Digital Assets / Rights Management Expert Witnesses: 5

Chris Silver Smith is an Internet Marketing Expert who has served in lawsuits involving search engine optimization (SEO), search advertising (Pay-Per-Click advertising / PPC), social media, domain names, and more.

Mr. Smith bears the distinction of long occupying the topmost organic rankings for searches for "SEO Expert Witness", establishing that he is a not only able to speak to the theory of search engine optimization, but is also able to practice it. Smith's legal work has enabled his clients collectively to be awarded more than $94 million in their court cases, and his clients prevailed in the majority of cases he has served upon.

Litigation Support - Mr. Smith helps large companies and large brand names protect their marks in trademark infringement cases and online defamation cases. He has served as an expert on behalf of PODS Enterprises, Starbucks, Versace, GoDaddy, Adidas, and others. He does not assist companies involved with gambling, porn, recreational pharmaceuticals, tobacco, alcohol, multi-level marketing, or cults.

Specializations:

Background Experience - Mr. Smith has a diverse background as he was self-taught programming in high school, and was first trained in hypertext, the protocol subsequently succeeded by HTML, which continues to be the dominant markup language for webpages. Smith also learned higher-level C programming language in college, and later went on to work for a decade for Verizon where he ultimately was head of the technology department for one of the company's largest websites. In his roles at Verizon, Mr. Smith performed software development in multiple internet programming languages that included a proprietary Verizon language, PERL, PHP, and JAVA. 

Mr. Smith also provided user-interface design and served as an analyst. He was promoted to overseeing multiple developers and teams for usability research, search engine development, SEO, graphic design, internet analytics, advertising system design, and advanced research. As the company's pioneer in SEO research, Mr. Smith was awarded the company's highest honor, the Individual Excellence Award, for increasing search engine referral traffic and associated revenues. Smith's contribution also resulted in multiple patents awarded for search and presentation technologies.

After leaving Verizon, Mr. Smith worked for a couple of prominent and exclusive internet marketing companies before founding his own agency at Argent Media™.

Chris Silver Smith has long been a writer for Search Engine Land, one of the industry's top news and information websites for search engine marketing, and he has spoken at numerous conferences on his areas of expertise. 

View Argent Media™ Consulting Profile.

Aviran Vargas

Crypto Hosting & ASIC Mining Expert Witness

BTC Expert Witness Services  

Behind The Crypto Expert Witness Services

REAL-WORLD OPERATIONS. NOT THEORY.

Aviran Vargas offers exceptional REAL-WORLD expertise in Crypto mining and ASIC hosting, backed by a proven expert-witness track record. He is the active Director of Operations and Infrastructure at EZ Blockchain, a Chicago-based Crypto hosting company, managing live Bitcoin mining infrastructure every single day. With more than 15 years in data center engineering and Crypto hosting, his knowledge is practical and hands-on. Aviran offers what others cannot: ACTUAL HANDS ON DAY TO DAY EXPERIENCE. To beat an expert with 30 certificates and multiple theoretical credentials, hire an actual Crypto operator with real experience in every aspect of Crypto Hosting and Mining.

Courtroom Record

He has been retained six times as an expert witness in Crypto hosting and bitcoin mining disputes, has testified four times, and has given five depositions, in federal litigation and multiple AAA arbitrations. In Crypto Infiniti v. EZ Blockchain, a $15M federal jury trial in Chicago, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict for his client on all claims. His testimony addresses ASIC deployment, maintenance, decommissioning, and operational optimization, plus damages and loss assessment.

Theory vs. Reality

Unlike experts who rely on theory, Aviran has confronted the actual, high-stakes challenges of live Crypto mining, and has rebutted experts with advanced degrees and certifications on the strength of his practical experience alone. He has written more than 1,000 pages of operational documentation, processes, procedures, and manuals covering every major aspect of Crypto hosting.

