A selection of case studies which demonstrate how our intelligence, legal, cyber security and advisory experts work as one team to defend reputations and demand privacy for our clients.

1. Law · Advisory · Cyber · Intelligence
Find the Fix, Control the
Crisis
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2. Page 2
Hit back when reputation is under attack
How we uncovered the identity of an online dirty-trickster and brought an
unarguable case against them
USA ● UK ● Bahamas ● India
We live in an era where negative comments online are a seemingly inevitable by-product of success. So
when our client, the owner of a highly successful investment fund, started seeing the odd blog rant about
him, he initially thought nothing of it. But when the nature of the posts started to follow a pattern of
deliberate malevolence, Schillings were brought in to investigate.
Working in parallel, we immediately initiated a triumvirate of activity. Our Intelligence team set about
analysing the posts and finding correlations and connections between them whilst simultaneously working
out how to get them taken down. Our cyber security team started digging behind the written words to the
technology trail behind the messages in order to find the culprit. And, our legal team started preparing the
complex, multi-jurisdiction legal proceedings that would eventually bring the perpetrator to justice.
After uncovering a trail of highly sophisticated smear-campaign activity that even stooped as low as to
launch phishing email attacks against an affiliate of our client, Schillings not only identified the perpetrator
of the smear campaign but also helped the client put in new procedures to protect their technology against
further attack, and, most importantly, brought those concerned to justice with no less than 28 suits of action
in jurisdictions across Europe, Central and North America.
Intelligence ●Cyber ●Legal

3. Page 3Safeguard reputation when information is lost or stolen
How we protected one of the world’s most successful recording artists
from one of the world’s most notorious hackers
USA● UK ●Israel
Since Napster, the internet has become so inundated with illegal music distributers, operating from such
far-flung places, that it’s difficult to see how anything can be properly protected, right?
Wrong, with fast and incisive action everything is protectable, that’s certainly our view. So when a global
mega star’s pre-release album got hacked, we got on the case.
Knowing we had to work quickly, overnight Schillings brought in the best lawyers from different countries
where we believed the perpetrators to be active. Simultaneously, our cyber experts were able to pinpoint
the details of one of the first people to leak the songs and once we had that first link in the chain; we were
able to track down more suspects.
By compiling and presenting evidence to authorities including the FBI, we’ve seen the ringleader arrested,
prosecuted and imprisoned on hacking and piracy charges. We continue to pursue civil remedies in
addition to helping our client implement more resilient data protection measures to prevent future attacks.
Legal ● Cyber

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Ensure the online footprints of clients remain non-newsworthy
How we helped a Russian businessman establish the right reputation for
Europe
Russia ● Europe
As well as broadening our minds, the internet has the power to stir stereotypes. So when our client, a
wealthy Russian businessman, looked to expand his business assets into Western Europe, perhaps
unsurprisingly, he was met with resistance. After immersing themselves in online tittle tattle concerning
our client, the vendor and the government of the country the deal was taking place in, effectively formed a
‘mud pack’ and opted to mothball the assets in question rather than let them get into what the internet had
lead them to believe would be the wrong hands.
Schillings created a reputation strategy that aligned with our shunned client’s business strategy, ensuring
that his perceived credibility and character befitted that of a forward thinking business partner. Our
intelligence team then set about finding online articles and associated social media content regarding our
client, which was then assessed against the agreed reputation strategy. Legal action, across multiple
jurisdictions was taken to eradicate allegations that overstepped the mark whilst an online clean-up
exercise sought to remove and reframe comments that clouded the message and took it off brief.
As a result of this considered approach to gaining control and visibility of our clients’ online footprint, our
client has now been able to achieve their aims; becoming a well-respected member of the international
business community.
Intelligence ● Legal ● Advisory

5. Page 5Divorce and Family Law
How we helped a wife claim in one county for divorce proceedings filed by
her husband half a world away
UK ● Saudi Arabia ● France
After over 30 years of marriage, our client, the wife of a wealthy businessman, was divorced by talaq in
Saudi Arabia. The Saudi settlement failed to take into consideration the considerable international wealth
the couple had enjoyed in the form of illustrious European properties, and as a result our client was left
penniless.
Even after the divorce settlement had been put to bed in Saudi Arabia, Schillings took the view that
because the couple had temporarily been domiciled in the UK, together with the sheer expense of the
properties they owned, this was enough to represent a substantial connection to the country and therefore
open up the possibility of getting the case heard under UK law.
In making the case that in a truly globalised world the notion of citizenship can no longer be down to
what’s on your passport, we were able to get UK laws, such as the Married Women’s Property Act 1882 to
be taken into consideration by the officiating judge. All of which resulted in our client being awarded her
fair share of the couple’s property portfolio as a settlement.
Family

