Prove an opponent's “footprint” in a particular jurisdiction

Litigators who would prefer to sue an individual or company in a particular jurisdiction often assign us to investigate the potential defendant's presence there. We start these “footprint” investigations by checking a variety of esoteric sources that have yielded results for us in past cases. Examples:

• A database of Customs records helped us tie a businessman to Bermuda. The database showed he had shipped tons of marble there, which led us to his lavishly decorated residence.
• Election-commission websites of political contributions showed an otherwise-undisclosed address provided by our subject when he recorded the contribution.
• We uncovered helpful addresses in the original version of an opponent's website, addresses the opponent had deleted as litigation became more likely.

Then we start knocking on doors and asking people for details. Doormen, and even the local dry cleaner, are sometimes helpful on how often an individual is around. With companies, there's nobody better to ask than the former employees we identify.