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Asset
and Information Reports (Basic and Comprehensive)
Because not every situation is the same, The Conley
Group provides two levels of asset and information reports. They are the basic information and asset
search and a comprehensive information and asset search.
A basic information and asset search is designed to
locate and identify company or individually held assets such as real property
interests: vehicles, aircraft or
watercraft ownership; business ownership interests; income sources; and
liabilities such as civil litigation, judgments, tax liens, defaults and
bankruptcies. Professional analysis of
each matter will often afford further relevant information that will be detailed
in our report. Supporting documentation
may be located and retrieved upon request.
Field activity will be conducted in most instances to verify findings
and develop additional information. A
preliminary asset search is recommended for matters that are deemed small in
nature and appear to be straightforward.
A comprehensive information and asset search is
recommended for matters involving multiple subject debtors or missing/hidden
assets. A comprehensive asset search is
also undertaken when pursuing a subject’s banking relationships and
accounts. In this investigation, our
efforts are focused as requested and within the agreed budget and turn-around
allowance. Please contact a member of
our staff for further information and price guidelines. The Conley Group is expert in the arena of
complex hidden asset location.
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Asset Location & Recovery
There are numerous
reasons why both organizations and individuals need an asset search
completed. Whether you have a civil
judgment from a lawsuit or are thinking about filing a civil lawsuit but are
unsure if the defendant is collectable, or if you are an individual who is going through a divorce and is looking
to uncover concealed assets, knowing the true financial status of your target
can make a monumental difference. If you are a corporate executive contemplating a merger or a
financial institution approving a large loan, it’s no secret that running
headlong into a major transaction without knowing all the facts can be
downright disastrous.
The Conley Group team
can help you find assets, even hidden assets, including property, vehicles,
employment, bank accounts, business ownership and more. Our asset search service is designed to
locate assets and give you the information you need for due diligence, judgment
collection or asset recovery, without wasting your money. The Conley Group is the choice for those who
need to know the facts before wasting valuable time and money chasing an
uncollectible debtor.
The Conley Group can provide you with this
indispensable information through a comprehensive asset search that scours our
international database for a broad spectrum of financial background data. Let The Conley Group remove the guesswork
from your financial ventures and equip you with the knowledge you can’t prosper
without.
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Background
Checks & Investigations
The Conley Group typically provides three types of
background investigations, which are personal background investigations,
business background investigations and pre-employment background investigations.
In general, background
investigations can provide an in-depth history or status of a subject’s history
including criminal background, workers' compensation claims, employment
background, civil history, and other public records, just to name a few. Depending on the
purpose for the background investigation (premarital, pre-employment screening,
business relationship, dating), the results could provide information about
local or national criminal prosecutions, involvement in prior litigation, prior
marriages or divorces, employment history, and types of assets.
Organizations typically use background
investigations as an effective pre-employment screening mechanism. Studies have shown that nearly all job
hunters take a few “creative liberties” with their resumes, and many potential
employees make completely false claims that directly relate to their education,
job history and performance. When the
success and reputation of your organization is on the line, you can’t afford to
gamble on new personnel, especially if you’re looking to fill a key
position. A comprehensive
pre-employment screening from The Conley Group will help you make an informed
decision. Our background checks are
tailored to your specific needs, and can include detailed personal, financial
and criminal inquiries. Our
investigations will be conducted in an efficient, cost-effective manner, and
you will receive valuable results that will help you make the intelligent
choice.
Examples of information that can be researched
include but are not limited to: histories with family, neighbors, employers,
friends, education, co-workers, professions, credentials, residences,
etc. With our background investigations, you can start determining
character and a profile of the subject.
Many times, our cost is kept to a minimum because of free background
check data and free criminal background check sources from many governments.
Sometimes all you pay for is our expertise.
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Competitive
Business Intelligence
Have you ever wondered how it is that one of your
competitors is doing so well, and why their new customers are your old
customers? If the answer to this
question is yes, you’re not alone.
