Finding & Backgrounding People Research Madness March 22, 2010 - - PDF document

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Finding & Backgrounding People

Research Madness March 22, 2010 When Do You Need to Research People?

• You are searching for a job and want to

learn more about the employees at a firm.

• You are conducting client development.
• You need to find the address of a

You need to find the address of a defendant for proper service of process.

• You need to identify experts in a field.
• You are appearing before a judge and

want to know more about her record.

• Others?

Specialized Directories

• Directories of Courts & Judges research

guide

• Directories of Lawyers research guide

Di t i f E t Wit

• Directories of Expert Witnesses

– Zimmerman’s Research Guide – WorldCat: Witnesses—United States— Directories

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Words of Warning

• Today’s focus is on freely-available

resources, or subscription resources which are available to Duke users.

• Your law firm may have access to a wider
• Your law firm may have access to a wider

variety of premium people-finding tools:

– Westlaw PeopleMap (or WestlawNext) – LexisNexis SmartLinx

Key to Successful Fact Research

• When you need to research any factual

information, consider this question:

“Who cares?”

• The answer will determine the best

starting place to find the facts you need.

The “Who Cares” Rule

• The “Who cares?” principle also applies

to people-finding, but could be adjusted to:

“Who knows?”

• Consider the amount of information we

give out about ourselves regularly.

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The Government

Federal State County/Local

• Social Security

Administration

• Internal

Revenue

• DMV
• Tax

department

• Other
• County clerk:

vital records (born, married, divorced, died) Service

• Federal

Election Commission: campaign contributions Other licensing boards (professional & recreational)

• Tax assessor:

Real property & some assets

• Board of

Education

• Public library:

records & contact info

Data Brokers

• There are also a lot of private companies

that know a lot about you!

– ChoicePoint (purchased by LexisNexis) – Intelius

• Marketers buy this information and use it

to target advertising.

– Do Not Call: https://www.donotcall.gov/ – Stop Credit Card Offers: https://www.optoutprescreen.com

People-Finding Tools & Strategies g

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Basic Web Searches

• Google (with advanced search tips)
• Pipl: search by name, email address,
• nline username, phone numbers
• Birthdatabase: limited birthday &

address information; links to premium reports

• ZoomInfo: free front-end to Intelius; links

to premium reports

Addresses & Phone Numbers

• Anywho: online phone directory; current

listings only (no cellular)

• FoneFinder: Number information lookup
• Westlaw: NEWMOVERS database

Westlaw: NEWMOVERS database

• LexisNexis: Locate a Person Nationwide

database (Public Records > View More Sources); includes current & past addresses

• Google Maps & Bing Maps for satellite

views

Vital Records

• Generally held at county level.
• “Public record” ≠ “free on the Internet”!
• Minimum requirement: available upon

i ti inspection.

• Research/copying service may be

available (for a fee).

• Some governments will make records

available online.

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Asset Searches

• Real property records are generally

available at the county government level.

– Durham County (NC) Orange County (NC) – Orange County (NC)

• Commercial data brokers may be able to

access more asset information.

• Unclaimed.org: Does someone owe you?

Political Information

• Voter registration: also county

government level. Searchability will vary.

– Durham County (NC): gives back addresses – Los Angeles County (CA): adds required g y ( ) q fields

• Campaign contributions

– FEC Search – OpenSecrets – State searches will vary

Professionals

• LinkedIn: some info publicly visible
• Employer directories

– Governments (may include salaries) A d i t – Academic sector – Company information resources (3/26 workshop) usually include key personnel

• Presentations/activities (experts)

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Bad Professionals

• Information on license status and

disciplinary proceedings are generally kept at state government level.

• Doctors: State Medical Boards [NC]
• Doctors: State Medical Boards [NC]
• Lawyers: State Bar [NC]
• Electricians [NC]
• Plumbers [NC]

Brushes with the Law

• Current inmates (and some past)

– Federal: Bureau of Prisons – State: Departments of Corrections [NC]

• Criminal history

Criminal history

– CriminalSearches.com (limited info) – Megan’s Law registries [NC] – Local papers may include police reports. [NY]

• Lawsuits

– Docket & case research (3/29 workshop)

The Inevitable

• Death certificates are maintained at the

county level.

• Social Security Death Index: Deaths

reported to SSA. p

• Obituaries can provide a wealth of

information about a person– and their survivors.

– America’s Newspapers – Local papers, again

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Pitfalls of People-Finding

• Privacy concerns

– “Legitimate purpose” – Identity theft risks – Human-flesh search engines g

• Ethical concerns (pretexting)
• Data errors

– Sound-alike names – Misspellings – Incorrect information – no warranties

Questions?

Jennifer L. Behrens Reference Librarian behrens@law.duke.edu (919) 613 7198 (919) 613-7198

• Zimmerman’s Research Guide
• Directories of Courts & Judges
• Directories of Lawyers
• LexisNexis
• Westlaw

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Upcoming Research Madness

THIS WEEK NEXT WEEK MON. Finding & Backgrounding People Finding Forms, Court Rules, & Court Filings TUE. Course Selection & Essential Elements of the 2L Career Planning (3043) Job Search (12:15; rm 3041) WED. Free & Low-Cost Legal Research THU. Tackling Tax Research FRI. Business & Company Information