Reach
The case sets the geography.
We show up.
ARA’s laboratory and engineering bench live in Raleigh, North Carolina. The cases don’t. For forty-seven years we’ve traveled to scenes, shipped samples, and sat depositions wherever the work required. The location on the letterhead is a coincidence of history, not a fence around the practice.
How forensic engineering actually travels
Most forensic engineering engagements don’t hinge on how far the firm is from the scene. They hinge on what’s moving: the engineer, the evidence, or the paperwork, and each of those moves differently.
When we come to you
Scene documentation, 3D scanning, materials recovery, drone photography. When a case requires hands on the ground, the engineer flies. Our Faro scanners and chain-of-custody kits fit in two checked cases and clear TSA without special handling. Mobilization inside 24–48 hours is standard, anywhere in the continental US.
When you ship to us
CT imaging, metallurgical analysis, forensic radiography, materials testing. These are services the evidence travels to, not the other way around. Overnight freight with chain-of-custody documentation arrives at the lab, and a testimony-ready report goes back. It makes no practical difference where the original matter sits.
When nobody moves at all
A significant share of the practice is desk work: reviewing discovery, EDR data, manufacturer records, and prior reports; preparing expert opinions; sitting depositions by video; testifying when the court calendar requires it in person. The engineer joins the case wherever the case is. Distance rarely drives cost.
ARA engineers have worked cases across the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, and Mountain West. Federal matters appear in any district. When a new jurisdiction comes up, we register for it. The firm’s address is Raleigh because that’s where the lab lives and where most of our engineers live, which means regional matters in the Carolinas get same-day response as a convenience of geography, but the practice itself has never been bounded by it.
Bring us the case. We’ll bring the engineer.
Tell us what happened and where. We’ll tell you what an engagement looks like, what travel (if any) is required, and whether ARA is the right practice for the matter.