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Gov. Agencies Regulating Companies
From Due Diligence to Corporate Spy a presentation by Carole Levitt, J.D., M.L.S. at Glasser Legal Works, October 24, 2000 |
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
- Locate the federal or state agency regulating the company and review records
- Locate opinions, briefs, complaints and settlements concerning the company
Company Web Sites
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.
