Building an Investigation Practice at North Point
North Point welcomed Naphtali Rivkin back to our team in May of this year as a Managing Director and Head of Investigations. As we build out our investigations practice, we will be writing short pieces to help both new and longtime clients understand what this means. For this post, we asked Napthali a few quick questions on what an investigation actually is, what makes our approach different, and why he is doing this work.
What is an investigation?
We find facts in a logical, methodical, and lawful way, and we use them to help clients make decisions grounded in evidence rather than instinct.
In practice, that might mean helping a CEO confirm or deny suspected fraud inside their company, helping an attorney trace asset to enforce a judgment, or working with a board to do everything it can in response to a whistleblower allegation. To get there, we draw on internal company data — emails, Slack, financial statements, CCTV footage — and external data like court records, corporate filings, and social media. The point is always the same: give the client the clearest possible picture of what is happening so they can make the best possible decision.
What makes North Point Different?
Everything about how North Point is built points in one direction: ruthless alignment with the client through accuracy and efficiency. It’s even deeper than culture—it’s structural, and it shows up in three concrete ways.
First, we work on a flat fee. Clients don't want a runaway bill that grows every time we open a file; they want a clear answer as soon as there's smoke. A flat fee means our incentive is to get them that answer, not to keep the meter running.
Second, we treat our forensic tools as a cost center, not a revenue center. When we hold and process your data during a case, we don't mark it up. The infrastructure is something we absorb so we can do the work.
Third, we use new technology to make the slow parts faster: document review, CCTV review, report writing, and fact-finding. That speeds
up the work without growing the overhead we'd otherwise have to pass along to you.
We have the same goal in every case: the fastest accurate answer possible.
What drew me to investigations?
I started my career in the Army and U.S. government intelligence, where I learned to find people, assets, and information under real time pressure. When I moved into the private sector, I specialized in pre-M&A and pre-transaction due diligence — work North Point excels at to this day.
But I missed the reactivity. I missed the dynamic, high-stakes nature of an investigation where the trigger is an allegation or missing funds and the consequences can be criminal. So I spent years on reactive investigations, the kind that begin the moment something has already gone wrong.
North Point is where those two threads come together. Here we do both — proactive diligence before a deal and reactive investigation after a trigger — for a range of clients, on timelines that can be a single sprint or a long campaign. After years of doing one or the other, it feels like coming full circle.
Investigations don't have to be enormous or expensive.
There's a persistent misconception that an investigation is always a massive, costly undertaking, and therefore only worthwhile when there's a government inquest or a catastrophic loss. The consequence of that thinking is that smaller or seemingly lower-risk issues go un-investigated, because the company doesn't have the budget or the appetite to deal with them.
Some of those issues resolve quietly through employee relations. But some metastasize into something far worse. I'm on a mission to get clients to call earlier. Let me help you figure out whether you even have a problem, instead of guessing on your own and only calling once you're sure you do. The earlier the call, the smaller and cheaper the answer tends to be.
To discuss a potential investigation or learn more about process, you can reach Naphtali directly at Naphtali.Rivkin@northpointassoc.com.
About the Author
Naphtali Rivkin is a Managing Director and Head of Investigations at North Point Associates. With more than a decade of experience across the public and private sectors, Naphtali investigates fraud, theft, whistleblower allegations, insider threats, executive misconduct, and workplace violence on behalf of investors, corporations, and their counsel.
Naphtali brings a distinct educational and professional background to North Point beginning his career as a United States Army Intelligence officer and US Government intelligence analyst before transition to the private sector with the following degrees:
- BA in Russian Area Studies and English from Washington and Lee University
- M.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge (Clare College)
- Fulbright Scholar in Latvia
Naphtali holds the Professional Certified Investigator (PCI) designation from ASIS International, and was a 2024 Consulting Magazine Rising Star for Excellence in Client Services.
