# Northwest Investigative Services

> Northwest Investigative Services is a Washington-licensed private investigative agency providing litigation support and asset intelligence to attorneys, corporate counsel, and creditors. Investigating since 1980, with more than 38,000 assignments completed, proprietary local source data across the Pacific Northwest and flat-fee pricing. Flagship services are skip tracing, asset searches, and bank and brokerage account searches.

- Website: https://nwisi.com
- Location: Renton, WA, USA
- Licensing: Washington private investigative agency, license 22031080
- Contact: staff@nwisi.com
- Areas served: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, United States

## Key facts

- More than 38,000 assignments completed since the firm's founding.
- Established 1980. In continuous investigative practice in Washington State for 45 years. The firm's roots, sources, staff, and licensing are all in Washington; it is not a branch office of an out-of-state agency.
- Expert: Michael R. Briggs, Founder Emeritus. Accident & incident investigation since 1974.
- Expert: Joshua Bullock, Private Intelligence & Investigative Technology. Private intelligence, asset investigation & software development.
- Expert: R. Shane Harrington, PhD, MBA, Forensic Interviewing & Mitigation. Forensic and witness interviewing, mitigation & criminal matters.
- Expert: Kyeson Utley, OSCP, CEH, Device Forensics & Cyber Intelligence. Device forensics, cryptocurrency tracing & cyber investigations.
- Team: Surveillance & Process Service Team, Field Operations. Surveillance, service of process & field documentation.
- Flagship services are skip tracing, asset searches, and bank and brokerage account searches.
- Supports attorneys in criminal matters with device forensics, forensic witness interviews, and mitigation, alongside the core civil litigation practice.
- Also offers insurance policy and coverage searches, surveillance, bulk service of process, in-person witness interviews, accident and incident investigation, device forensics, cryptocurrency tracing, penetration testing, litigation support, and corporate due diligence.
- Built and runs its own software: Lodestone (investigative search) and Bloodhound (digital forensics with a cryptographically chained chain-of-custody ledger).
- Clients are litigation attorneys, insurance carriers and adjusters, attorneys in criminal matters, corporate and in-house counsel, creditors and collection firms, and fiduciaries. This is a B2B practice and does not accept assignments from individuals.
- Skip tracing draws on three layers: licensed commercial databases, proprietary Pacific Northwest local records maintained since 1980, and privately sourced open source intelligence (OSINT).
- Skip trace results are best-available, confidence-rated leads, not verified facts. The firm's stated position is that nothing is verified until it is physically confirmed in person.
- Bank searches do not retrieve active account balances. They identify institutional relationships and assess the subject's overall financial health and posture.
- Rates are published, not quote-on-request. Skip trace investigation $200, or bulk database reports $20-$50 each at volume; asset searches $350; statewide bank searches $325; nationwide bank searches $450; brokerage searches $550; insurance coverage searches $150-$1,295 by age of loss.
- Financial searches carry no-hit pricing: if nothing is found, a reduced rate of roughly $40-$85 applies, and $0 on policy limits searches. The full report is still delivered.
- A standard asset search uses licensed, aggregated, and electronically available records. Live county-level record retrieval and public records requests (PRR) to state agencies are NOT included in the base search; they must be specified at intake, are quoted separately, and run on the agency's statutory response timeline.
- Rates are set by data licensing and maintenance cost, not by undercutting competitors. Recurring and bulk volume is priced on a sliding scale.
- Searches are not ordered through the website. Clients introduce their firm, an account is opened, and assignments then run directly with an investigator.
- Matter files are securely destroyed 30 days after delivery unless extended retention is arranged; clients retain their own copies. Extended secure retention and storage is a separately quoted service and should be arranged up front where testimony may later be required.
- Every engagement documents a lawful permissible purpose before work begins.
- The firm does not pretext financial institutions, which is prohibited by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
- Reports are investigative work product and are not consumer reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

