Services

Investigations

Neutral, trauma-informed investigations built to survive review. We are engaged when a matter is too close to home, when capacity has run out, or when the finding needs to come from someone with no stake in the outcome. Investigations are led by Albert Roberson, an Oregon-licensed private investigator (DPSST PI #134854) with experience in civil rights, workplace, and higher education matters.

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At a glance

How an investigation is engaged

UnitA matter, scoped and quoted before intake.
BasisHourly against a fee cap or a fixed fee, agreed in writing.
NeverNo contingency, and no fee that varies with the finding.
SectorPK-12 runs on its own published schedule.

Published rates

What this covers

Four frameworks, one standard

The same neutral method under each, including files where more than one applies.

Title IXSex discrimination and sex-based harassment, from intake through final determination.
Title VIRace, color, and national origin, including hostile environment claims.
Title VIIWorkplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation for institutional employers.
ADA and Section 504Disability discrimination, accommodation denials, and access complaints.

Privileged investigationsEngaged through your general counsel or outside counsel and conducted at their direction, so the work sits inside the privilege the institution is relying on.

Independence

When a matter should not stay in-house

Training builds the team that runs most matters well. These four call for an investigator from outside the institution.

A senior leader is the respondentA president, provost, superintendent, coach, or anyone the in-house team reports to.
The investigator is conflictedAlready involved in the matter, a witness to it, or close to a party.
Litigation is running alongsideA lawsuit, a grievance, or a criminal matter that will read the same record.
A regulator is already watchingAn open OCR, EEOC, or state agency complaint, or a resolution agreement in force.

Book a scoping call Independent investigations

What you receive at the end

Three formats, chosen at scoping

Three formats. The choice is yours, and it is worth making deliberately at scoping rather than at the end.

The full record
Comprehensive investigation report
The full written record: allegations, the standard applied, notice and process, every witness and document relied on, the analysis, and the findings with the reasoning behind each. Built for a reader who was not in the room and who owes the institution nothing. This is the format that survives an appeal, an agency review, or litigation.
For leadership
Executive summary
A short written document stating what was alleged, what was examined, what was found, and what follows. Written for leadership, a board, or a decision maker who needs the conclusion and its basis without the full evidentiary record. Ordinarily produced alongside a comprehensive report rather than instead of one.
Verbal only
Oral report
Findings delivered verbally to the institution or to counsel, with no written report issued. Used where an institution wants an assessment before deciding how to proceed, or where counsel is directing the engagement and intends to keep the work inside privilege.

Choose the format at scopingThe format changes how the work is conducted, not just how it is written up. Tell us at the outset. Deciding after the evidence is gathered narrows what we can responsibly produce.
What an oral report cannot doIt cannot later prove what was found. If a matter is challenged in a year, an institution holding no written findings has the outcome and no record of the reasoning that produced it. We will say so before you choose it.
Our working file either wayWe retain our own investigative file under our records retention schedule whichever format you choose. An oral report limits what the institution holds, not what exists.

How an engagement runs

Three phases, and what each involves

From the conflicts screen to the handover of the file.

Before we take it

Conflicts and scopeWe screen the practitioner and the firm against the institution, the parties, the witnesses we know of, and counsel. Where a conflict disqualifies us, we say so and decline rather than manage around it.
Engagement termsScope, rate, fee cap, reporting line, and deadline in writing before any contact with a party. Where privilege matters, we are engaged through counsel and report to them.

While it runs

Intake and preservationParties receive notice of the process and their options. Evidence is preserved and the record starts on day one rather than being reconstructed later.
Evidence and interviewsTrauma-informed interviewing that still tests the account. Documentation of what was asked and answered, and neutrality that is visible on the page.
Status you can act onYou are told what is open, what moved, and what is at risk. No institution should learn about a delay from a party.

At the end

FindingsA written determination that states the standard applied, the evidence relied on, and the reasoning, so a reviewer can trace it without us in the room.
HandoverThe complete file delivered in a usable format, retained under our records schedule, and destroyed at delivery instead if you prefer.

How the work is priced

Published rates, quoted after scoping

Priced on the work it takes, not on what is at stake for you.

An investigation is priced on the work it takes, not on what is at stake for you. The variables are the number of parties and witnesses, the volume of evidence, whether the matter is already in progress, and how quickly it has to move.

Most institutions do not want an open meter, so most engagements run under a fee cap or a fixed fee agreed after scoping. We tell you the number before we start, and we tell you early if the scope changes rather than after the invoice.

PK-12

Districts, charters, and independent schools.

PK-12 hourly$275–$325
Fee cap or fixed feeAgreed at scoping
Matter in progressPK-12 rate, scoped after file review

Higher education

Colleges, universities, and systems.

Standard hourly$375–$475
Fee cap or fixed feeAgreed at scoping
Matter in progressStandard rate, scoped after file review

Workplaces

Employers, including institutional HR functions.

Standard hourly$375–$475
Fee cap or fixed feeAgreed at scoping
Matter in progressStandard rate, scoped after file review

Signing a service agreement earns 15 percent off general services and locks the rate for the term.

Terms

What the fee covers, and what it does not

What the fee coversConflicts screening, intake, preservation, evidence collection, interviews, analysis, and the deliverable you selected at scoping, whether that is a comprehensive report, an executive summary, or an oral report. Revisions arising from our own error are not billed.
What sits outside itAppeals, hearings, and testimony are engaged separately. Travel and any platform or transcription costs are billed at cost and pre-approved.
Range, and where you land in itThe spread reflects the number of parties and witnesses, evidence volume, framework complexity, and urgency. We quote a figure after scoping, not a range.
BillingMonthly in arrears, net 30, minimum increment one tenth of an hour. Institutions requiring net 60 for procurement should say so at scoping.
SpeedFor most matters we can be in intake within days of a signed engagement letter. Tell us if you are against a deadline and we will say plainly whether we can meet it.
IndependenceNo contingency, and no fee that varies with what we find. Every practitioner is background screened, with records provided on request.

Already underway

Taking over a matter in progress

We regularly step into open investigations when an investigator becomes unavailable or a conflict surfaces mid-process. We review the file, preserve what exists, and carry it through to a defensible report.

Where privilege matters, engage us through counsel. We conduct privileged investigations at counsel’s direction and report to them rather than to the institution directly, which is what keeps the work inside the privilege you are relying on. We are a compliance firm rather than a law firm, so whether privilege attaches depends on how the engagement is structured and on your counsel’s judgment. We say that plainly before an engagement letter is signed.

Read the questions we get

Scoping

Tell us about the matter.

A scoping call settles the frameworks, the format, the fee basis, and the deadline before anyone is contacted.