provide services or products that compete with the current employer. However, employees will often "jump ship" for a competitor who offers a better compensation package, especially in tight job markets. The legal aspect of prosecuting a non-compete claim is the arena of an attorney. For investigators, the task is to document the alleged violation.

 

Three common methods of documenting a non-compete violation are:

• Surveillance
• Interviews
• Pretextual calls or meetings

Surveillance: One way of establishing a potential violation is to follow the former employee to his current place of employment. However, depending on the circumstances, that may not be sufficient to prove the violation.  

 

For instance, suppose the employee drives to a large office building and is observed entering a brokerage firm. Her prior employment contract prohibits her from engaging in stock or bond transactions for clients of her former employer, another brokerage, for six months. However, simply proving that the subject entered the office does not constitute proof of a violation. Determining the employee's new job duties would require additional investigation to verify a possible violation.... Read More 

 

  

At Complete Legal Investigations, Inc., we help our clients eliminate uncertainty by understanding the issues confronting them. We conduct interviews, research, and forensic analysis to clarify disputed facts and identify potential solutions.

Complete Legal Investigations, Inc. is comprised of talented and experienced investigators and researchers with over 80 years' combined experience in the legal system. Our staff is bilingual and comprised of former federal and state investigators, Certified Legal Investigators (CLI®), Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE®), and a Certified and Florida Registered Paralegal (CP®). Working as a team, we provide an adjunct staff that works cooperatively with your law firm or business, so that you can offer your client the very best legal representation.  Learn more

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