Regardless of what business you’re in, one of the
most important and often overlooked steps toward success is understanding your
competition. Knowing your competitors’
backgrounds, current practices and future strategies can provide you with
literally invaluable insight and help thrust your company to the top of the
marketplace.
Obtaining accurate and timely intelligence is no
simple task. However, our proven
techniques and experience will keep you informed of your competitors various
tactics and strategies. This will give
you an indispensable competitive edge.
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Compliance Testing and Auditing
(HIPAA, G-L-B, SOX)
Compliance is a matter that should be taken with
the utmost of seriousness. In today’s
business environment, there is a significant amount of information that is
handled and exchanged. It has become
increasingly difficult to not only protect information, but even to identify
what needs protecting. Despite the
increased awareness and legal standards to protect certain information,
security breaches seem to indicate that many companies have not adequately
responded to the issue of data security within their organizations. Regulations and statutes have placed
pressure on organizations to mitigate data security risks and will continue to
do so as more fines are assessed and the judgments from lawsuits are paid out.
Regardless of the solutions employed to reduce the
risk of data security breaches, a balance of prevention strategies and
mitigation efforts is the best possible protection. Given how dependent modern business is on electronic data
transmissions, developing and maintaining a strong and compliant data
protection strategy is no longer an option.
As the courts and regulators place more emphasis on data security,
businesses risk millions of dollars in losses and even the fate of their entire
enterprise by not addressing the issue.
The Conley Group helps organizations adhere to
government regulations. With our
extensive knowledge and experience, we know exactly how to keep your
organization in compliance. We can
assist you in developing programs that will help you protect your company from
government fines and lawsuits.
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Comprehensive
Surveillance
Surveillance is an investigative technique that is
used for various types of private investigative needs. Because of its flexibility, surveillance operations
can be used for a one-time event to highly complex assignments. Surveillance 
can be one of the most effective and efficient ways
to determine a person’s actions and behavior. Additionally, either video or
photo documentation can be one of the most critical parts of an investigation
case.
The Conley Group conducts physical surveillance
with the objective of observing and documenting activities or associations of
individuals or organizations as they occur.
Surveillance may be fixed or mobile; vehicular, pedestrian, aerial or
waterborne. Events can be documented
utilizing still camera photography, video cameras or night vision devices. A thorough report and explanations of video
and still photography evidence is completed with every assignment. It is important when a matter requires legal
scrutiny, that you have confidence that the evidence was collected and provided
in a strict, factual and specific manner.
It should be noted that The Conley Group only conducts surveillance
within legal standards.
Surveillance can be conducted 24 hours a day 7 days
a week regardless of holidays. Discretion and confidentiality is a professional
concern to our investigators and enhances our effectiveness in the field and in
the courtroom.
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Domestic, Cheating Spouse and Child
Custody Investigations
Whether you are the
husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, you deserve to know if your partner
is or is not cheating on you.
Infidelity is likely to be one of the most painful and devastating
things that can happen to you. When
someone seriously suspects infidelity, the majority of the time their
suspicions are correct. The
embarrassment, fear and betrayal can be overwhelming. Worse yet is not knowing for certain if your spouse or partner is
or is not cheating on you. Even the
prospect of a husband or wife being unfaithful is painful and extremely
disruptive to your life. While we do
not know how you feel, we do have both a deep appreciation and thorough
understanding of what you are going through and what we can do to help you.
Issues of infidelity need to be managed by
investigators who are not only experienced at surveillance and information
gathering, but who are also well versed in family law. Many prospective clients are naturally concerned about
confidentially. Rest assured that all
cases are kept completely confidential.
Our spouse surveillance
investigators are professionals who get results that matter. We will assign the right investigators to
your case and provide those investigators with state-of-the-art technology,
extensive investigative resources and regular training. This is what makes us a premier
investigative agency. Although spousal
surveillance by a private investigator is one of the most frequently used tools
for uncovering infidelity, each set of circumstances can call for different
measures.
Child custody and
visitation issues are also assignments that The Conley Group assists clients
with on a one time or routine basis.
