Your case is won in the first thirty days.
The witness moves. The gas-station camera overwrites. The skid marks wash off. The defendant's prior crashes never get pulled. By the time discovery opens, the evidence that would have doubled the value of the case is gone. Barber Investigations goes to the scene, finds the witnesses and pulls the video while it still exists, and hands you a report you can attach to the demand.
Two crashes at the same intersection are two different cases.
One is a rear-end at a red light where liability is settled and the whole case is the policy behind the driver and the second policy behind the truck he was working for. The next is a left turn on a yellow where three people saw three different lights, the only camera belongs to the bar on the corner, and the case is whoever gets to that footage first. One slip and fall is a wet floor with a mop bucket still in frame. The next is a stairway that has been out of code for a decade and a property manager who is not the owner.
Every personal injury file receives its own investigative plan. I begin with the crash or incident report and your client's account, then confer with counsel on where the case is most exposed and where its value lies. On one file, that means securing video before anything else. On another, it means documenting a defective condition before it is repaired, or establishing who actually owned and controlled the property before the wrong entity is named. The plan is built around what will disappear first and what will matter most at settlement or trial, and it is adjusted as the facts develop.
You get one investigator who has stood at the scene, sat in the witness's kitchen, and can say so under oath.
The first week, in order
What you get
| Service | What you get | |
|---|---|---|
| Client sign-ups and intakes | I meet your new client in person, at home, in the hospital or at the body shop, within 24 hours. I walk them through the retainer, notarize it, and send it back the same day. | Signed before the billboard firm calls. |
| Client wellness checks and door knocks | When a client stops answering and a deposition, medical exam or settlement signature is due, I find them, go to the door, and get them back in touch with your office the same day. | Found before the deadline. |
| Scene investigation and documentation | Photographs, measurements, lighting, weather and sightline conditions, a scale diagram and a hashed photo log, the same week you retain me. | Preserved before it changes. |
| Witness location and notarized statements | Locate, contact, in-person interview, written notarized statement establishing liability, forwarded to your office with a contact log. | Locked in before the adjuster calls. |
| Video canvass and recovery | Door-to-door canvass of businesses, homes, doorbell and traffic cameras. Preservation letters served the same day. Footage pulled from the system before the retention window closes. | Seven days to save the video. |
| Defendant research and collectability | The right defendant and the hard-to-serve defendant. Prior crashes and claims, licensing, corporate status, assets. | Know who you are suing. |
| Insurance and policy-limit searches | The liability policy on the driver and the vehicle, and any excess or umbrella coverage behind them, identified before the demand goes out rather than after the carrier decides to tell you. | Know what the case is worth. |
| Jury and social-media research | Juror profiles from public records and social media, delivered during selection. | Know who is listening. |
| Trial support | Subpoena service, witness prep coordination, exhibits, courtroom presence. | There on the day. |
Two flat-fee packages. Hourly for everything else.
Plaintiff firms advance costs and recover them at settlement, so the number should be known before the work starts. Send the police report and you will have a same-day quote.
Crash Scene Package
Scene documentation with a measured diagram and hashed photo log, plus a door-to-door video canvass with preservation letters served.
Completed within 72 hours of retention.Witness Package
Locate, contact, in-person interview and a written notarized statement, with the contact-attempt log for the file.
Priced per witness.Ask these five questions of anyone you are about to hire.
| Barber | Typical surveillance firm | Typical retired-officer firm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board Certified investigator | Yes | Rarely | Sometimes |
| Will state in writing: no carrier or defense work on injury cases | Yes | No. Carriers are the client. | Not stated |
| One investigator handles your case start to finish | Yes | Assigned field staff | Varies |
| Written work-product standard: hashed photos, contact log | Yes | No | No |
| Has testified in court on their own work | Yes | Sometimes | Usually |
Questions plaintiff firms ask first
What does it cost?
The Crash Scene Package and the Witness Package are flat fees, quoted the same day you send the report, so the cost advance is a known number. Everything beyond them is hourly with a written estimate first. It depends on the case, not the case type: a clear-liability rear-end and a disputed intersection with four witnesses are different jobs.
How fast?
Quote the morning after you send the case. Scene and video canvass within 24 hours in Milwaukee County, 48 hours anywhere in southeast Wisconsin, and 72 hours anywhere in the state. Witness statements as fast as the witnesses can be found and will sit down.
Will you work the other side?
No. Barber Investigations does not take work from insurance carriers or defense firms on injury matters, and that is written into every engagement letter. If a carrier calls, I refer them elsewhere.
What do I actually receive?
A narrative report you can attach to the demand, with the photo log, diagram, canvass log, notarized statements and background findings as exhibits. Written the way a defense investigator writes, because that is what I am, and built to be read by an adjuster who is looking for a reason to say no.
Seven days to save the video.
If the crash was this month, the footage may still exist. Send the report now.