Public records and factual research can be a daunting task, but it can also be fun and enlightening. Imagine yourself as a private eye, investigating the background of witnesses, experts, potential clients, adversaries, or claimants.
In a legal environment, "factual research" (also referred to as "non-law research") is different from "legal research." Before you can know what law applies, you need to make sure you fully understand the facts of a situation. Law school hypotheticals typically contain all the information you will need, but the "real world" seldom works that way.
All of these situations involve factual research.
The term "public records" implies the information you are researching is public, and available for anyone to review. While this may be true to a certain extent, it is important to remember what "public" does not mean. "Public" does not necessarily mean "available online," "easy to obtain," or "free."
Doing factual research can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are billions of public records – and more created every day. At the same time, privacy restrictions limit the availability of certain information to the public. Selecting the right tool, database, agency, or department to get started can help ensure you aren't searching an unnecessarily large (or altogether wrong) "haystack," which will save you time, money, and aggravation. To do this, keep in mind that:
It always helps to have reasonable expectations!
Below are two main statutes that protect an individual's personal information (and consequently the ability of a third-party to access it).
Much of the information covered by these (and similar) statutes is sold to database vendors, who in turn sell access to users who come within the permitted exceptions. This is why users are typically asked to certify their "permissible use" before they may access the information. Often, an attorney's work will come within one of the "permissible uses." However, law students – even if they are working in a legal clinic – are not yet licensed attorneys and therefore will need to select "no permissible use" and have limited access.
NOTE: "Permissible uses" by licensed attorneys can include such matters as: serving legal process, locating victims, witnesses, or beneficiaries, insurance investigations, debt collection, child support enforcement, etc.
For additional privacy information from the perspective of consumers, visit the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Just because you have access to a resource doesn't mean you should use it to obtain information about anyone of interest to you. Your use of a database is subject to its Terms of Use requirements, which are generally designed to comply with relevant laws (see, for example, the Subscriber Agreement for TransUnion's TLOxp database). Also, keep in mind that Rule 8.4(c) of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct states that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Below are examples of research tactics that may be viewed as unethical:
This is obviously a gray area, but be mindful that if something doesn't feel right, it may not be.
On a related note, you may find the ABA's Formal Opinion #462 (February 21, 2013) regarding a Judge's Use of Electronic Social Networking Media of interest.
Public records come in a variety of forms:
Finding contact information for people can be as easy as typing a name into a search engine – but more likely, it will not be. Here are some things to keep in mind when trying to locate specific individuals.
Tips:
Caveats:
Below are some FREE directories you can use to find people (many more exist – you can easily find them by googling).
To a large extent, you get what you pay for. Nevertheless, there may be times when free resources are the only ones available or the most convenient to use and they can certainly be useful. You will notice, however, that often only the most basic information is free – it will cost money to obtain more detailed information or a "report."
Keep in mind that because these resources are free (or relatively low cost), the information you find will often be out-of-date or not entirely accurate as minimal effort is made to verify the accuracy or currency of the information. Any information you find should be considered a starting point and independently verified before you rely upon it for any reason.
Below is a sampling of sites that will cost money (many more exist and can easily be found by googling),
These services tend to be more accurate, more current, and provide more detailed reports than the free sites. (Free sites will often lead you to a fee-for-service site to get additional information.)
NOTE: The two subscription sites noted here require you to verify who you are and why you need the information. Access is regulated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Drivers Privacy Protection Act (GLB/DPPA). "Permissible uses" generally include business reasons, fraud prevention, litigation research, employment screening, or permission from the individual being researched. For additional information about privacy protections, see the "Privacy Laws" section, above.
People often "broadcast" information using social media. As a result, searching social media can help you find information that otherwise might be more difficult to find due to privacy restrictions. In addition to searching general social media sites like Facebook or Instagram, try using these:
"Vital Records" are official government records of key life events. These typically include birth, death, marriage, and divorce; however, some states include other events (e.g., civil unions, domestic partnerships, naturalization, etc.).
Adoption records are typically held by the court that granted the adoption and are usually sealed (but may be accessed by a court order after a demonstration of need).
This section includes information on how to find traditional vital records and other related information about a person.
NOTE: Requirements regarding the types of vital records that may be obtained vary by state and agency. Often, only the individual at issue or their immediate family may request such documents.
Many professions require licensing by states (or by the federal government, in the case of professions that extend across state borders e.g., the Federal Aviation Administration). Most (if not all) of these licenses can be verified online by state government or agency websites (or through private sites that aggregate this information). Below are some examples of licensing-related websites.
NOTE: Licensing authorities can also be a source of information for determining if someone has had professional complaints filed against them or if they have been formally sanctioned.
Sometimes it may be necessary to verify someone's military service – whether it is to determine eligibility to receive certain benefits or to show where someone was (or could not have been) at a point in time. The resources below can help you obtain this information.
If you need to discover (or confirm) someone's criminal background, there are a variety of tools you can use. However, privacy concerns may limit the amount of information you are able to access (law enforcement and criminal justice agencies will have access to the most comprehensive information).
