Ryan Ross
Principal Investigator
Ryan Ross has been digging up information for some of Colorado’s top trial lawyers for more than five years, and before that he was an investigative reporter for more than two decades, treating the powers that be like a piñata.
As a legal investigator, Ross has:
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assisted attorney representing neighbors of the former Rocky Flats Nuclear weapons plant on a class-action lawsuit that resulted in a $477 million verdict;
assisted attorneys with one of Colorado’s premier civil rights litigation law firms (Killer, Lane & Newman) on a lawsuit on behalf of the parents of an inmate in the city jail who died as the result of the failure of nurses and guards to provide medical care. The lawsuit resulted in a $4 million settlement with the Denver medical center and a $3 million settlement with the city/county Denver.
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assisted attorney who won a $700,000 judgment against a recycling plant, on behalf of a worker injured in an incident on an outdoor dock.
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investigated accidents from common motor vehicle crashes to once-in-a-lifetime plane crashes;
interviewed clients and persuaded them to reveal secrets they hadn’t told anyone, not even their lawyer;
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helped an attorney in a wrongful death case stemming from a gang shooting identify more than a dozen defendants as the statue of limitations was about to expire;
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uncovered criminal convictions unknown to probation officers;
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exposed the deceit of a firm trying to unfairly enforce a no-compete contract against one of its former executives;
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assisted attorneys defending a public official against a charge of defamation;
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identified numerous responsible parties previously unknown the claimant’s lawyer;
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located and served documents on people numerous other investigators have been unable to
find;
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found heirs in instances in which relatives had had no contact with them for more than half a century and didn’t know their names or dates of birth.
Ross is licensed through the state of Arizona (Lic. #1561125).
As an investigative reporter, Ross’ investigations covered the infidelities of politicians, business scams, environmental crimes, wrongful deaths, policy disasters, and public corruption. He regularly wrote stories other reporters knew about but were unable to confirm.
Dennis Gavalier
Director of Surveillance
Gavalier has 28 years of law enforcement experience as a detective with the major investigations unit of the Broward County (FL) Sheriff’s Department. He led dozens of undercover operations, seized records amounts of contraband, several as a technical advisor to several TV shows, and won several public service awards. He has extensive experience with sophisticated enforcement techniques, including electronic surveillance and intelligence data processing.
Senior Associate Investigators
(in alphabetical order)
Cate Dolan
Dolan has been a private investigator since 2005, focusing on family law investigations, process serving and surveillance.
Lori A. Fox
Fox was a Special Agent with the FBI where she investigated numerous white collar crime and organized crime cases. She has an active Top Secret clearance. Fox also has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. She moved to Colorado in 2003 from Portland, Oregon.
Francie Rakiec
Rakiec was an investigator with the Adams County public defender’s office for seven years, and as a result has extensive experience in all aspects of criminal defense investigations, including death-penalty cases.
Joan Papke
Papke is a lawyer (JD from NYU, 2001). She served as a legal officer in the US Navy, and was a litigation associate with Clifford Chance US, LLP in New York, where she specialized in white-collar criminal defense, securities defense and internal corporate investigations, including insider trading, money laundering, and government contract and accounting fraud. She moved to Colorado in 2006.
Associate Investigators
(in alphabetical order)
Jesse Gamueda
Gamueda was a senior criminal investigator with the Denver District Attorney’s office for six years, and is a former president of the Colorado District Attorney Investigator Association. He’s worked nearly 100 homicide cases.
Jason Jacobson
Jacobson has been an investigator or investigator/manager since 2003. He has conducted dozens of accident investigations, witness locates, background investigations, asset searches and surveillance cases. He was a volunteer for a year at the Colorado Public Defender’s Office.
Lisa Rutherford
Rutherford had four years of experience with several Colorado PI firms before joining the Ross Investigators team. She’s investigated dozens of auto accidents, and been a consultant on a corporate threat assessment team.
Surveillance operatives
Ross Investigators retains some of the most experienced surveillance operatives in Colorado on a case-by-case basis.
Specialty assistance
When a case calls for a particular investigative expertise, Ross Investigators contracts with the best in the business at:
- sophisticated, technical surveillance.
- undercover investigations.
- computer and accounting forensics.
You want Ryan Ross and his team in your corner – on every important case you have.