Issues involving children are usually the most crucial issues in a
divorce or custody dispute. In
determining the custody of a minor, courts are guided by the standard of what
is in the best interest of the child. If you have reason to believe it is
not in the best interest of your child to be in the custody or visitation of
the other guardian, that is spouse, parent, or grandparent; we will find
the evidence in the course of a child custody and visitation investigation to
support the facts.
The Conley Group’s team of experienced
investigators conducts child custody fact-finding assignments they can
determine the background, character, activities and associations of an
individual or other relevant facts relating to an individual’s
suitability. The Conley Group also
provides assistance during ordered visitation.
The Conley Group can accompany and protect a client during private or
public meetings, as well as to discreetly observe and document events during
court ordered visitation periods. We
are highly sensitive to the complex and emotional nature of these matters and
take great precautions to ensure the welfare of the children involved.
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Due
Diligence Research and Investigations
Today’s business marketplace demands that you know
exactly what you’re getting into… and with whom. Possessing accurate and timely information is the key to success,
and those who fail to acquire the right intelligence are often left in the dark
and holding the financial bag. The fact is,
you can never be too careful. Too many
times, we have been asked to handle a situation that could have been avoided
with a Due Diligence investigation.
Whether it is an investigation of corporate principles and their
companies for a merger or contract, a screening of your clients, vendors, key
management personnel or security apparatus, our investigation can be adapted to
fit your exact needs.
The Conley
Group’s investigative team can positively identify the subject(s), verify
professional licensing, secure legal status of business, provide litigation
histories, and search for tax liens/judgments/bankruptcies. We can contact our
sources for reputation in the community and industry, verify banking relations
and secure a credit history (with a release).
If your company is contemplating a new partnership,
merger or other business venture, you need to make sure your facts are on the
money, and a Due Diligence investigation can go a long way. The Conley Group can provide you with the
critical information you’re seeking.
From public records searches to in-depth global investigations, our
experts will utilize a wide variety of specialized techniques to dig up the
data that precisely meets your needs.
If you want to avoid unpleasant surprises, call The Conley Group to
commence a Due Diligence investigation, and know for sure what lies ahead.
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Employee Theft Investigations
Internal and external theft perpetrated by
employees, criminal opportunists, customers, vendors, partners, and competitors
continues to threaten the welfare of companies small and large throughout the
world. In addition to our undercover
investigation service and our forensic accounting and fraud investigation
services, we also investigate instances of blue & white collar crime in the
warehouse, field, store, branch office, or corporate headquarters. The Conley Group conducts loss and theft
investigations to resolve theft crimes. Loss and theft investigations involve
the shrinkage of products or merchandise; this may include product diversions,
shipment hijackings, cash loss, stolen vehicles, raw materials, etc.
In many circumstances,
the calculations of losses are difficult to obtain. The Conley Group’s
investigative team can help you identify, define and calculate the losses,
begin an in-depth investigation to resolve the crime, and report the crime to
your insurance company. We will work
with you closely to minimize additional theft and move forward to seek
resolution of the thefts.
Background investigations, forensic
examination/evidence documentation, interviews, surveillance, undercover operations
and other activities are undertaken by professional investigators and trained
operatives to identify and document the criminal activity. Investigation is also directed to identify
the participants and the level of their involvement relative to the crime.
In pursuing our investigation, The Conley Group
will act to quantify the loss and to locate and recover same – be it material,
equipment, intellectual property, product, capital, client accounts, or other
valuable company assets. The Conley Group
can also provide assistance to counsel, law enforcement and prosecutors in the
pursuit of litigation arising from incidents of theft, larceny and
embezzlement.
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Expert
Witness Testimony and Litigation Support
When litigation occurs, those involved in the civil
business dispute need to be assured that their case will be managed as
effectively and efficiently as possible.
Although litigation is expensive and the outcome is often times
uncertain even with the best facts, it is sometimes inevitable.
Even with the help of top-notch attorneys, piecing
together your case can be incredibly difficult. Presenting the proper evidence and information in the right
fashion may turn out to be a considerably tougher task than you expected. You may need some outside consultation to
help prepare your case, or you may need an expert witness to take the stand in
a court of law. After all, evidence
alone cannot always seal a case.
