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If you’re a legal professional, performing deep dives on individuals is part of the job. You need to gather comprehensive information on every person involved in the case, and that requires hours of research. Some legal professionals hire private investigators to help perform this research, and others do it themselves. But in law, time is money, and you need to be sure the information you are gathering is accurate and complete. The good news? In addition to professional investigators, technology is here to help. A public and private records database is key to running an effective and efficient practice — regardless of your practice area — because it helps streamline your legal research and provides you with the accurate facts you need to build your case. Here’s three reasons why your law practice can benefit from a public and records database.
Save money and speed up your legal research
Traditionally, attorneys may have had to go to court and request physical copies of records to perform their legal research, or hire someone else to find this information for them. Not only is this time-consuming, it can also be costly. A records retrieval software allows you to access billions of public and private records from wherever you are – from your office to your home. Not only does this help you save the time and money involved with combing through physical copies of records, but it also allows you to find the information most relevant to your case more quickly because it aggregates data from many sources into one comprehensive report. A public and private records database also provides you with records like address history that can help you perform quicker witness location and avoid hiring a third-party service to gather the information for you. When you’re able to perform quicker legal research and keep it in-house, you can focus your energy on other areas of your practice that matter more — like building your legal argument. This means more billable hours, which in turn will make you more money.
Use a public and private records database to perform due diligence and mitigate risk
A public and private records database can provide you with comprehensive information about your client and opponent that you may not be able to find elsewhere, helping you perform more thorough due diligence and mitigate risk. For example, you can perform a social media search to comb through social profiles and websites to gather information about an individual’s whereabouts and activities. This data can be used to vet potential jurors, perform background investigations on your client and opposition, and even as evidence in court. For example, if you’re in a personal injury trial and someone who has claimed an injury posted a photo of themselves rock climbing, you may be able to use the photo to cast doubt on their claim. You can perform an asset search in a public records database to uncover all assets, even hidden assets, that belong to both your client and opposition, which is important in family law or estate planning and probate law in which you are handling settlements and trying to get a fair deal for your client. You can even use a public and private records database to search business records, which is useful for due diligence and fraud investigations, or find information about relatives or business associates to help you skip trace individuals or locate parties that may have information about the case.
Gather more accurate and up-to-date data in the best way for you
When performing legal research and building a case, you need to be sure that the information you gather is accurate and up-to-date. When you pull information from only a courthouse, credit header bureau, or an online search engine like Google, there is no way to know for sure that the information is still relevant. A public and private records database pulls data from a variety of different sources — like utility listings data and other alternative data sources — so you can cross-check the information you collect, fill in missing holes, and feel confident that the information you’ve gathered is accurate and complete. You can also use a public and private records search engine to access up-to-date property records and real-time incarceration reports, which helps ensure that if anything happens during the case, like a change in property ownership or an arrest, you’re made aware of it and can take the necessary next steps. And, with options like batch processing and API, you can perform multiple searches at once and integrate your own software with the third-party database – allowing you to gather information in the best way for your law practice.
Running an efficient practice requires taking advantage of the legal technology available, and that’s why legal professionals need to utilize the tools available in a public and private records database. With a public and private records database, you can save time and money doing legal research, perform better due diligence, and feel confident that the information you’re using is accurate and up-to-date. Interested in seeing what a public and private records database can do for you legal practice? Try Tracers today.
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