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Defending against a class action personal injury lawsuit can be challenging. As information about the class action spreads, a domino effect of more and more claims could be filed resulting in hundreds or even thousands of potential plaintiffs. Big class action payouts often attract fraudulent claims which could lead to larger class sizes, larger settlements, and larger payouts. And in a class of thousands of claimants, it becomes very difficult, almost impossible, for a legal team to dedicate valuable resources to investigating these claims independently.

• SMI Aware assisted a national consumer products firm associated with the vaping industry by reviewing class action claimants for legitimacy. By weeding through thousands of claimants’ social media profiles, SMI Aware was able to identify a large number of illegitimate claimants and validate legitimate claims. SMI Aware helped reduce costs associated with reviewing and deposing claimants while ensuring fraudulent claimants were removed from the class, and legitimate claimants received compensation. Continue reading…

• A law firm representing a medical device company that produced valves for cardiac surgery contacted SMI Aware at the onset of a class action personal injury case. SMI Aware reviewed thousands of class action claimants for discrepancies. SMI Aware exposed photos and videos of claimants completing major physical feats like hiking, running, or competing in athletic competitions. Because of SMI Aware’s findings, the representing law firm was able to eliminate fraudulent claims from the class and verify legitimate claims. By reducing the class size, legitimate claimants received the compensation they deserved. Continue reading…

Corporate legal departments have many responsibilities when it comes to defending and advising large corporations – from labor and employment disputes to product liability issues. SMI Aware eliminates the need to allocate precious resources to online investigations that can ultimately lead to unethical or indefensible evidence collection practices. 

At SMI Aware, we work as an extension of your team, and our fast-turnaround time makes social media and web investigations easy. We have experience working with large corporations to tackle company-wide legal issues.

Before making big decisions, online investigations can help determine whether the business transaction is honest and worthwhile for your client. Comprehensive research and discovery can expose any fraudulent or criminal activity, financial discrepancies, and potentially damaging behaviors. 

• A northeast regional law firm partnered with SMI Aware to perform due diligence investigations prior to a private equity transaction. The firm provided SMI Aware with the subject’s LinkedIn account, business name, and loan documentation. During the investigation, SMI Aware detected concerning behaviors including fraudulent LinkedIn profiles, aliases, multiple arrests, civil actions, and non-legitimate companies associated with the subject. Because of the results of the investigation,  the transaction was not accepted and the firm avoided financial losses and prevented damaging their reputation. Learn more…

Digital investigations and open-source intelligence are an increasingly important element of evidence collection. SMI Aware specializes in social media and deep web investigations, collecting and preserving information in compliance with federal rules of evidence. Using proprietary software and certified analysts, information is collected ethically, without bias, and preserved in a defensible format with metadata, timestamping, and source code. 

• A regional law firm employed SMI Aware when defending against a serious trucking accident in which the plaintiff claimed injuries that prevented him from engaging in an active lifestyle. SMI Aware performed a comprehensive investigation to collect and preserve evidence of the plaintiff’s ability to vacation with images, videos, and posts on social media after the date of loss. By collecting and preserving in compliance with federal rules of evidence, SMI Aware was able to prove the claims were fraudulent and provide defensible evidence in court. Learn more…
  

Labor and employment law impacts the entire legal relationship between employers and employees, beginning with the hiring process and continuing through promotions, reviews, terminations, benefits, mergers, and disputes. SMI Aware works as an extension of your in-house legal department to provide initial or regularly recurring employee monitoring and online investigations for wage and hour disputes, claims of discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination. 

• When a national fast-food chain faced a class action lawsuit spearheaded by current and former employees, they relied on SMI Aware’s social media and web investigations. SMI Aware located all of the participants’ LinkedIn profiles to verify time of employment, job title, and job descriptions. By identifying evidence that verified, disputed, or was inconclusive of scope-related content, the fast-food chain’s legal council was able to focus resources on disproving the eligibility of a few doubtful claimants sparing the fast-food chain thousands of dollars in unnecessary legal fees and reduced the burden of settling. Continue reading…

• SMI Aware assisted a national trucking company with complaints of inaccurate compensation for scheduled and overtime work. By searching through thousands of claimants’ social media profiles, SMI Aware was able to identify a large number of illegitimate employees who posted pictures and videos participating in leisure activities during times they claimed to be at work. SMI Aware helped reduce costs associated with reviewing and deposing fraudulent claimants and demonstrated that accurate wage and hour payments were made to these employees.

Social media profiles are an exhibition of a person’s day-to-day life, style, interests, connections, and beliefs. Behind every picture, comment, “like” and “share” valuable data is nestled in the background often giving context to a person’s self-expressions online. We call this data metadata and coupled with a source code it is irrefutable as evidence in the court of law.

Oftentimes, open-source investigations can reveal a subject’s statements of admission, emotional reactions, intentional goals or plans, motivational reasoning, interests, browsing history, and social connections. By identifying these evidentiary items on the surface combined with the metadata and source code, powerful context can be given to pieces of information to win cases. 

The individualization of each lawsuit in Mass Tort and Toxic Tort can be an overwhelming process. In order to separate and identify different damages claimed by each plaintiff, scope-driven research is vital. SMI Aware helps create and execute scope-centered discovery on social media and the deep web using an unbiased, repeatable process at scale. 

• In preparation for bellwether trials, legal teams have relied on the expertise and scalable online investigations produced by SMI Aware. Using a repeatable, unbiased process, SMI Aware has investigated prospective plaintiffs, witnesses, and class members quickly and accurately. Learn more…

• In several asbestos cases, legal teams relied on SMI Aware for social media and online investigations. SMI Aware identified categories for medical conditions and claims for groups of plaintiff lawsuits, conducted in-depth online investigations for each plaintiff, and separated fraudulent claims from legitimate claims to decrease deposition time and reduce the burden of settling. 

When a product liability case stretches to hundreds or thousands of personal injury claimants, it’s important to quickly identify legitimate claimants from fraudulent claimants to ensure those who are affected receive the deserved compensation. By employing SMI Aware’s technology and expertise, hundreds or even thousands of subjects can be investigated at scale so that your legal team can focus on defending your client. 

Check out this video about how SMI Aware can help you in a medical product liability case.

Risk management is a continuous process that strives to mitigate the adverse effects of loss. Social media and online platforms that encourage individuality also open the door to potentially harmful information sharing that can jeopardize a subject or company or suggest false claims or beliefs on behalf of an individual or organization. SMI Aware provides comprehensive and recurring investigations to help mitigate risks associated with associating with subjects or companies online. 

• A reality dating television show contacted SMI Aware to find and evaluate risk for contestants applying for a spot on the show. By extensively scrutinizing each applicant’s profile, SMI Aware was able to identify individuals who posted inappropriate or sensitive content and notify the producers of the potential risks associated with selecting these contestants. Learn more…