Case Study: An Elusive Defendant is Located

Client:  Major New York law firm

Case Type:  Silverman Associates was tasked with finding and serving the defendant in a civil suit. The lawsuit had been stalled for over a year because the defendant could not be located.

The Challenge:  Prior to Silverman’s involvement, another private investigation firm failed to locate the defendant despite a lengthy search. Some evidence led the client to believe that the defendant was eluding them by regularly relocating up and down the East Coast.

Silverman’s Findings:  The investigative process involved the following steps:

• Computer Searches:  A comprehensive database search yielded no leads: no current addresses, no property ownership, no known assets. Silverman Associates did find the defendant on various social networking websites including MySpace and Facebook. However, the information on his web profiles was found to be outdated and/or purposely misleading.


• Old-Fashioned Detective Work:  The breakthrough in the case came through traditional detective work, after a Silverman investigator obtained the defendant’s business email address. The investigator posed as a potential client and set up a business meeting with the defendant near his Florida home.

Result:  Success! The defendant was served upon his arrival to the bogus business meeting, and the lawsuit was able to proceed.