Instructor Hal Humphreys takes you through basic theories of professional ethics, including the places ethics and the law overlap (and don’t), the role of culture in how we determine what’s ethical, and methods for making tough ethical decisions.

After talking about theories of ethics briefly, we’ll turn to practical ethical questions, including common conundrums many investigators face and illustrative case studies to ponder. We’ll touch on issues of surveillance, pretexting, domestic casework, questionable jobs and clients, criminal defense, subcontracting, report-writing, client communication and transparency, fees and retainers, competency, and confidentiality. Hopefully, you’ll come away with a stronger framework for deciding what’s ethical, even as new issues arise that you’ve never faced before.

Many ethical questions have no single “right” answer, which is why the most important takeaway is not a set of rules, but a structured approach to considering ethical dilemmas in your investigative work. We hope this course can help, but it’s only a beginning: Ethical decision making takes practice, study, and often, turning to colleagues for advice. That’s why we’ve included articles and interviews with other professionals in this course: Seeing how others make these tough choices can help guide our own problem-solving.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

• Gain understanding to philosophy in general and topics in ethical theory
• Learn to recognize common challenges in investigative work and to assess them critically.
• Improve practice in employing the philosophical tools of critical analysis in your own thinking and writing.
• Learn to conduct research in philosophy and to organize the findings of your research into written form.
• Achieve a stronger framework for deciding what’s ethical, even as new issues arise that may have never been faced before.
• Understand many ethical questions have no single “right” answer, which is why the most important takeaway is not a set of rules, but a structured approach to considering ethical dilemmas in investigative work.
• Report work and findings to clients and attorneys in a clear and concise manner

Course Outline

• Introduction and course objectives
• Ethics foundations and professional standards
• Overview of ethical theory and core principles
• How ethics apply in real investigative work
• Understanding the who, what, where, when, why, and how of ethical decision-making
• Assigned readings and recorded webinar on ethics and professionalism
• Applying ethics in practice
• Ethical challenges in domestic investigations
• Domestic surveillance case study with guided questions and analysis
• Client screening and ethical client management
• Video surveillance, privacy, and consent
• Case study on video surveillance and privacy considerations
• Audio and transcript review of expert analysis
• Subcontractors, subcontracting, and ethical responsibility
• Retainers and ethical billing practices
• Process service and ethical problem-solving
  Process service case study and professional solutions
• Criminal defense investigations
• Ethical considerations in criminal defense work
• Interview and case study examining defense investigations
• Audio and transcript-based expert analysis
• Professional conduct and reporting
• Ethical reporting and testifying
• Managing unreasonable or inappropriate client requests
• Quiz Assessment

Key Features of this course include:

• 2 hours of on-demand instruction delivered through reading content (heavy reading) and pre-recorded video modules (asynchronous)
• Expert-led lectures featuring practical, real-world insights
• Quiz/assessment with unlimited attempts to reinforce learning
• Certificate of completion awarded upon successful course completion
• Online access for 6 months from the date of purchase