Research and Investigation Areas

Litigation Support Services

One World Research utilizes a network of highly skilled investigators who can dispatch quickly to almost any location in the world. We provide litigators with the information and evidence they need to win cases—in an efficient, comprehensive and cost-effective manner.

Unlike other investigation firms that are staffed largely by former law enforcement officials, One World Research is composed of human rights and civil rights experts and attorneys with knowledge of domestic and international law. Our investigators and supervising staff have extensive experience locating and interviewing victims and witnesses of the most egregious acts of wrongdoing by governments and private actors. They also have the background and expertise necessary to put even the most recalcitrant witnesses at ease, and to uncover information that is not readily available from open sources. And because One World Research investigators are supervised by attorneys, we are able to provide our clients with comprehensive investigative services without the need for extensive oversight.

Specific services include:

  • Locating and interviewing victims, witnesses, relatives, friends, or employers

  • Searching databases, court records, and public documents

  • Collecting video, photographic, and physical evidence

  • Preparing quantitative analysis

  • Surveying or sampling discrete populations

  • Compiling, cataloging, and preserving evidence for possible future litigation

  • Investigating government or jury misconduct in criminal trials

  • Providing surveillance

  • Securing signed declarations and affidavits for use in trial

  • Serving subpoenas

    • Asylum

    Establishing a factual case for an asylum claim presents unique challenges. Asylum cases often involve obtaining affidavits and other evidence from foreign countries, drafting coherent and convincing factual backgrounds, and locating expert witnesses who will speak authoritatively on a claim. One World Research can assist clients with all of these challenges, from obtaining affidavits in remote locations to helping attorneys build basic factual foundations for a claim.

    Criminal Defense and Prisoner Rights

    One World Research is a useful partner to clients representing persons in unlawful detention or persons wrongfully indicted, convicted, or otherwise detained. We can help find family members, employers, friends and other useful witnesses, and obtain information about detainees, their background and history, the circumstances of their arrest or prosecution, and other relevant information. We can also help locate detainees in foreign prisons, jails, or detention facilities in difficult-to-reach locations.

    Consulting for Advocacy Organizations, Foundations and Other Non-Profits

    One World Research staff have worked in a variety of settings in the public and private sectors, including in local and federal U.S. governmental institutions, international governmental institutions such as the United Nations, advocacy organizations, foundations, and non-profit agencies. Our staff has in-depth knowledge and experience in a number of areas, from international human rights to domestic issues such as criminal justice, education, and health care. Drawing on this expertise, One World Research provides targeted and efficient consulting services to non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, law firms, and other clients.

    For advocacy organizations and non-profits, One World Research provides consultation services on all aspects of operations; including:

  • Identifying substantive areas that fit within the organization's mission and goals, and designing programs within those substantive areas

  • Identifying partners and consultants to implement programs

  • Consulting on advocacy strategy with the media, governmental entities, and private actors (such as business actors)

  • Consulting on identifying sources of funding

  • Conducting in-depth monitoring and evaluation of services or programs

    • For foundations, One World Research can help by strategizing programs to meet the foundation’s funding goals, and helping to identify potential recipients of funding, monitoring and evaluating programs and/or organizations that receive funding, and assessing internal operations, including monitoring field offices and staff where necessary.

    Corruption, Abuse, and Misconduct by Governments or Corporations

    Governments. One World Research investigators have extensive experience investigating cases of alleged civil and human rights violations, corruption, and other forms of misconduct by government actors. Whether investigating police brutality claims by local police, or abusive and wasteful contracting practices by a governmental entity, One World Research investigators have the expertise to circumvent barriers to uncovering information about governmental misconduct.

    Corporations. One World Research can also provide important assistance to clients who need to gauge possible corporate involvement in human rights abuses or other illegal or damaging conduct. We can investigate conduct and labor practices affecting workers’ rights, analyze links to government officials or security forces involved in human rights abuses, investigate claims of waste or fraud, and do other research on corporate misconduct that our clients’ require—in virtually any location in the world.

    One World Research also offers assistance to corporate clients who seek to gauge their compliance with domestic and international human rights standards relating to labor, security, or environmental issues.

    Terrorism and Counterterrorism

    Acts of terrorism—intentional attacks on civilians—are antithetical to human rights and the laws of war. Yet governments often violate human rights in the name of counterterrorism. One World Research approaches organized violence against civilians by armed groups in the same manner as all other human rights abuses and war crimes, and provides consultation both on terrorism-related violence and on excessive counterterrorism tactics. We do research and reports on terrorism-related violence, and assist with investigations of government abuses in the counterterrorism context, including illegal arrests, detentions, the use of diplomatic assurances, extraordinary renditions, and other abusive counter-terrorism practices.

    Prosecutions Of War Crimes and Other Abuses

    Documenting war crimes and other violations of international criminal law can be very difficult. One World Research assists litigators and prosecutors who need strong and admissible evidence in cases involving war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity, and related crimes. We can locate and secure important testimony and witnesses, forensic evidence, documents, and other physical evidence. We can also help obtain cooperation from local human rights and victims groups.

    Historical Investigations

    One World Research investigators can carry out investigations into events that happened in the past—even decades ago or more—including alleged governmental, corporate or military misconduct during past armed conflict, alleged involvement in slavery or the slave trade, or other abuses and malfeasance.

    Social and Economic Rights

    Reporting on possible violations of social and economic rights can require in-depth research and analysis. Proving that a government or administrative body is failing to uphold or promote a certain right—the right to education, for instance—means investigating administrative capacities and budgeting, local social and economic conditions, and a variety of other factors; research also often requires additional polling or testimony about real world cases. One World Research can arrange for complex research projects into violations of social and economic rights.

    Refugees and Humanitarian Crises

    One World Research staff have extensive experience researching issues related to human displacement, including both humanitarian and protection issues. We can conduct research into conditions in refugee or other camps for displaced persons; do polling on the causes for flight or continued displacement; investigate the legal status of displaced groups or individuals; and do fact-finding for asylum cases (see above). We can also investigate incidences of corruption or misconduct by governmental or non-governmental actors in the context of humanitarian crises.