Run Investigations That Hold Up — Every Time
Master a battle-tested Agile framework that takes you from triage to final report with legal defensibility built into every step — taught by a practitioner who has worked every type of case, in every type of organization.
"An investigation isn't a checklist — it's a managed operation, and the practitioners who treat it that way are the ones whose findings survive."— Richard Schumacher, CFE, CPII
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Design and launch an internal investigation using the Agile Investigation framework from day one, with clear scope, roles, and milestones
- Conduct legally defensible witness interviews that surface the truth while protecting the organization from procedural challenges
- Gather, preserve, and document digital and physical evidence in a chain-of-custody that holds up to legal and regulatory scrutiny
- Identify and neutralize common investigation killers — leaks, retaliation risks, premature conclusions, and scope creep
- Produce a clear, defensible investigation report that satisfies executive leadership, legal counsel, and external regulators
- Apply iterative Agile sprint cycles to adapt investigation strategy in real time as new facts and witnesses emerge
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
6 modules · 26 lessons
The Agile Investigation Framework
Introduces the core philosophy and structure of the Agile Investigation method, establishing the mindset and vocabulary used throughout the course.
- 1.1Why Traditional Investigations FailIncluded
- 1.2The Agile Investigation Model OverviewIncluded
- 1.3Defining Scope, Roles, and Authority Before Day OneIncluded
- 1.4Setting Milestones and Sprint CyclesIncluded
Launching the Investigation
Covers the critical first 48–72 hours — decisions made here determine whether the investigation succeeds or is compromised before it truly begins.
- 2.1Triage: Assessing Allegations Before You MoveIncluded
- 2.2Securing the Scene: People, Data, and DocumentsIncluded
- 2.3Confidentiality Strategy and Leak PreventionIncluded
- 2.4Building Your Investigation PlanIncluded
Legally Defensible Witness Interviews
Delivers a complete playbook for planning, conducting, and documenting witness interviews that surface truth and withstand legal challenge.
- 3.1Interview Strategy: Sequence, Timing, and Witness CategorizationIncluded
- 3.2The Agile Interview Framework: Opening, Probing, and ClosingIncluded
- 3.3Handling Difficult Witnesses: Denials, Deception, and Emotional ReactionsIncluded
- 3.4Documenting Interview Results for Legal DefensibilityIncluded
- 3.5Navigating Privilege, Counsel, and the Upjohn WarningIncluded
Evidence Collection, Preservation, and Chain of Custody
Builds rigorous, court-ready evidence handling practices for both digital and physical evidence across the full investigation lifecycle.
- 4.1Evidence Fundamentals: Types, Standards, and Common MistakesIncluded
- 4.2Digital Evidence: Collection, Forensic Holds, and ESIIncluded
- 4.3Physical and Documentary Evidence HandlingIncluded
- 4.4Building and Maintaining Chain of CustodyIncluded
Investigation Killers: Risks, Pitfalls, and Real-Time Adaptation
Equips investigators to recognize and neutralize the most common threats that derail investigations mid-stream, using Agile sprint reviews to adapt strategy.
- 5.1The Five Investigation Killers and How to Spot ThemIncluded
- 5.2Managing Retaliation Risk During an Active InvestigationIncluded
- 5.3Scope Creep and Premature Conclusions: Staying DisciplinedIncluded
- 5.4The Sprint Review: Adapting Strategy as Facts EvolveIncluded
The Investigation Report and Closing the Case
Guides investigators through producing a clear, defensible final report and executing a disciplined case-close process that satisfies all stakeholders.
- 6.1Report Architecture: Structure, Tone, and AudienceIncluded
- 6.2Writing Findings, Credibility Determinations, and ConclusionsIncluded
- 6.3Remediation Recommendations and Corrective Action PlanningIncluded
- 6.4Presenting Findings to Leadership, Legal, and RegulatorsIncluded
- 6.5Closing the File: Documentation, Retention, and Lessons LearnedIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
Corporate Investigators
Brings an adaptive, sprint-based framework to every case — from triage through final report — so findings are faster to produce and harder to challenge.
HR Directors
Gains a structured investigation methodology that reduces legal exposure and keeps HR out of procedural traps when misconduct allegations land.
Compliance Officers
Learns how to run investigations that satisfy regulatory standards and produce documentation that holds up to external scrutiny from day one.
In-House Counsel
Understands the procedural and evidentiary mechanics behind legally defensible investigations — so they can supervise, advise, and protect privilege effectively.
Security Professionals
Applies rigorous evidence collection, chain-of-custody, and digital forensic hold procedures to workplace cases that need to survive legal and HR review.
Employee Relations Managers
Handles sensitive workplace allegations with a disciplined framework that protects both the organization and the integrity of the process — from first intake to file closure.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Richard Schumacher, CFE, CPII
If you're reading this, there's a reasonable chance you have an investigation sitting on your desk right now — or one that just closed in a way that left you uneasy. Maybe the report got pushed back by legal. Maybe you're not confident the witness sequence was right. Maybe you're managing the fallout from a finding that didn't hold up the way you expected it to. I've been in that room. A lot of rooms, over a lot of years.
I spent three decades running investigations — the kind that land in front of boards, regulators, and plaintiff's counsel. Early financial misconduct cases. Complex harassment allegations in organizations where everyone knows everyone. Cross-border investigations with three jurisdictions and four law firms all convinced they're in charge. I've seen every way an investigation can go sideways, and I've built a methodology, over time and under pressure, that prevents most of them.
What I kept noticing, across all of it, was that the organizations with the most sophisticated HR and legal teams were still running investigations the same way they ran them in the 1990s — linear, rigid, reactive. They'd hit scope creep in week two and have no mechanism to adapt without blowing the timeline. They'd produce a report that was factually solid but legally indefensible because nobody had structured the credibility determinations correctly. They'd lose control of confidentiality before the first witness interview was done. These weren't failures of intelligence or effort. They were failures of framework.
Agile Investigations is that framework — rebuilt from the ground up to treat an investigation as the adaptive, iterative operation it actually is. You'll leave with a complete methodology: how to scope and launch, how to interview and document, how to collect and preserve evidence, how to recognize and neutralize the things that kill investigations from the inside, and how to close the file with a report that executives, counsel, and regulators can all work from. Not theory. The actual practice.
If you're responsible for workplace investigations — whether that's your full-time mandate or one of twenty things on your plate — you deserve a system that keeps pace with how investigations actually unfold. I built this course because I kept seeing capable professionals operate without one. Let's fix that.
— Richard Schumacher, CFE, CPII
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- 6 modules, 26 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
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