Keeping up with Ray Smothers

Date: 10/18/2004
Contact: Joan Barrett/800-690-0070

Trying to keep up with Ray Smothers is not an easy task. Fit and robust in a business that he loves for more than 30 years, Pacific Legal Investigations, he enthuses about the work, his leisure activities and his wonderful staff. Ray is proud of his connection to the professional organization the California Association of Legal Investigators; he is a past president and currently serves as the chair of the political action committee. His dedication is reflected on the wall of his office packed almost solid with plaques and certificates honoring his service.

Ray firmly states that the reason for his company's success is that PLI provides the information necessary for their clients to make sound business decisions and they provide that information in a thorough and consistent manner.

A firm believer in staying fit, his list of leisure activities would be daunting to a man half his age. From biking to boating he thinks that staying active is not an option and works out every day. Ray has a story for every topic, but his favorite subject is his life's work. He started in the Bay Area doing marine investigations, injuries and criminal activities on the high seas. He and his wife Mary came to Sacramento to start an office for Kraut and Schneider and never left. His office in the University Village area has been home since 1972 when the big insurance companies occupied the same area just up from Campus Commons. The office today is definitely high tech with a separate evidence room that filters the reports from PLI’s 30 investigators into CD format for their clients. Ray touches on the security issues around the computers and servers that drive the protection for the evidence that is amassed for insurance companies (60% of the business) and corporate and government clients. Many clients insist on inspecting the security in place before hiring Pacific Legal Investigations.

Ray allows that it takes about five years for a candidate to become a good investigator, which involves attention to detail and patience. He figures that he is responsible for training about 50 investigators who have gone on to be successful entrepreneurs or SIU managers for insurance carriers. By way of illustration, Justin Massey stops by to say hello. Justin was an investigator for PLI and now is a Team Leader for Liberty Mutual's SIU division. Ray is proud of his team and the investigators that have gone on to jobs that don't involve the long and arduous hours that the investigators put it doing their surveillance and reports.

The CA Dept of Consumer Affairs licenses all investigators in California. After 3 yrs of on-the-job training and 6,000 hours in the field a candidate is eligible to take a rigorous examination. Ray has assisted in revising the test on 2 occasions.

Ray feels that the business is exciting and challenging and after all these years, and finds every case has the makings of a best seller. Their dedication to detail is reflected in the repeat business that PLI enjoys. He attributes that success to investing in people with patience and persistence.

The business has made it possible for Ray and his wife, Mary (they recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary) to travel throughout the world and the US. The management team headed by his son Keith allows Ray the luxury of working as he wants to and enjoying the system that he put in place many years ago. He feels that retirement is not an option as long as he is still having so much fun.