1. Chapter Seven Interviewing and Investigation
In this chapter, you will learn about:
Effective techniques for interviewing
Investigative techniques paralegals often conduct
Skills needed to obtain the best results in the least amount of time
How to assure evidence will be admissible at trial

2. Interviewing: Key Skills
Develop a list of question for an interview
Conduct an effective interview
Record the results of the interview in an accurate manner

3. Preparing for Interviews
Review the file
Conduct legal research
Prepare some questions
Prepare the setting
Analyze the seating arrangements

4. Typical Approaches to Interviewing
The story approach
The silent approach
The question approach
Open questions
Closed questions
Leading questions
Hypothetical questions
Prompting questions
Let them vent and tell their story, minimal interruption, jot questions down for later
Use silence to get a reluctant speaker to open up, uncomfortable silences are usually filled
Where were you that day?
You were at the playground that day, right?
If you did plan on leaving the house, where would you go?
What happened when you got there? Then what?

5. Conducting Effective Interviews
Plan ahead
Start on time.
Make sure the interviewee understands you are not an attorney. Provide your business card.
Take notes and use verbal and non verbal cues to show you are paying attention.
Slide 1 of 3
reviewing the file, conducting your legal research, and drafting some preliminary questions. ,
although be careful that you are not so focused on your note taking that you fail to listen attentively to what is being said.

6. Conducting Effective Interviews
Start any tape or video recording with:
introduction,
date and time,
consent confirmation.
Provide adequate supplies and useful documents.
Be observant to nonverbal cues, such as fidgeting, poor eye contact, and fatigue.
Slide 2 of 3
Many individuals find a recorded or videographed conversation intimidating, and it may well inhibit the flow of conversation.
Take frequent breaks when needed.

7. Conducting Effective Interviews
Be open, flexible, and nonjudgmental.
Use a different colored pen for questions and topics that occur to you as the interview progresses.
Follow up after the interview.
Slide 3 of 3
Just because you had a bad experience with a landlord does not mean that all landlords are bad. Resist prejudging the client or the case.
At the conclusion of the interview, it will be easy for you to return to these areas and obtain needed information.
Call the interviewee a few days after the interview and ask if there is anything else he or she would like to add. In many cases, the interview jogs the memory, and a new idea or thought may have occurred to the interviewee.

8. Investigating and evidence
Investigating is locating information
Field investigation: investigation done outside the law office
Evidence: information that may prove or disprove a fact
Federal Rules of Evidence: rules of evidence used in all federal courts and on which state rules of evidence are based.
Admissible Evidence: evidence that may be introduced at trial

9. Forms of Evidence, relevancy & competency
Real or physical evidence: consists of any tangible item, such as a bullet, a glove, or a drop of blood.
Documentary evidence: consists of written records or documents, such as wills, employment agreements, photographs, or computer records.
Testimonial evidence: consists of the testimony of a witness under oath.
Relevant evidence: evidence that tends to prove that a fact is more or less probable
Competent evidence: evidence that is legally sufficient
(generally meaning that witness must understand the obligation to tell the truth, must have personal knowledge of the event, and must be able to communicate)

10. Hearsay
Hearsay is any statement made by a declarant or speaker outside of a court that is presented at the hearing or trial to prove the truth of the contents of the statement.
Common hearsay exceptions:
Excited utterances
Statements against interest
Dying declarations
Then-existing mental, emotional, or physical condition
Business records
To prove the contents: not to prove just that it was said but that what was said is actually true
Excited utterance: outburst at the time of the incident bc likely to be true (Stop that thief, he stole my purse)
Statements against interest: statement that opens declarant to civil or criminal liability (Mary said that she breached the contract on purpose and she would do it again)
Dying dec: belief that death is imminent, not necessary dead, but unavailable (Joe hit me in the head with the hammer)
Then existing: what was situation at time of incident (Sue told me that she would never walk again and would kill the person responsible)
Business records: “ordinary course of business” (receipts for a restaurant admissible to show person was present)

11. Privileged Material
Privileged material is matter that is inadmissible because of the relationship between parties in confidential discussions.
Common privileges include:
Attorney-client privilege
Doctor-patient privilege
Priest-penitent privilege
Marital privilege
Privilege against self-incrimination

12. Planning the Investigation
Focus on:
People
Documents
Physical evidence
The scene
Subpoena
Subpoena duces tecum
Order to appear at trial or depo
Order to produce documents

13. Sources for Locating People
The Internet
Electronic legal research services
Court records
Vital records
Property records
Post office records
Motor vehicle records
Social security records