You should first determine if the type of information you want to find about someone can be accessed without violating privacy laws (which will vary by state). Many commercial sites will purport to make "criminal background" information available but may end up containing a very limited amount of information.
NOTE: "Criminal records" are not the same as "court records" (which are generally considered to be public records, unless sealed). Please see "Court Records," below for additional information.
When researching a business or organization, the types of public records you can expect to find depends on the type of legal entity you are researching. Below is a high-level (and overly simplified) summary. For additional information, please see the HLSL Research Guide on Company, Industry and Market Research and/or other library resources on the specific type of business organization.
EXCEPTION: If a sole proprietorship operates under a business name, it typically needs to make a "Doing Business As" (DBA) filing that identifies who is responsible for a particular business. DBA filings can generally be obtained from the local Secretary of State's office (see the "Secretary of State Filings" section, below).
Bottom Line: The amount of public disclosure that is required of a business/organization increases the more that:
The purpose of these disclosures to:
Useful article: Matthew M. Morrison, Due Diligence: Company Information for Law Students, 108 Law Libr. J. 427 (2016), https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/llj108&i=421.
If a company is publicly-traded, it is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and subject to numerous reporting and disclosure requirements under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These include periodic filings (e.g., SEC Form 10-K) and as needed filings (e.g., SEC Form 8-K). These filings are designed to:
Below are some FREE sources of information regarding publicly-traded companies.
NOTE: The websites of publicly-traded companies typically provide a wealth of company information. For example, access to recent SEC filings, current and historical Annual Reports to shareholders, and general corporate governance information (often in a section entitled "Investor Relations" or simply "Investors"), as well as convenient access to company press releases (often in a section entitled "News").
Most businesses in the US are privately-held (and often family-owned); however, some privately-held companies are quite large. Although it is more difficult to find information about privately-held companies, it is not impossible. Here are some suggestions:
Secretary of State filings generally contain the following information about a business:
Non-profit organizations often seek donations from the public. As a result, the initial filings to request tax-exempt status (IRS Form 1023) and ongoing reporting (IRS Forms 990) required by the IRS are designed to not only ensure that the organization is operating in a manner consistent with its tax-exempt status but to also provide potential donors with the information they need to make informed charitable donation decisions. In this regard, potential donors are akin to potential investors.
States also monitor the activities of charities and other non-profit organizations.
Deeds and titles to property are typically filed at the county level. Although property records are often available online, this may not always be the case and a trip to the county registry may be required. Information regarding property ownership may also be obtained from local Tax Assessors' offices. (NOTE: This information concerns the ownership of property, not necessarily who resides at the property in the case of renters.)
Below are some FREE online resources for finding property records:
And don't forget Google Maps – the satellite and street views can be very informative!
Obtaining information about other types of assets can be more difficult (see "Privacy Laws," above).
However, Divorce/Bankruptcy/Foreclosure filings are public records and often include financial information about people and businesses (unless sealed, as is often the case in divorces). Nevertheless, you may be able to obtain information regarding sources of income/revenue, the existence of assets such as bank accounts, stock, real property, and other investments, the identity of creditors, etc. See the "Court Records" section, below for additional information.
A "docket" is a record of the proceedings of a court case and provides such information as:
It is important to note that the details, contents, and accessibility of dockets may vary across jurisdictions, especially with respect to state courts.
Some additional resources you might find helpful are:
You may need to do factual research as part of finding, evaluating, and otherwise vetting expert witnesses. Some resources you may want to use are:
Newspapers should not be overlooked as a resource for factual research. Here is a list of Newspaper Databases (with descriptions; access limited to the Harvard University or HLS communities).
In addition, you may want to try:
The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 – often called by its acronym FOIA (pronounced foy-ah) – is the law that gives citizens the right to request and review records and information from the Federal Government. To learn more about how FOIA works, see the official website at FOIA.gov.
Each federal agency has its own FOIA office and requests for records should be made directly to that office. If you can't locate an agency's FOIA office on the agency's website, use FOIA.gov's Agency Search Tool.
Each federal agency has its own FOIA office and requests for records should be made directly to that office. If you can't locate an agency's FOIA office on the agency's website, use FOIA.gov's Agency Search Tool.
You may also want to refer to this book:
Below are some sites you might find helpful but which did not lend themselves to obvious categorization.
It is becoming very important to be able to verify any information you find online.
For general information on how to evaluate potential "fake news," see the Harvard Library's Research Guide on Fake News, Disinformation, and Propaganda.
Also, First Draft was founded in 2015 as a non-profit coalition, providing guidance on how to best find, verify, and publish content sourced from the social web. In 2017, it joined the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where it developed the Information Disorder Lab and explored the spread and threat of information disorder on closed messaging apps. In 2022, it began its next iteration at the Information Futures Lab (part of Brown University). Content continues to be available on the First Draft website and includes a relatively short, online training course for journalists on how to spot and prevent the spread if disinformation.
Below are some other online tools you may find helpful in verifying – or learning more about – any type of online information.
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