Paid research services · Separate from editorial reporting
Turn scattered records into a file you can use.
When intake is open, The ClawFiles takes on limited, defined document-research assignments for newsrooms, attorneys, nonprofit and community organizations, and others with a legitimate research need. The work would be records-first: find the documents, establish what they show, organize the source trail, and keep facts, allegations, and unanswered questions separate. New commissioned assignments are currently paused pending a legal-compliance review.
Capabilities
Records research with a usable handoff.
The product is not a document dump. It is an organized, source-linked file built around a specific question.
Research services
- Public-records request planning and tracking
- Property, deed-chain, and ownership research
- Corporate and nonprofit entity research
- Permit, docket, and municipal-decision chronologies
- Campaign-finance and public-expenditure research
- Document review, source verification, and indexing
- Source-linked relationship and geographic mapping
- Newsroom research and fact-checking support
Typical deliverables
- A verified chronology with citations
- An indexed source library
- A property, company, or relationship map
- A public-records request plan
- A concise findings memorandum
- A list of missing records and unresolved questions
- A briefing designed for a newsroom, legal team, board, or community organization
Good project fits
When the record is fragmented.
- A property or development spans years of records.Deeds, permits, minutes, dockets, and agency files need to be put in one defensible sequence.
- A team needs a chronology, not another pile of PDFs.The source trail must be searchable, cited, and ready for the next person to use.
- The answer is probably public, but buried.The task is locating, comparing, and explaining records without overstating them.
- A complex relationship needs a visual structure.Companies, parcels, permits, transactions, or public decisions need to be mapped with every connection defined.
Selected public work
See the method in the open.
These are public journalism examples, not samples of confidential client work.
Documented companies, facilities, water infrastructure, and connections with an evidentiary legend.
Money trail The Simes House filePublic spending, nonprofit filings, campaign-finance records, and municipal decisions assembled into one source trail.
Case construction Case Files + Records RoomChronologies, evidence grades, unresolved questions, and a public-record docket readers can verify.
Engagement
Start small and define the finish line.
- 01Initial inquiry
Send only the basic question, jurisdiction, intended use, desired output, and deadline.
- 02Fit and conflict review
The ClawFiles checks whether the work is lawful, within its document-research capabilities, and compatible with current or planned coverage.
- 03Written scope
Deliverables, schedule, fee, confidentiality, ownership, revision limits, and any disclosure are agreed before work begins.
- 04Research and delivery
Sources are cited, limits are stated, and missing records remain visible. A defined pilot is welcome; no work begins without an agreed scope and fee.
Intake status
Start with the basic scope—not the sensitive file.
When intake reopens, the first note should include the organization or role, the question to answer, the town or agency involved, the intended use, the desired output, and the deadline. Say whether the project touches a current or past subject of ClawFiles reporting.
Do not attach privileged records, source identities, exact private locations, unpublished evidence, or confidential strategy. An initial email is not a secure channel and does not create a client or privileged relationship.
Intake is paused. No new commissioned assignments are being accepted while this service lane completes a legal-compliance review. Have information for publication instead? Tip the Files. Want to support the public reporting? Get new files by email.