Proven at Scale

Aviran currently oversees more than 60 MW of mining capacity across multiple U.S. facilities. His enterprise foundation includes Tier IV data center operations at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and a Comcast National Data Center housing more than 21,000 servers. No theoretical study can replace the insight gained from managing real profit-and-loss, uptime, equipment failures, power, and cooling under pressure.

From the Courtroom

“Aviran was fearless on the stand, he never backed down under aggressive cross-examination and delivered his testimony with complete confidence. He understood his opinion perfectly and knocked it out of the park.”

Michael Kozlowski, Esbrook P.C., Chicago, IL

www.BTCExpertWitness.com

"Nancy Guthrie: Bitcoin could be the key. A Bitcoin Expert joins me."

Jonathan E. Hochman, PhD, is an experienced testifying expert specializing in Internet Marketing, SEO, Online Advertising, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Digital Forensics, e-commerce, and Website Technology. He brings more than 35 years of technical experience together with extensive deposition and trial experience.

Litigation Support - Dr. Hochman helps law firms investigate, analyze, and explain complex issues involving Internet technology, digital evidence, and online business practices. Since 2007, he has served as an expert in hundreds of matters involving trademarks, patents, trade secrets, copyright, contracts, defamation, unfair competition, fraud, and online tracking. Dr. Hochman has testified in 24 trials and more than 70 depositions. He is available to both plaintiffs and defendants in significant disputes requiring sophisticated technical analysis and experienced expert testimony. 

Dr. Hochman earned his B.Sc./M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University, where he studied computer science. After completing his doctorate, he continued his work at Yale faculty as a lecturer and research affiliate. His academic training provided the foundation for more than 35 years of work in software engineering, Internet technology, cybersecurity, privacy, digital identity, and data analysis.

Jared K. Stern has 38 years of experience in the field of Digital Forensics. Over the course of his career, he has directed and conducted more than 5,000 digital forensic examinations involving computers, mobile devices, GPS units, cameras, and other digital media in support of civil, criminal, and federal matters. His work routinely includes reconstruction of user activity through artifact analysis, recovery of deleted data, timeline analysis, and attribution of device usage, with findings documented in litigation-ready forensic reports for attorneys and courts. 

Mr. Stern has been retained in numerous matters involving cybercrime and financial fraud, including cryptocurrency-enabled scams, ransomware incidents, business email compromise, and digital asset tracing. He also oversees a full-scale digital forensics laboratory, establishing forensic protocols, evidence handling procedures, and examiner training while supervising teams of forensic analysts on large investigative and litigation support engagements.

Litigation Support - Mr. Stern is court-qualified digital forensics expert, cybercrime investigator, and senior investigative consultant. He is trusted by law firms, corporate counsel, and government entities for high-risk, high-complexity matters requiring rigorous forensic methodology and litigation-grade evidence handling. Mr. Stern is a qualified and accepted as an expert in county, state, federal, and military courts, with experience that includes more than 5,000 digital forensic examinations, fact-witness testimony in more than 500 proceedings, expert opinions admitted in 15 cases, and hundreds of additional expert engagements concluded prior to testimony.  

Areas of Expertise:

Shawn H. Malone, CISSP, CTPRP, CTPRA, is an award winning Information Security and Cyber Risk Expert.  He has over 35 years of experience delivering Cybersecurity Solutions and Third-Party Risk Management Programs to the financial services, insurance, consulting / advisory, and defense industries.  

Mr. Malone has degrees in Electrical Engineering Technology and Network Security.  He co-developed industry leading Third Party Risk Management professional certification. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Third Party Risk Professional (CTPRP) and Certified Third-Party Risk Assessor (CTPRA). 

Litigation Support - Shawn Malone provides effective consulting and advisory support including expert witness services in Cybersecurity and Third Party Risk matters.   His service are available to attorneys for plaintiff and defendant and include high quality reports, depositions, and trial testimony.

Areas of Expertise:

View Security Diligence, LLC's Business Consulting Profile.