FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS & CASE PREPARATION
Before you file, divide, or invest—get Counsel Ready.
We turn complex financial records, incomplete histories, and unanswered questions into organized, counsel-ready work.
For law firms and private clients, that means clearer facts, stronger documentation, and fewer expensive surprises.
What We Do
Get Counsel Ready supports law firms and high-net-worth individuals before a petition is filed, assets are divided, or capital is committed. We organize complex records, trace the flow of funds, identify evidentiary gaps, and develop clear, defensible work product that counsel can use.
We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. We strengthen the factual and financial foundation of a matter so attorneys and clients can better understand the evidence, assess risk, and make informed decisions.
Before You Divide — Divorce and Family Matters
Understand the financial picture before positions harden.
We help family-law counsel and private clients identify, organize, and test the financial facts behind a divorce or separation. The work is discreet, document-driven, and designed to support informed legal strategy, mediation, settlement, or litigation.
Financial records review — from $2,500
Asset and income tracing — from $5,000
Lifestyle and cash-flow analysis — from $3,500
Mediation or litigation financial package — from $5,000
Private-investigation services are available where legally appropriate.
Before You File — Immigration & EB-5
Focused financial and compliance support for the attorneys and parties responsible for presenting a complete, credible immigration record.
For Immigration Counsel
Source and path of funds review — from $3,500
Filing-ready source of funds package — from $7,000
RFE and NOID financial response support — from $5,000
Financial chronologies, document indexes, and evidentiary gap analysis — from $2,500
For Petitioners & Investors
Pre-filing financial readiness assessment — from $2,500
Source and path of funds documentation package — from $7,000
Complex income, gift, loan, sale, or business-funds tracing — from $5,000
Document reconstruction and records organization — from $2,500
For Regional Centers & Project Teams
USCIS audit readiness review — from $7,500
Annual compliance and evidence-file review — from $5,000
Policies, procedures, and records protocols — from $7,500
Issue-specific remediation and investigative support — from $5,000
Custom scopes are available for multi-investor and ongoing matters.
Before You Invest — Standard & Proof
Standard & Proof is the investigative arm of Get Counsel Ready.
We investigate the people, entities, ownership, representations, and risk indicators behind a transaction. We do not value the business, model returns, or assess the economics of the deal.
Mergers & acquisitions investigative support — from $5,000
Corporate and internal investigations — from $5,000
Executive, partner, and key-person due diligence — from $3,500
Beneficial ownership and affiliate research — from $3,500
Fraud, misconduct, and adverse-information inquiries — from $5,000
Asset tracing and litigation investigation support — from $5,000
For Law Firms
You handle the law. We build the record behind it.
We work as a specialized extension of counsel—tracing funds, testing financial explanations, organizing complex evidence, and developing clear work product for filings, negotiations, discovery, mediation, and litigation.
Engage us directly, refer a client for pre-filing preparation, or bring us into an active matter when the financial record needs focused attention.
About Michelle
I’m Michelle Tavares, founder of Counsel Ready and Standard & Proof Investigations. I bring more than 15 years of federal investigative, regulatory, financial-crime, and adjudicative experience to immigration, global mobility, and family matters where financial records, personal histories, and cross-border activity carry significant legal consequences.
Before entering private practice, I served within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Immigrant Investor Program Office as an EB-5 Compliance Officer, Adjudications Officer, and Acting Compliance Branch Chief. I reviewed complex I-526E investor petitions, adjudicated I-956-series filings, conducted regional-center audits, and supported implementation of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act. That experience gave me firsthand insight into how government adjudicators scrutinize source-of-funds evidence, business records, personal financial histories, and explanations involving international transactions.
My earlier federal work included consumer-protection and financial-crime investigations, as well as matters involving foreign corruption, money laundering, asset recovery, fraud, and complex financial documentation. Across these roles, I developed a disciplined approach: follow the money, test the explanation, identify what is missing, and document only what the evidence supports.
Today, I work with attorneys, petitioners, investors, families, business principals, and global mobility professionals who need more than document organization. I help identify weaknesses in the record, trace assets and financial activity, analyze complex or cross-border documentation, and prepare clear, defensible evidence for immigration filings, global mobility matters, family-law proceedings, negotiations, and litigation. My work is designed to help clients and counsel understand the full financial picture—and address potential problems before the record is submitted, challenged, or used against them.
I hold master’s degrees in Forensic Accounting and Legal Studies and am a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, Certified Financial Crime Specialist, and Virginia-licensed private investigator.
Bring the question. We’ll help build the record.
Tell us what is at stake, where the matter stands, and what the existing documents do—or do not—show. We will recommend a focused scope and clear starting point.