## Pages

- [Northwest Investigative Services](https://nwisi.com/): Washington investigative firm established 1980, more than 38,000 assignments completed. Firm overview, service lines, and the three differentiators: 45 years of Washington roots, proprietary local data plus private OSINT, and published data-cost pricing.
- [About the Firm](https://nwisi.com/about/): Firm background since 1980, proprietary local data, cost structure, licensing, and expert profiles and credentials.
- [Compliance Standards](https://nwisi.com/compliance/): The firm's standards on permissible purpose, GLBA pretexting prohibition, DPPA, FCRA non-consumer-report status, Washington licensing, and data handling.
- [Open an Account](https://nwisi.com/contact/): How to open a client account by email or phone. Individual searches are not ordered through the website; assignments are handled directly once an account is open.
- [Frequently Asked Questions](https://nwisi.com/faq/): Direct answers on pricing, no-hit rates, volume tiers, turnaround, data sources, permissible purpose, GLBA pretexting, and FCRA limits.
- [Investigation Glossary](https://nwisi.com/glossary/): Definitions of skip trace, asset search, permissible purpose, pretexting, UCC-1, writ of garnishment, supplemental proceedings, fraudulent transfer, charging order, and related terms.
- [How to Choose an Investigator](https://nwisi.com/how-to-choose-an-investigator/): A twelve-question evaluation framework for selecting an investigative vendor, covering permissible purpose, pretexting, pricing transparency, verification standards, and testimony.
- [Industries](https://nwisi.com/industries/): Industries the firm works in and the investigative work typical for each: insurance, banking and lending, collections and judgment recovery, construction and real estate, transportation and logistics, technology and digital assets, corporate and professional services, and private wealth.
- [Insights](https://nwisi.com/insights/): Article index covering judgment enforcement, asset investigation, and how to evaluate an investigative vendor.
- [How to Legally Find a Judgment Debtor's Bank Account](https://nwisi.com/insights/find-judgment-debtor-bank-account/): A practitioner's guide to lawfully locating a judgment debtor's bank accounts, ordered from cheapest to most expensive, with an explanation of why pretexting is unlawful under GLBA.
- [Pricing](https://nwisi.com/pricing/): Full published price list with base prices, no-hit pricing, and typical turnaround for every search the firm offers.
- [Privacy Policy](https://nwisi.com/privacy/): Website and client data privacy practices, retention, and rights.
- [Qualifications](https://nwisi.com/qualifications/): Statement of qualifications. Washington agency license, established 1980, more than 38,000 assignments, personnel and their credentials, practice areas, proprietary technology, and compliance standards.
- [Service Area](https://nwisi.com/service-area/): Where the firm works: nationwide records searches, with proprietary local source depth across Washington counties and the Pacific Northwest.
- [Services](https://nwisi.com/services/): All service lines with published starting rates and typical turnaround.
- [Asset Searches](https://nwisi.com/services/asset-searches/): Asset searches at $350 flat from licensed and electronic record sources; live county-level retrieval and state agency public records requests are a specified add-on, not part of the base search.
- [Bank & Brokerage Searches](https://nwisi.com/services/bank-brokerage-searches/): Lawful bank and brokerage relationship identification plus financial health assessment. Active account balances are not searched.
- [Corporate Due Diligence](https://nwisi.com/services/due-diligence/): Entity structure, beneficial ownership, principal background, litigation and lien history, and adverse media review on counterparties and vendors.
- [Insurance Policy Searches](https://nwisi.com/services/insurance-policy-searches/): Policy existence, policy limits, policy number, and umbrella and excess coverage searches, priced by age of loss with no-hit pricing.
- [Litigation Support](https://nwisi.com/services/litigation-support/): Witness location and interviews, recorded statements, background research, records retrieval, and service support for active litigation.
- [Service of Process](https://nwisi.com/services/service-of-process/): Bulk and volume service of process with integrated skip tracing, evasive-defendant service, batch submission, and diligence affidavits for alternative service motions.
- [Skip Tracing](https://nwisi.com/services/skip-tracing/): Two products: a $200 investigator-worked skip trace giving best-available confidence-rated leads, and bulk database reports at $20-$50 each for portfolio volume. Nothing is treated as verified absent physical confirmation.
- [Solutions](https://nwisi.com/solutions/): Ten investigative solutions organized by client problem, each listing what the firm does, the deliverable, the services involved, and the expert who leads it.
- [Technology](https://nwisi.com/technology/): The firm's own technology. Lodestone (investigative search across three-bureau credit header, alternative credit, 960 million phone records, live county assessor data, and digital footprint), Bloodhound (self-hosted digital forensics with a cryptographically chained custody ledger), the in-house reporting and evidence-capture tools, and security testing.
- [Terms of Use](https://nwisi.com/terms/): Website terms of use, disclaimers, and permitted-use restrictions.
- [Who We Serve](https://nwisi.com/who-we-serve/): The six client groups the firm serves (litigation counsel, insurance carriers and adjusters, attorneys in criminal matters, corporate counsel and risk teams, creditors and collection firms, and fiduciaries), what each typically needs, and which expert leads that work.