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From Due Diligence to Corporate Intelligence by Carole Levitt, J.D., M.L.S. |
Say you're working on a big case, and you need as much information on the opposing company as possible. Or perhaps you're pitching a potential new client, and want to know everything about their business for your presentation. Maybe your client’s competition is developing a new product or you want to read all the news stories about some development that will affect your business or your clients’. Do you know how to get that information quickly? And for free?
There was a time not so long ago when a law firm would
have to use an "information specialist" to find
this information, or in extreme cases, hire a
"corporate spy" to dig up the most sensitive
competitive business information. But today, with so much
business, legal and news information available on the
Internet, getting this kind of "business
intelligence" is infinitely easier. If you know
where to look, you too can be a corporate 007.
To locate company background and financial information
via the Internet follow these steps:
- Review the company’s own web site
- Search company directories
- If public, review SEC filings
- Review state corporate records
- Review county fictitious business name records
- Obtain news about the company and its executives
- Ascertain whether any federal or state agency regulates the company and review records
- Locate opinions, briefs, complaints and settlements concerning the company
Locating a
company's web site should be the first step you take to
learn information about the company. By using a company's
own site, you'll be able to obtain information that you
normally would have to spend hours surfing the net for.
Just like most people, companies like to talk about
themselves. It's amazing how much a company will tell you
about themselves and their products (sometimes, right
down to the technical specifications) on their own web
sites. Company sites may provide their SEC filings, press
releases, background information about company
executives, other financial information (stock quotes and
history) and even some information not available anywhere
else on the net (such as job openings and salaries).
After discovering what the company has to say about
itself, you can then search the Web for outside
"objective" information about the company in
order to compare the data and draw your own conclusions.
