Attorney & Legal Instructions
A standing arrangement for law firms across Georgia. We take instructions by phone or email, agree the issue and the wording with the instructing attorney, and return a written report to the firm rather than to the client.
Attorney-instructed work is different in a few practical ways. The report goes to the firm. The examinee is your client, and we treat the file accordingly. Question wording is settled with you, not with the examinee, which removes an obvious source of contamination. And we are used to being told that an examination is contingent on a stipulation being agreed, and to holding a provisional slot while that conversation happens.
Where counsel most often use us
Criminal defense is the largest share — specific-issue examinations on a denied allegation, discussed above. Family law is the second: allegations of substance use, of contact in breach of an order, or of conduct raised in a custody dispute. Civil and employment matters make up the remainder, typically where an internal investigation has produced two irreconcilable accounts.
In family matters especially, we will tell you where we think an examination is unlikely to help. A polygraph addresses whether a described event occurred. It cannot address whether someone is a fit parent, and a report that pretends otherwise is worse than no report at all.
Turnaround and logistics
Rooms are available across the state, including two on the Decatur square by the DeKalb courthouse, two on Bull Street in Savannah, and several within a few minutes of the Fulton County Courthouse. Where an appointment needs to be held between hearings, say so when booking and we will work to the gap you have. Reports are issued the same day or the next working day; an urgent verbal report on the day of examination can be arranged.
What this covers
- Instructions taken directly from the firm
- Report addressed and released to the instructing attorney
- Question wording agreed with counsel before the appointment
- Provisional slots held while a stipulation is negotiated
- Same-day verbal report available on request
Discuss this before you book
Tell us what you need answered and we will tell you honestly whether this is the right examination for it.
Other services
Relationship & Infidelity Testing
For couples trying to settle a question of fidelity honestly and privately.
Criminal Defense & Specific Issue
Single-issue examinations for people facing an allegation, usually instructed by counsel.
Family & Adolescent Matters
Carefully handled examinations in family disputes, including older teenagers.