The Conley Group can help you and your legal team
acquire the evidence you need, using time-tested procedures to ensure the
integrity of the information obtained.
Our expert witnesses can then take the stand in court and deliver
straightforward, compelling testimony that will clarify the evidence presented
and lend substantial credibility to your case.
Legal fact-finding, evidence documentation, public records research
& retrieval, process service, interviews and legal statements, witness
location, background investigations, witness protection, paralegal & notary
services, and post trial interviews are some of the many services offered by
The Conley Group.
The Conley Group investigators possess extensive
trial and witness stand experience and provide responsive, dedicated, and
resourceful investigative trial support.
We are accustomed to engagements involving extended terms, complex or
sensitive matters, high-profile cases and large-scale projects.
If you’re in need of professional litigation
support, The Conley Group has the credentials and expertise to strengthen any
case. From pre-trial investigation to
concluding analysis, our staff is committed to providing efficient and discreet
support to help you win your case. And
should you need to call upon an expert witness, The Conley Group‘s
knowledgeable staff has expertise in a wide array of industries, making us the
foremost firm to call for expert trial support. Our team members are highly-trained in courtroom presence, and
can be counted on for confident, accurate testimony that will lend a
significant measure of credibility to your case and tip the legal scales in
your favor.
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Forensic
Accounting/Fraud Investigations
The numbers are staggering. According to the Association of Certified
Fraud Examiners in a 2004 report, the typical organization loses 6% of its annual
revenues to occupational fraud. If
multiplied by the US Gross Domestic Product, which in 2003 totaled just under
$11 trillion, it would translate into $660 billion in annual fraud losses.
It’s no secret that today’s highly volatile
business environment demands a high level of financial scrutiny. Multinational corporations have been brought
down by instances of financial fraud, often perpetrated by top-level
executives. Accounting errors,
intentional or not, can mean the end of your business, and maybe even your
freedom. So what can you do when faced
with the possibility of financial fraud within your organization?
The Conley Group can help. We specialize in the investigation of
financial crimes such as bribery, conflict of interest, embezzlement, fraud,
forgery and money laundering. The
Conley Group will identify, document, and pursue individuals and organized
groups engaged in the conversion and concealment of company assets. The Conley Group is also adept in the
pursuit of computer fraud schemes and computer assisted crimes.
Financial fraud is serious business, and when it
comes to the future of your organization, you need all the information you can
get. The Conley Group is proud to
provide the most authoritative and comprehensive forensic accounting services
in the world, with an unbeatable level of attention and commitment. The Conley Group conducts all investigations
in concert with counsel and law enforcement to ensure recovery, prosecution or
an otherwise successful case.
If your organization is feeling the effects of
financial fraud, or if you suspect you many be at risk, The Conley Group is the
smart choice to help expose theft and safeguard your assets. If you need assistance, call the experts at
The Conley Group right away.
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Insurance Investigations &
Workers' Compensation Claims
How do you know if your
employee is faking or exaggerating an injury?
It is no surprise that worker’s compensation
claimants sometimes amplify their claims to collect higher benefits. In some cases, claimants are not injured at
all but are collecting money simply because they have committed fraud by filing
a false injury complaint. These facts
are well known and may severely and immediately affect the bottom-line of even
the largest organization. Workers'
Compensation is usually a state-provided protection and is designed to provide
compensation based on the type of injury and the degree of disability of the
worker. This is where The Conley Group
can help you and your Worker’s Compensation insurance carrier.
Although there are few
certainties, The Conley Group can help you determine if your employee is faking
or exaggerating an injury, or if they appear to be legitimately injured. Our job is not to impeach the claimants but
rather to help determine the truth. We
understand that there are many claimants whose injuries are legitimate. We investigate suspected cases of fraud for
the employer or the insuring agency and provide objective reports on how the
claimant is adhering or progressing through the healing or disabled
process. Many of our clients use us
whenever they have a claim, as opposed to waiting and only using us after they
have become suspicious of fraud. This
early identification process helps keep fraudsters from costing you money by
drawing regular compensation that they are not entitled to receive and in the
courtroom. Don’t let fraudulent
Worker’s Compensation claims drain your profits.
