Category: news

Check with the licensing body in your jurisdiction to ensure the investigator is licensed and they are affiliated with an agency, which is also properly licensed. To locate the regulatory authority in your jurisdiction, try an Internet search using the terms “private investigator license” and the name of your province or state.Be wary of agencies that claim to do it all. Most agencies that put forward such claims are rarely good at everything, and typically expert at nothing.

At Benard + Associates we have started a new social media experience for our followers called Ask an Expert. Send us your questions on investigations and mediation on Twitter and we will select one question every month to feature. If we select your question you win a free copy of our DVD "Investigation Interviewing - Keys to Success". Don't worry, If we don't select your question to feature, we will still send you an answer! We look forward to some great questions and sharing our expertise with everyone. Click on the image below to be directed to our Twitter page.

Protect yourself and the public. Check out these helpful tips for spotting an illegal healthcare practitioner. Click here

On June 4, 2014 Dean will be speaking at Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development Centre as part of the faculty for the new Certificate in Professional Regulation & Discipline program.   

This week Dean is working with the Ontario Provincial Police delivering a two day workshop on investigation best practices for workplace discrimination and harassment investigations. It is always great to work with such a distinguished group of engaged law enforcement professionals. 

Benard + Associates is very pleased to welcome our new Office Administrator and Executive Assistant, Andrea Lackie. Andrea brings with her over ten years of experience as an Executive Assistant supporting Vice Presidents and senior level management for such organizations as Sun Life Financial and Blackberry. Andrea is already helping to make our operation more efficient and we are very lucky to have her join the team.    

Dean will be delivering a half day workshop at the Infonex 18th Annual Professional Regulation & Discipline Conference in Toronto on April 17, 2014. The title of the workshop is "Ensuring Your Investigation Does Not Go off the Rails: Mitigate Risk through Proper Planning and Investigation Management". Long title but interesting topic! 

On October 4, 2013 Dean teamed up with Bonni Ellis and Marco Mendicino of Ellis Smith Mendicino LLP to deliver a talk to regulators across North America and the United Kingdom at the annual education conference for the Council on Licensure Enforcement and Regulation. The topic was delivering "Top Tier" investigations. It was a great audience and we had a good time delivering the session. http://www.clearhq.org/resources/AEC_2013_Full_Brochure.pdf

Due to our continued growth, we have brought another investigator onto our team at Benard + Associates. Brenda Robbins joined us on July 2, 2013. Brenda is a Licensed Private Investigator and comes to us with a wealth of experience and knowledge that will no doubt benefit our clients and add to the continued success of our team. For more information about Brenda click here.

Sarah Marceau, our Director of Operations, will be speaking in Ottawa at the Infonex Conference on September 24 and 25, 2013. Sarah will be covering the following information:Best Practices for InterviewingDetermine the objectives of your interviewDevelop a framework for planning, preparing and conducting the interviewHow to frame questionsOvercome objections and denialsAnalyze common interviewing mistakes, and learn how to avoid themUsing Evidence More Effectively