Strategic fact investigation gets to the important facts quickly so that the initial assessments about alternative courses of action can be made promptly, before the situation gets worse.

This kind of fact investigation takes advantage of routine business practices to digitize data and documents—evidence of wrongdoing or lack of wrongdoing—and the capabilities to search this data so that the potential parties in a lawsuit can better determine their own responsibility in bringing about the dispute. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in fact contemplate these technological advances. The rules contemplate quick, voluntary disclosure. They provide the incentive to self investigate to determine whether to fight and how to fight. In addition, the lawyer must identify and design a strategy for interviewing the client and client employees.