Use of private investigators

Use of private investigators

In many computer crime cases, the employment of an expert investigator to assist the attorney will be necessary. Computer crime cases tend to be complicated and often technical. Their investigation usually requires time, effort, expertise, and skill.

Depending on the facts in dispute, counsel may instruct the private investigator to search criminal records, public records, hospital records, military files, mental health institution records, civil litigation files, occupational data, union affiliation records, or other sources of this nature for information pertaining to the defendant that counsel represents, any other alleged codefendants, and key personnel employed by the victim, as well as other witnesses who might play an important part in the trial.

As a practical matter, the private investigator is the employee of the attorney, not the client. Therefore, the attorney must pay the investigator and collect the fee from the client.