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Historical Research

Research and analysis for litigation,
regulatory compliance, and public relations

Address Your Historical Questions

Whether you are documenting the historical development of an industrial site, identifying potentially responsible parties for site contamination, or investigating the factual basis for asbestos or other toxic tort matters, our historical research services can help. We also have extensive experience researching government contract claims, corporate genealogy, and historical standards and practices.

Our historical research investigations have helped clients reduce financial liability in legal issues, obtain successful summary judgments, comply with regulatory disclosure requirements, and inform their legal strategies.

Since 1981, History Associates has worked on hundreds of investigations for lawyers, crisis managers, and their clients. Our broad understanding of historical context and our expert knowledge of where to find crucial documentary evidence has helped to establish the facts.

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Call us at (301) 279-9697 or contact History Associates to discuss your research project.

Proven Historical Research Methodology

Our professional historians have the knowledge, skills, and experience to address your historical questions.

First, we gain an understanding of your question in light of your objectives and the historical context of relevant events and then develop a concise scope of work.

Next, we review the information you have gathered so far, along with other contextual sources, to develop a target list of repositories and collections likely to contain useful evidence.

Historical information resides in a vast array of sources. We have an unsurpassed knowledge of the federal records system (including the National Archives) and have conducted research across the country and around the world in a wide variety of archives, libraries, government offices, and private collections. We can decipher the arcane systems used to organize historical records, effectively employ on-line resources, and develop targeted Freedom of Information Act requests to systematically gather the available historical record.

Our research approach is designed to support any authentication requirements you have. Not only will we document what we collected, but we can also document what was unavailable in the surviving records – a fact that can be just as important when addressing legal issues.

We organize these materials to compile and deliver the evidence in a variety of formats to suit your needs. We also have experience presenting our findings in expert reports, affidavits, depositions, and trial testimony.

Read related articles and presentations >>

Historical Investigations in Legal Matters

We often serve as historical consultants in litigation matters, providing historical research support to your legal team and coordinating our efforts with experts from other disciplines. We understand that the legal process requires authentication of historical evidence, and our historians follow careful procedures to document their historical research and have testified regarding their sources and the stories they tell.

Research and factual investigation

Locate and retrieve publicly available historical information
(read related articles and presentations)
Synthesize publicly available records with the privately held internal documents exchanged in discovery
Prepare summary and expert reports of our research findings
Deliver authenticated evidence for use in legal proceedings

Historical consulting for discovery and motions

Assist in preparing discovery requests and interrogatories
Draft requests for admissions of fact that are useful for summary judgment
Weigh the credibility and reliability of historical materials provided by opposing parties, experts, and eyewitnesses

Expert witness at trial

Serve as an authoritative interpreter of the available historical record as both fact and expert witnesses (see our expert witness experience)

Avoid surprises

Not only do our skilled historians efficiently find the information you need, but we understand the contextual significance of the records we uncover. Our knowledge of history gives us the framework to know what information to look for. This allows us to develop leads to other historical records that can bolster a case or – perhaps just as importantly – reduce the likelihood that opposing counsel will produce surprises later.