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Intellectual
Property & Trademark Infringement
Companies concerned with the protection of trade
secrets and the mitigation of threats posed by excessive, overly aggressive or
illegal competitor intelligence operations will realize many benefits by
utilizing the skilled professionals of The Conley Group.
Our primary
role in intellectual property and trademark matters is to protect your organization’s name and product. What businesses provide is unique and they
want to protect the concepts and trademarks that identify their company. However, due to the rapid growth of the
Internet and other advancements in technology, the frequency of trademark,
copyright and patent infringements continues to climb at an alarming rate. Your intellectual property is more exposed
than ever before, and it is more likely than not that there are individuals,
organizations and even foreign governments that are attempting to cash in on
your efforts and success. The Conley
Group’s team of investigators and specialists can help you get the jump on
infringing entities by finding out who they are, what they are up to, and how
they can best be stopped for good.
The Conley Group is both experienced and effective
in the investigation of intellectual property violations. The Conley Group’s investigators conduct
undercover field activity to identify product counterfeiting operations and
other unauthorized activities at the manufacturing, distribution, and retail
levels. Investigators will ascertain
the identification, background and associations of violators as well as their
sources and method of operation.
Additionally, we also offer support in the enforcement of court
orders. The Conley Group can track and
monitor specific merchandise or equipment; observe and document suspicious
activities; or assist in the execution of search and seizure orders. The Conley Group will coordinate each
investigation according to specific case objectives; working with legal
counsel, client representatives, law enforcement officers or prosecutors.
The physical and legal protection of trade secrets
can better be realized with the assistance of The Conley Group‘s professional
staff. Let us assist your firm legally
establish the value of your proprietary data with an effective protection
program that is suited to meet the unique needs of your organization.
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Labor
Relations, Wrongful
Dismissals & High Risk Terminations
Every employer,
regardless of the size and type of business, faces the risk that some type of
unfavorable workplace circumstance will occur at one time or another. Sometimes accusations made by employees are
justly made, and sometimes they are not.
Knowing quickly and accurately which is correct can help you make
decisions that could save you money, and in some cases, could save your business. Failing to have a diligent response to a
complaint can quickly lead to a whirlwind of similar or other types of
complaints. Deciding how to respond can
make the difference between having an issue become an incident or dealing with
a public scandal.
The Conley Group helps
organizations by conducting an impartial, independent investigation when
employees levy allegations or complaints.
Each investigation is conducted in a confidential, legal and ethical
manner with the single objective of obtaining the facts. Once the investigation is complete, we will
present our findings to you so that you, and possibly your attorney, can make a
decision about what exposure may or may not exist. Since our professional teams of investigators are knowledgeable about
federal, state and local laws regarding privacy and labor rights, you do not
have to worry about how the investigation will be conducted.
Don’t let bogus
complaints negatively affect your business.
Protect you hard-earned reputation and bottom line by involving our team
of investigative professionals early in any complaint process.
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Mystery
and Secret Shopper Services
Do you have suspicion
that your employees are not following the procedures and policies of your
organization? Perhaps you have received
word that your employees are stealing product or time when you are not
there. Mystery shopping
services can help you pinpoint bad employees and make the decisions
necessary to implement changes.
For example, a bartender
may be giving away double shots, a salesperson may agree to things your company
does not offer, a retail clerk may only ring up part of an order. Many times the employer may only know store
stock is low, clients are angry and accounts payables are too high.
Mystery shopping
services can successfully answer many of these questions and equip you with the
information that will enable you to cut people who are part of the problem and
retain those who are part of the solution.
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Process Service
In the United States,
legal procedure requires that each party in a case should be justly notified if
any actions are to be taken against them in a court of law, or justly notified
when there are actions to be taken in court regarding their case. This is part of The Due Process of Law.
