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Notes -
Echoing my question buried deep in the thread: can anyone recommend a good historical source to read up on the AIDS crisis, that's less opinionated than the Salo forum?
Has anyone here ever had an experience with hiring a private detective? Is they way they are portrayed in the movies or books pure fiction?
My firm has contracted private detectives semi-regularly to do background checks on key figures in legal matters, including our clients and their associates. On occasion, we've also contracted them to "dig for dirt" on parties on the other side of the case (usually financial malfeasance and things of that nature), but this isn't a common thing. It only comes up in obvious cases when we already have strong reason to suspect there's been malfeasance.
Whether the portrayals are accurate depends on the kinds of fiction you're consuming. The NYPD and Scotland Yard don't work with "consulting detectives" to solve murders, so that part is complete fiction. I suppose it's possible that private clients may hire private detectives to investigate murders if they're unsatisfied with the police resolution or handling of the matter, but I've never personally come across something like that. My experience with private detectives as an attorney is that they're either doing corporate investigations that we can't be bothered to do ourselves, or they're snooping on wives and husbands for things to use in custody battles ("she has a drinking problem she's been hiding from the court", "his best friend is a convict on parole", etc).
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