Every small firm hits the same wall eventually. A client walks in with a case that needs a multi-state skip trace, a hard Digital Footprint Investigation, or a broader retrieval effort — and the caseload is in front of a partner who doesn't have licensed in-house capacity for it. The three choices are all bad: turn the case away, refer it outside and lose the client, or hire a junior investigator you can't yet keep busy.
There's a fourth option that most firms don't consider until it's pointed out. The wholesale referral model keeps the partner in front of the client, preserves the client relationship, and turns the gap into a margin opportunity — without adding headcount.
How the Wholesale Model Works
The structure is plain and old-fashioned, which is part of why it works. Three parties, three roles, three separate relationships:
1. The partner stays in front of the client.
Your firm engages the end client on the engagement letter, sets the fee to the client, and runs the case strategy. From the client's perspective, the case is just yours. There is no third party introduced to the client under any circumstance.
2. The partner controls the client relationship.
You decide what the client sees, when they see it, and how findings are framed. 3SA's deliverables are packaged to your specification — under your engagement Letterhead, your case-numbering, your formatting. Where the engagement calls for it, we deliver on a co-branded or fully partner-branded basis.
3. 3SA delivers turnkey product at a wholesale rate.
We accept scope from the partner, run the investigation, and return a documented findings package — the same quality and licensing posture our direct clients receive. We invoice the partner monthly against an agreed rate card or per-case flat, not the end client.
The Intake Flow
The intake flow is built for partner workflows, not consumer ones. It is deliberately short.
1. Partner forwards subject + scope.
You submit the case through our partner intake form or, for sensitive matters, via a direct encrypted handoff. What we need is minimal: subject identifiers (name plus at least one anchor — DOB, SSN-last-four, address, plate, VIN, or known affiliate), the case posture (litigation, judgment enforcement, asset locate, pre-litigation diligence), and the deliverable you want.
2. Partner receives a scope confirmation with case ID.
Within one business day we return a written confirmation: case identifier, scope of work, sources to be queried, deliverables format, quoted fee, and target turnaround. Changes to scope are reviewed with the partner before we proceed.
3. Findings delivery.
Findings are delivered as a partner-branded report under the engagement terms agreed. Each delivery includes a documented evidence trail — sources accessed, query dates, cross-references built — so the work product holds up under client scrutiny or court examination.
Confidentiality Boundaries
Confidentiality is the part that matters most to partners. Here are the rules we operate under by default:
- The end client never sees 3SA's invoicing. We invoice the partner; the partner invoices the client. There is no circumstance in which the end client is directly billed by 3SA, and our name appears nowhere on the client's paper unless the partner elects to disclose it.
- The end client never sees 3SA's branding unless the partner elects to disclose. Deliverables are partner-branded by default. Reports do not carry 3SA redaction marks, headers, or footers unless the partner asks.
- All findings flow through the partner. 3SA does not contact the end client. We don't call to ask clarifying questions, we don't deliver directly, and we don't insert ourselves into the partner's client communication.
- We sign a written NDA per engagement. The engagement paperwork does the work. Scope, confidentiality, indemnification, and turnback provisions are documented before sourcing begins.
If you have a specific confidentiality posture for a particular client — for example, a politically exposed matter or a closely-watched litigation — we work to your terms, not ours.
Turnaround
Standard service-level windows for the most common partner engagements:
Multi-state skip trace
Subject plus co-occupants, current-address confidence ≥ 90%. 5–10 business days from intake confirmation.
Hard Digital Footprint Investigation
Court-grade subject profile with asset indicators, address confidence, and verified associates map. 10–21 business days from intake confirmation.
Retrieval work
Asset locate, lien search, real-property and professional-licensure sweep, debtor net-worth foundation. 30–60 calendar days, staged, with interim deliverables at the 14-day and 30-day mark so the partner has current material to work from while the broader picture completes.
Same-day and 72-hour rush windows are available for cases with documented urgency (e.g., imminent service deadlines, hearings within the week). Rush surcharges are quoted in the scope confirmation.
What Kinds of Cases Fit
The wholesale model works best where the work is specialized, the volume is occasional, and an in-house hire isn't justified yet. The case types we run most often with partners:
- Multi-state skip traces — for judgment enforcement and service of process where your local stack doesn't reach the destination state.
- Hard Digital Footprint Investigations — cases where the lead is thin: one car and one plate, a prospect from a public-records sweep, an heir-locate in a probate matter.
- Retrieval work — locating the subject's assets, business interests, real property, and professional licensure for enforcement strategy.
- Litigation-support backgrounds — where the standard $29 consumer background tool returned ambiguous or stale data and the partner needs something defensible.
- Enhanced due diligence (EDD) — for high-net-worth clients, counterparties in regulated transactions, or compliance-driven pre-engagement screening.
Not every case is a fit. The next section covers that.
When This Isn't the Right Model
Plain-spoken: the wholesale model isn't for everyone, and we'd rather say so up front than collect a fee on a case we shouldn't have taken.
At very low volumes — one or two cases a year — the overhead of standing up a wholesale relationship (NDA, rate card, intake workflow) outweighs the savings. A direct, one-off engagement with us through the standard intake process is the better fit there.
At very high volumes — recurring dedicated investigator capacity, week-in-week-out utilization — the partner should be looking at retaining an in-house licensed investigator on salary, with 3SA as a backstop for overflow or specialty work the in-house team can't cover.
The sweet spot is the middle: enough volume that the relationship pays for itself, but not so much that direct hiring makes more sense.
How to Start a Relationship
Engagements start with a partner-side consultation — no commitment, no fee. We walk through one or two of your active cases (anonymized as you need), agree on a rate card or per-case flat for the engagements you expect to send our way, sign an NDA and Master Services Agreement covering the framework, and you're set up to route cases to us as they come in.
To open the conversation, reach our partner desk via the contact form (use the partner-firm note in the message body) or visit the law firms page for additional context on how we work with legal-side partners. We'll return your inquiry within one business day.
Talking to a partner about a wholesale relationship?
Reach our partner desk. We return inquiries within one business day.