The Conley Group provides service of process and allocates up to four attempts to complete the
service of process. Service attempts
are made at the time and location deemed logical or pursuant to your
request. Difficult Service is
undertaken in matters which involve evasive subjects or assignments which are
deemed high risk or otherwise dangerous.
Difficult service is billed on an hourly basis commensurate with
standard surveillance rates.
Although it is improvident to guarantee that every
service attempt will be successfully executed within a limited time period, we
are confident that you will recognize a professional and diligent effort in
every case we undertake.
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Undercover (Covert) Investigations
Undercover Operations have proven to be one of the most reliable and useful methods of
investigation in combating violations in the modern workplace. The Conley Group has achieved an enviable
reputation for its ability to place and operate trained agents within a group
or organization who can then uncover and document evidence of criminal
misconduct, safety violations or violations of other company policies. Undercover agents can be placed into a
variety of environments, such as warehousing and manufacturing, on a short or
long-term basis. Agents are selected to
match a specific peer group including ethnicity, gender and age.
The Conley Group, Inc.
undercover agents are specifically trained to detect a variety of workplace
problems. While there are a number of areas our agents can review, we are most
often called into a business to deal with issues relating to theft, drug use
and drug dealing, harassment claims, fraud, conflicts of interest, kickbacks,
sabotage, and bribery.
Our agents typically
work as an employee of the organization. While working in that capacity, in
addition to investigating the primary reason for the investigation, our agents
are also able to conduct an audit of the supervisory and managerial staff from
an employees' point of view. Equipping
our clients with information that can assist them in correcting supervisory
problems within their organization can dramatically affect employee retention
and morale.
A key to successful
integration of an agent into an organization is secrecy. If you are interested
in contracting with our agency to provide an agent, we should be notified from
a residence telephone or a pay telephone. Using any form of wireless
communications is highly unadvisable. Also the fewer people who know about the
commencement and subsequent existence of an investigation, the better it is for
the organization employing our services, as well as the agent's safety.
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Witness Interviews and Legal Statements
Witness interviews and legal statements need to be reliable, accurate and
thorough. The Conley Group will locate
and meet with subject parties, develop a professional rapport and provide the
maximum effort to elicit the truth of the matters at issue.
The Conley Group investigators only pursue witness
interviews subsequent to a complete review of the known case facts and
background. Our professional
investigators will evaluate the subject witness and provide a summary of
observations such as physical description, appearance, education, displayed
character and other discernible characteristics.
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Workplace
Violence Investigations
Leaders in both the
private sector and government are well aware of the increase in workplace
violence.
Workplace violence is usually perpetrated by disgruntled
employees, spouses or other people close to the employee. Even former boyfriends or girlfriends often
exhibit violence in the workplace.
Human resources managers and supervisors who may be confronted with a
disgruntled or potentially dangerous employee should have an available resource
that can provide support and expertise to them in these situations.
Even the threat or possibility of workplace violence makes employees uneasy about their safety,
and employers have additional reasons to worry. Employers who fail to conduct a workplace investigation when such
situations occur usually lose any claims or lawsuits brought by the employee or
their families in response to the violent incident. The average out-of-court settlement is over $500,000.00, and
juries across the United States are awarding multi-million dollar judgments to
many of those injured by workplace violence.
This does not count the OSHA fines for failure to maintain a safe
workplace.
The Conley
Group can help employers take the proper steps to minimize the danger to themselves and other
employees through workplace violence prevention planning. For instance, if a high-risk termination is
inevitable, The Conley Group can provide either a uniformed or a plainclothes
on-site security officer during and after the termination. Prior to a
potential termination, The Conley Group’s security professionals are available
to consult with and assist you with the termination process, to coordinate with
your human resources department, or to involve local law enforcement. You can rely on
The Conley Group team to assist you with managing potentially dangerous
situations in the workplace.
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To
schedule an initial consultation, or to retain our services, please contact us
by telephone at (515)
277-7437 or via e-mail at investigations@theconleygroup.com.
