Gone are the days where you show up to an ally office with a glass door labeled “Private Investigator” to find him in a fedora smoking behind a desk littered with files. If this is what you are looking for, it will be hard to find. In fact, you are unlikely to find a Private Investigator sitting behind any desk at all.

Private Investigators primarily work from their vehicle and most do not even have an office anymore. If the company does have an office, you will only likely find administrative persons or persons from the company’s security or consulting departments. Private Investigators are always in the field. With the advancement in modern technology, nearly everything can be accomplished on a laptop and a smartphone in their vehicle.

Most consultations are now done over the phone, through email, or over Zoom. COVID-19 has only further strengthened this trend and it is unlikely to reverse.

If you insist on meeting your Private Investigator in person for an initial consultation or during the course of the investigation, he or she will likely offer to meet you somewhere like a coffee shop, diner, or even a quiet bar in the middle of the day. This is not to say that you will never meet elsewhere. If your Private Investigator is working with your attorney, they will usually want to meet at the law firm or will even rent conference space for large legal discovery briefings on more complex investigative scenarios.