Biography
Jim Zimmer, a licensed California private investigator with offices and residence in San Juan Capistrano, has thirty-nine years experience in investigations. He has undertaken over 12,000 cases, ranging from high-profile investigations such as the Orange County bankruptcy and political cases involving various government officials, to complex asset investigations, trademark infringement, undercover and surveillance. His firm also conducts investigations in sexual harassment cases, workplace investigations, workers' compensation defense, criminal defense, de-bugging, domestic investigations, background checks, and locates of witnesses, defendants, heirs and birthparents/children.
As the President of Benchmark Investigations, Jim serves a wide array of clients nationwide, including law firms, banks, brokerage firms, government agencies, corporations, insurance companies, hotels, restaurants and clubs, retail stores, casinos, and private parties.
A Past President of the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI), the largest private investigator association of the world (www.cali-pi.org), Jim is the recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award, which is the highest award bestowed by CALI.
Jim is also a Past President of the National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS), whose mission is to protect the interests of investigators and security professionals, including access to information and overly restrictive legislation. Jim is especially active on the legislative committees for his state and national associations.
Having maintained the Certified Professional Investigator (CPI) specialization credentials since 1992, Jim is active in educational seminar planning and speaker selection for his state association, and has helped to rewrite the state examination for private investigators. Jim is also a member of the National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI), the World Association of Detectives, the Association of Workplace Investigators, and Intellenet.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jim is a Dean's List graduate of Pennsylvania State University in 1971, with subsequent Master's Degree work.
In addition to investigations, Jim has prior experience in the retail and hospitality industries, and has managed restaurants and nightclubs in Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts, and California.
The proud father of a University of California at Berkeley honors graduate, Jim’s hobbies include golf, tennis, and physical fitness.
Jim is also a Past President of Probation Community Action Association (PCAA), the "Heart of Probation,” and currently serves on the Advisory Board. PCAA develops and funds programs for at-risk youth and needy families in Orange County, California. One of PCAA's gang prevention programs, "Storytime", won the National Award for Youth Literary Mentoring. Please visit the PCAA website at www.PCAAOC.org