OSINT for Solicitors and Litigation

Updated 13 October 2026 by Investigation Bureau

Open-source research gives a case facts it can rely on before anyone spends money on proceedings: where the other party is, what they own, who stands behind a company or an account, and what they have said in public. It is usually the cheapest first step because it is desk-based, takes days rather than weeks, and tells you early whether a claim is worth pursuing and against whom.

This guide is for solicitors, paralegals and litigation executives who want to know what an investigator can add to a matter from open sources, what the work product looks like, and where research ends and a court application begins. If a matter is live, send a confidential enquiry and we reply within one working day.

By open sources we mean records anyone may lawfully consult: company and property registers, court lists and judgments, insolvency notices, press archives, social media that is genuinely public, domain and technical data, and licensed databases. Our OSINT investigation service describes the discipline itself. This guide is about how it is applied to a case.

Where open sources help a case

Pre-action research on a prospective defendant. Before a letter of claim goes out, it is worth knowing whether the proposed defendant exists as described, whether the company is trading or drifting towards strike-off, whether there are other judgments or petitions against it, and whether there will be anything to enforce against. A claim that is unlikely to be paid is a different conversation with the client from one that is.
Locating defendants and witnesses for service. A claim form cannot be served at an address that is years out of date, and an application for alternative service needs evidence of the steps already taken. We confirm a current address, record how it was confirmed, and hand it to whoever is serving. Our guide to process servers in the UK covers what happens next.
Assets and enforcement after judgment. A judgment is a piece of paper until something can be found to enforce against. Property, shareholdings, directorships, vehicles, trading names and the lifestyle visible in public all point to where the money sits. Our guide to how investigators trace hidden assets sets out the method. Enforcement costs far less when the target is known before the application is made.
Counterparties and directors before a transaction. Who is behind the company your client is about to contract with, what else the directors have been involved in, and whether the filings match what the other side has said. This is the open-source phase of a corporate investigation, and it is often all that is needed.
Impersonation, defamation and anonymous accounts. A fake profile, a defamatory post or a lookalike domain leaves technical and behavioural traces. Lawful attribution establishes who may be behind it, or tells you plainly that the identifying information sits with a platform and will need an order.
Family finance and lifestyle evidence. In financial remedy proceedings and in disputes over maintenance, open sources can show a business that is still trading, a property that was not on the Form E, or a lifestyle that does not match the stated means. All of it comes from what the person has chosen to make public.

What a solicitor receives

A written report built to be relied on. A report that keeps what was found separate from what it means is worth more to a court than any number of screenshots. In practice that means:

Every finding cited to its source. The register, the page or the document, with the date and time it was consulted.
Captures dated and preserved. Public material changes and gets deleted. Each capture is dated, stored unaltered and available as an exhibit.
The method described. How each finding was reached, in plain language that can be lifted into a witness statement without rewriting.
A stated confidence level and what remains unknown. A confirmed finding is marked as confirmed. A likely but unproven one says so, and the report says what would be needed to close the gap.
An investigator available to give evidence. The person who did the work can make a witness statement and attend if called.

Our guide to the admissibility of investigator evidence covers how a court treats this material and where the pitfalls are.

When a court order is needed

Open sources have limits, and a good report is honest about where they fall. Where the identity behind an account, the holder of a bank account or the registrant of a domain is known only to a platform, a bank or a registrar, the route is a court order. Typically that is a Norwich Pharmacal order against the third party holding the information, or an application for third-party disclosure within existing proceedings.

The division of labour is simple. The investigator builds the evidence for the application: the account, the posts, the domain records, the open-source steps taken and where they stopped. The solicitor makes the application. A well-prepared bundle shows the court that the information cannot reasonably be obtained another way, which is what the application turns on. We do not approach platforms or banks ourselves, and we do not try to obtain what an order exists to protect.

Proportionality and the lawful basis

Litigation research involves personal data, and the lawful basis is documented before the first search is run. For most instructions from a solicitor that basis is legitimate interests under UK GDPR, with the legal-claims condition covering any special category data that arises. Each instruction is scoped to what the matter needs and no wider. We are registered with the ICO as a data controller (ZC259849).

Two statutory lines are never crossed. We do not obtain personal data by deception, which is an offence under section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018. We do not access anything behind a login that is not ours, which is an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Evidence gathered in breach of either is a liability to the case, and it exposes the instructing firm as well as the investigator.

The file is kept disclosure-ready from the start: if the other side asks how a finding was obtained, the answer is in the audit record. We run our open-source work on tools built in-house, so the record of what was searched, when and by whom stays with the case file.

How to instruct

Scope in writing. The question the matter needs answered, and what is out of scope.
Conflict check. We check the names on both sides before accepting the instruction.
Matter reference. Your file reference goes on every document, so the report drops straight into the bundle.
Fixed fee quoted before work starts. Agreed in writing. No open-ended hourly billing.
Timescale. Agreed at the outset, with any hearing date or limitation date noted.
Confidentiality terms. Our standard terms or your firm's, signed before any work begins.
Who the report is addressed to. Usually the instructing solicitor. If it is for the client or the court, say so at the outset, because it changes how the report is written.

Timescales and cost

Desk-based research is usually delivered within days. Tell us the hearing date and we will work to it.

As a guide to the UK market, desk-based OSINT work starts from a few hundred pounds, and a people trace is typically a fixed fee of £150 to £500. Our own figure is a fixed quote in writing after a free, confidential first conversation, so you can put a number in front of the client before committing.

Frequently asked questions

Can OSINT evidence be used in court?

Yes, provided it was gathered lawfully and the court can see how. Material from public sources is admissible in civil proceedings like any other documentary evidence, subject to the court's discretion and the rules on disclosure and witness statements. What makes the difference is provenance: each capture dated, each source cited, and a witness who can explain the method.

Can you find a defendant's address for service?

Usually, where there is a legitimate purpose, and a claim is one. We confirm a current address from open and licensed sources and record what was checked, so that the file supports an application for alternative service if personal service fails. We can pass the confirmed address to your process server or arrange service through one.

Can you trace assets for enforcement?

Yes, from open sources: property, company interests, directorships, vehicles, trading names and public lifestyle indicators. The report shows what the judgment debtor appears to own and where to look first. What open sources cannot show, such as bank balances, is the territory of the orders the court provides, and the report is built to support those applications.

Do you work on a fixed fee?

Yes. After a free first conversation we quote a fixed fee in writing, with the scope and timescale set out, before any work begins. If the scope changes during the work, we tell you before the cost does.

Put a number on the question first. Describe the matter in confidence and we will tell you what open sources can establish and what it will cost: send a confidential enquiry.

Sister service: Trace Bureau is our fixed-price address tracing service, for anyone who only needs a current UK address for a lawful purpose. Charged only when we find them. Investigation Bureau is a Bureau Nine company.