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Ensure reputation doesn’t go on trial during litigation and
investigation
How we ensured the departure to a competitor of two key employees was
seen legally as unlawful whilst being unseen from the outside world
USA ● UK ● Switzerland
When staff leave and take up new employment at a competitor, there’s always the risk that they breach
restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, but when such leavers are privy to reputation
sensitive information, you need to employ much more sophisticated tools than the blunt mallet of
employment law to negotiate a positive solution.
The key to this case was to achieve a resolution without going to court, so avoiding the public disclosure
and media circus that goes with it. Again, speed is of the essence, so Schillings acted swiftly to issue
proceedings against the leavers. By taking a broader perspective of the legal framework of our client's
business, crucially we were able to effect more powerful statutes from jurisdictions in which our client’s
business operated, over and above those of the country in which the employees worked.
With a strong case and sophisticated negotiation, Schillings was able to deliver a positive outcome for our
client at zero risk to their reputation.
Legal ● Advisory

7. Page 7
Defend rights and reputation when the press has turned
against the client
How we helped a world-renowned author successfully sue for defamation
and get the opportunity to reset her reputation.
UK
Defending reputation isn’t just a case of bringing to justice those who bring it into disrepute; it’s
demanding the opportunity to get back to the way a person’s reputation was perceived before the affront
occurred. If ‘there’s no smoke without fire’ we see our job as to fumigate as well as extinguish. So when
we were asked to represent a famous author following the publication of a defamatory article in a UK
national newspaper, we were determined not just to win the case but ensure our client received the
opportunity to set the record straight.
As well as getting the newspaper to accept that its article was indeed defamatory and forcing it to pay
substantial damages, we ensured the author received the opportunity to correct the misdoing through a
statement in Open Court, despite multiple attempts by the publisher to block what they had to say through
the Court of Appeal.
Legal

8. Page 8
Help clients understand the emerging reputation environment
and plan for what would happen if it were to affect them
How we used reputation risk forecasting techniques to elevate potential
issues and successfully protect the reputation and privacy of a prominent
Middle Eastern family
Europe ● Middle East
For most people, when a reputation crisis occurs it comes completely out of the blue. In our experience,
however, with the right vigilance, the signs of a reputation crisis taking form can be spotted well in advance
of it happening. So when a prominent Middle Eastern family who had been victim to a spate of reputation
threats, tasked Schillings to take control of any future reputation issues, we knew precisely how to create
the early warning system they required.
With the evidence of previous attacks at our disposal, our intelligence and digital forensics teams started on
the job of understanding the behavioural patterns that were common to the many different online and offline
tactics the perpetrators had utilised. Working with a social media monitoring company, our risk
management team compiled a forecast of trends and events with the potential to influence our client’s
reputation. Our legal team ensured a more balanced code of conduct from the media outlets that had been
quick to disseminate previous rumours and advised the family on how to subtly change the way they
conducted their affairs to step away from the heat of the spotlight.
By applying this quartet of preventative measures, not only have the number of reputation threats greatly
reduced, for the ones that do surface, the sense of surprise has gone and the measures required to stop these
incidents becoming indictments are already in play before the media machine gets a chance to warm up.
Intelligence ● Advisory ●Legal

9. Page 9
Protect the rights and freedoms of clients and their families
How we protected the privacy of a high-profile couple and enabled them to
enjoy their special day
USA ● UK
For global mega stars, intense media interest is part and parcel of life. But when that interest extends to
their children and family life, shouldn’t they have the right to be treated differently? That was the view we
took when we stepped in to safeguard their special day from media intrusion.
We started by scoping out the wedding venue with the clients’ security team and putting in place
confidentiality agreements with the venue and suppliers. We then set our cyber team to work to ensure that
the website hosting information for guests was secured so that details of the wedding were kept quiet.
48 hours before the wedding, our legal team began issuing legal complaints to publications who had sent
reporters to the venue warning them to respect the couple’s privacy, while on the day – in liaison with the
security team – we were able to identify reporters and then immediately contact their publications warning
them not to publish any photos. Working in tandem, our intelligence team monitored social media so that
we could instruct the few over-enthusiastic guests who had posted photos of the wedding to remove them
before the media got hold of them
As a result of our actions, not only were our clients able to enjoy their special day, but not a single photo of
the wedding was made public.
Intelligence ● Family ●Legal

10. Law · Advisory · Cyber · Intelligence
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