Maximum Recovery

Retailers, restaurants, and other businesses have a major shrink problem. PRA recovers client losses and helps prevent future losses.

Recently, viral videos showing teams of shoplifters ransacking stores and absconding with thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise have focused attention on massive retail losses from theft. While these ORC theft rings might be the most public-facing example, they’re not the only cause of shrink. Traditional shoplifting, employee theft, fraudulent returns and other schemes cost retailers billions annually and are decimating the industry.

PRA Law Firm is partnering with major retailers, law enforcement, trade associations, A.I. developers, and others to fight back.

For store level support, PRA has recently partnered with an A.I. firm to assist in developing technology with proprietary algorithms designed to detect theft and fraud in real time.

PRA offers businesses and employers of any size a lifeline to maximize civil recoveries via theft penalties, damages awards, and court-ordered restitution for victims. PRA works directly with state prosecutors and criminal courts to obtain judgments for theft victims by structuring workable repayment plans with offenders until victims are fully repaid.

From start to finish, PRA offers comprehensive case analysis and valuable insight to assist clients’ Loss Prevention Programs. PRA attorneys, paralegals and support staff (including former loss prevention executives and industry insiders), have decades of experience in civil recovery and provide round-the-clock service.

With what they describe as “a firm yet fair approach,” PRA turns difficult, aged or otherwise dead-end cases into successful recoveries, which by many accounts surpass industry collection expectations.

With a nationwide Of Counsel attorney network, PRA works directly with theft offenders and opposing counsel to provide a cost-effective civil recovery solution for its clients. PRA provides compliance training for clients, loss prevention personnel, and in-store employees and leads the way successfully in wading through a myriad of differing state civil recovery statutes throughout the country.

Civil Recovery

Since 1989, PRA Law Firm has partnered with national retailers to lobby for and draft civil recovery legislation, which now is on the books in every state except Nebraska.

Currently, PRA and its nationwide attorney network continue to advocate for much stronger civil recovery laws and stiffer penalties in all states. Several states with weak leadership turned a blind eye to crime and theft. Many states provide minimally effective civil penalties of $100 or less, and most states have failed to increase civil penalties for the past decade. With PRA’s assistance, lobbying efforts and support from like-minded leaders, positive change is on the horizon. PRA, many clients and industry leaders now expect a new era with dramatic improvements in victim’s rights, civil recovery statutes, and client recoveries.

Due to the countless variations in state civil theft statutes, PRA offers detailed compliance training to clients and employees. “If we don’t help retailers offset shrink, honest shoppers get stuck paying more, period. The loss has to be covered somehow,” Chief Executive Matt Hill told BOSS.

While PRA works with some of the largest retailers in the world, Hill is quick to point out that,

“There’s no business too big or too small for us to partner with. Besides traditional retail, nearly all businesses have theft and fraud issues, including banks, restaurants, freight companies, warehouses, casinos, everybody,” said Hill.

After nearly four decades fine-tuning its processes, representing hundreds of major retailers and assisting with civil recovery statutes in numerous states, PRA is clearly recognizable as an industry leader.

“If you’re in manufacturing, logistics, hospitality, retail, really any business you can think of with a cash register, employees or inventory, there’s going to be loss from theft and shrink. Our job is to help offset a lot of that,” said Chief of Operations Daniel Palmer, whose focus is on efficiency and client service.

Fair But Firm

According to a major industry civil recovery advocate, “PRA’s fair but firm approach delivers successful recoveries and stress-free experiences for clients.”

“Whether dishonest employees or customers, whatever the reason, we’re not here to judge. We’re here to move forward by recovering our client’s property and money; it needs to be paid,” Hill said. PRA’s call center is open seven days a week, with payments available 24/7.

“All agents are bilingual, and most have more than a decade of experience with PRA, which is something that’s unheard in most call centers. The firm works on contingency, receiving a portion of the recovery, with no upfront cost to the client, whether for a national retailer or a mom-and-pop with one store,” said Palmer.

According to Palmer, in its truest form, the civil penalty allows retailers to reinvest in their loss prevention/asset protection programs whether for additional storage, personnel, cameras, or even A.I. technology to identify theft patterns. The restitution component makes them whole; the civil penalty helps deter future theft.

In this new era of data leaks and breaches, cybersecurity is of utmost importance to PRA and its clients. PRA uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud and has substantial investments in IT systems that routinely pass 100-point-or-more inspections.

Minimizing Loss

In cases of employee theft, issues are more complex than a single instance of shoplifting. Often, an employee is caught stealing or giving away merchandise. Then, upon apprehension and review of surveillance footage, they may reveal a systematic pattern of theft. Sometimes, businesses refer the matter to police, or they may decline to press charges if the value is below a certain dollar amount. In either event, the business or theft victim is entitled to pursue a civil claim.

Typically, ORC claims result in the highest claims for damages and penalties, followed by internal theft (i.e., employees) and external shoplifter incidents.

As for ORC and those teams of shoplifters from the viral videos? Palmer said, “Stay tuned for a potentially game-changing announcement from PRA on solving the problem of organized retail crime coming in 2025.”

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