The importance of comprehensive, nationwide court searches when conducting due diligence research was underscored in a fascinating four-part series by Bloomberg News chronicling the increased use of “confessions of judgment” – an obscure legal filing used by merchant cash advance companies to force borrowers into payment without a court hearing. New York state is considered the best state in the country for merchant cash-advance companies to seek enforcement of confessions of judgment, which has led these companies to file more than 25,000 judgments since 2012. Despite their borrowers residing around the country, lenders have required borrowers to sign documents allowing for confessions of judgment to be filed in New York state. Consequently, small business owners, no matter where their businesses are based could be named in civil litigation and judgments in counties throughout New York making it very important for researchers to conduct as expansive a due diligence search as possible when completing due diligence on business subjects.