National Association of Legal Investigators awards Dean A. Beers the Certified Legal Investigator

July 24, 2009 - PRLog -- Forensic Investigators of Colorado LLC, founded and operated by Dean A. Beers, is pleased to announce that Mr. Beers has been conferred the designation of Certified Legal Investigator (CLI)® by the National Association of Legal Investigators.  NALI membership is open to experienced investigators of professional competence and integrity that are actively engaged in providing services in the areas of civil negligence (including personal injury and death) litigation, and criminal defense.

Of the CLI process, Mr. Beers said, “This experience was the most challenging, thorough, and rigorous process I have undertaken.  Only five people qualified to sit for the written and oral examinations, and each passed.  This was very demonstrative of the expectations I have for myself and represents the caliber of the work product and expectations my clients and colleagues, local and nationwide, know they can rely upon.”

Mr. Beers is the newest of only 76 active Certified Legal Investigators worldwide and is the only Certified Legal Investigator and active member of the National Association of Legal Investigators in the northern Colorado region.  NALI feels that this professional certification program is the most important and significant program it has undertaken in its history.  Certified Legal Investigators hold themselves, and each other, to a higher standard.

To qualify for application for the Certified Legal Investigation examination, an applicant must meet all of the following NALI membership criteria:
•   Provide multiple attorney references;
•   Be in good standing in the legal and investigative communities;
•   Pass an in-depth background check;
•   Follow a strict code of ethics.
   
Specific to the Certified Legal Investigator examination process:
•   A minimum of five years of documented full-time employment in civil negligence litigation and/or criminal defense;
•   Prepare and submit a "white paper" of not less than 1,000 words, on any investigative subject;*
(Mr. Beers submitted ‘Reviewing and Comprehending Autopsy Reports’)
•   Examinations in two parts, prepared and administered by the professional certification board:  written* and oral* (a situational witness scenario, complete with the challenges, statement, and attorney memorandum) and background and ethics interviews;
(* a passing score of 70% or more in each of the above three sections is required)
•   Complete fifty (50) hours of continuing education every three years after certification.

Mr. Beers’s background includes general investigations since 1987, Associates degree in Investigation and Security, former deputy coroner / certified medicolegal death investigator and forensic autopsy assistant at both the Weld and Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Offices (beginning in 2002 with internship training and then full-time employment at Larimer County), and POST certification from the Weld County Law Enforcement Academy in 2005, with honors.  He returned to legal investigation in 2008 and presently provides legal investigative services in the civil areas of Personal Injury, Negligence and Death, as well as Criminal Defense.

Forensic Investigators of Colorado LLC was founded by Mr. Beers in 1987 and is staffed by himself and his wife, business partner and Associate Legal Investigator, Karen S. Beers, BSW.  They can be reached at (970) 691-0813 or by email at beersda@Forensic-Investigators.com.  Detailed information is available on the agency’s website, www.Forensic-Investigators.com.

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Dean Beers, CLI, has been a professional investigator since starting his agency in 1987. Services included general and personal factual investigations - locates, backgrounds, and assets / liabilities. In 2001 he added forensic and related factual investigative services.

In 2002 he began training with the Larimer County Medical Examiner's Office as a Reserve Investigator / Deputy Coroner, then part-time / as needed for the Larimer and Weld County Medical Examiner's Offices.

In 2005 he was offered full-time employment with the Larimer County Medical Examiner's Office and completed the Weld County Law Enforcement Training Academy, graduating with honors in academics, and becoming a certified Colorado Peace Officer, a requirement unique in Colorado to the Larimer County Medical Examiner's Office. In 2008 Dean announced his return to the private sector. They are centrally located one hour north of Denver, CO and one hour south of Cheyenne, WY.