Child Custody     

Child custody cases are by far the most emotionally charged of all types of cases involving private individuals. With the national divorce rate more than 50% and the rate of divorce in Arizona even greater than the national average, there will continue to be an overwhelming number of parental disputes with respect to custody. Often, a parent may lose sight of the "best interests of the child" doctrine in their effort to punish or control the other parent. Children subjected to these tactics are often permanently emotionally damaged as a result.

With the guidance of a qualified legal consultant, Phil has been able to resolve many custody disputes by documenting prior behavior or finding innovative investigative techniques to establish a present pattern of parental misconduct. In the majority of thse cases, resolution did not require a full trial in family court.

Kidnapping/Abduction

Each year thousands of children are reported missing to local law enforcement as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Fortunately, the majority of these cases are parental kidnapping as opposed to stranger abduction. Stranger abductions rarely have a happy ending.

Phil has investigated and solved dozens of parental abductions in his 35 years of experience. To date, Phil has successfully found every child he has been hired to look for. As a parent himself, Phil has the greatest passion and sense of urgency in handling missing child cases. While most of his abduction cases come through family law attorneys or mental health experts, Phil will discuss these types of cases with private clients and, if necessary, utilize other professional team members to provide the specialized legal and mental health services needed.

Missing Persons

Phil has located hundreds of individuals in a wide variety of circumstances. While missing person cases may just involve finding an old friend or relative, Phil has also been involved in cases involving the disappearance of persons for unknown reasons. These are typically difficult cases. However, as with so many other cases Phil has solved, the answer often lies in the ability to elicit help from those with information along with understanding the subjects involved. Everyone is somewhere ... Any one can be found.

Harassment

Harassment can generally be described as behavior designed to threaten or torment another. Its many forms may include annoying phone calls and text messages to physically stalking the victim. In its milder forms it may be just a temporary irritation associated with the ending of a romantic relationship or friendship. The goal of the perpetrator is to control the victim in some way, either emotionally to get "the last slap" after a break up or in more serious cases to frighten and terrorize the victim into regret or submission. In such cases, ignoring the behavior in hopes it will resolve by itself will only encourage the perpetrator to raise the stakes. An acknowledgement of any kind may well encourage the perpetrator by letting them know the victim is being emotionally affected. The victim begins to feel powerless since no matter what they do the fear is that the perpetrator will escalate their behavior. Resignation or submission is not an option.

Phil has handled many cases where it appeared there was no hope of getting the perpetrator to stop the harassment. The key is to demonstrate through a "no tolerance policy" that there will be consequences and that the perpetrator will never get what they want. The only options remaining must be for the perpetrator to move on, find a new victim or go to jail. A thorough assessment must be done to customize the response in each case. Legal alternatives must be considered. The victim must break free of any denial that the person they once knew and cared about "wouldn't do anything serious." Statistics clearly show the rates of serious assaults and homicides that result from trying to pacify or ignore a perpetrator. Phil and his team of experts will help the victim find the courage to do what they must. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is action in spite of fear. Read Case Study