Pre-acceptance investigations are a potentially money saving investment for attorneys, mentioned by this personal injury lawyer, and could be a life-saver in complex cases. I’ve done these sort of stealth investigations, which gave the lawyer leverage in her negotiations, and sometimes settled matters for sizable amounts before a case was filed.

California PI Eric Mason, who worked on Michael Jackson’s defense, was profiled for his work on behalf of a local politician – investigating the government’s investigation.

Mason’s newest client is Perata, the unquestioned head of the East Bay political machine and target of a federal public corruption probe. Perata has racked up at least $39,000 in bills from Mason’s firm so far this year. Mason specializes in “pre-indictment investigations,” which basically are defense-team probes into what the government is investigating.