How to become a Certified Legal Investigator
Legal investigators are important members of the criminal justice system who engage in conducting pretrial legal investigations on behalf of attorneys for plaintiffs and defendants. At the direction of an attorney, legal investigators may attempt to locate witnesses, review police reports, interview concerned parties, and dig up new evidence in support of the attorney's case.
In the United States, any authorized Private Investigator or law firm staff investigator can work on behalf of an attorney as a legal investigator, but investigators may not use the designation of "Certified Legal Investigator" without graduating from the Certified Legal Investigator Program of the National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI). In order to be successful at their jobs, legal investigators should possess a practical level of knowledge regarding statutory laws in the jurisdiction they are assigned to work, case laws, evidence collection/handling, civil procedure, and the rules of the local courts they may be required to testify in.
Founded in 1967, theNational Association of Legal Investigatorswas formed by a group of legal investigators who wanted to elevate their career field by establishing standards of conduct for their profession and providing a platform for fellow investigators to receive access to professional development training and continuing education courses. It was in 1978 that NALI established the Certified Legal Investigator (CLI) Program, allowing legal investigators a chance to earn a professional board certification that was, according to the organization's website "...unparalleled in the history of the investigative profession." Today, the designation of Certified Legal Investigator is one of the highest professional certifications a legal investigator can aim to earn. In fact, as of the date of this article's writing, there were less than 100 Certified Legal Investigators in the whole world; a testament to the level of skill individuals must possess in order to be considered for the title. To become a CLI, an individual is required to pass a written examination, oral interviews, practical exercises, and author a white paper before being considered fit enough to bear the title of Certified Legal Investigator.
Once attained, the Certified Legal Investigator must actively pursue continuing education credits in order to maintain the standards of the CLI designation. CLIs who commit perjury, are convicted of a felony, or are found by a committee of fellow CLIs to be a liability to the character and integrity of the CLI Program and/or the reputations of fellow Certified Legal Investigators will be de-certified, banned from using the CLI designation, and ineligible to re-apply for the designation in the future.
