Real Estate: Development Expert Witnesses: 9

MCS Associates is a nationally recognized consulting group that has provided financial, operations and regulatory/compliance consulting services nationwide to financial institutions, insurance companies and regulatory agencies as well as real estate and financial services organizations for over 40 years. Expert Witness and Litigation Consulting are a primary focus of our services. We undertake expert witness assignments throughout the United States and our clients include several hundred leading law firms around the country, working on behalf of both plaintiff and defendant financial institutions, borrowers, depositors, investors, developers, insurance companies and their insured, securities/insurance/real estate brokers/agents, regulators and government agencies, and individuals. 

Together with MCS Associates’ specialized resources in banking, financial services and real estate, we also draw on key strategic alliances in insurance, economics, academia and the securities industry to meet a wide range of expert witness needs. Our litigation experts include experienced bankers, lenders, consultants, regulators, managers, brokers & agents in insurance, real estate, and securities; insurance claims and underwriting managers; economists, accountants, appraisers, real estate analysts, and academics. 

Areas of Expertise Include:

• Banking Operations/Administration
• Check Fraud
• Lending Policies, Custom and Practice
• Loan Underwriting & Credit Administration
• Loan Securitizations & Servicing
• Bankruptcy, Foreclosures and Workouts
• Trust & Fiduciary Issues / Operations
• Securities Brokerage & Investments
• Valuations & Damages Analysis
• Forensic Accounting
• Employment / Compensation
• Real Estate Brokerage & Management
• Title Insurance & Escrow
• Real Estate Appraisal & Transactions
• Insurance Industry Custom & Practice
• Insurance Coverages / Claims Handling
• Insurance Bad Faith

Jon R. Simon is an experienced Finance and Investment Professional with decades of Consulting, Operations and Investing experience. He has a long and accomplished background in the Hotel and Vacation Ownership Industries where he has advised some of the largest U.S. investment funds, hospitality and gaming companies, and high net worth individuals.

Litigation Support - Mr. Simon addresses major complex commercial litigation at the individual plaintiff or defendant level (typically for the BOD), class action level, and in valuation actions brought in Delaware Chancery Court. Services include interrogatories, litigation strategy, expert witness opinions, expert witness testimony (deposition or trial), mediation assistance; calculation of damages and disgorgement, rebuttal opinions, and valuations.

Hospitality and Shared Ownership Industry Expertise: 

Litigation Experience:

• RCHFU, LLC et al v. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation
• Flora Gillespie and Bruce Gillespie et al, vs St. Regis Club New York Inc., Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Marriott International Inc. et al
• RCHFU LLC, et al vs. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Marriott Vacation Club, Ritz Carlton Hotel Management LLC et al
• Diamond Resorts International (Apollo Global Management) vs Select Plaintiff
• New York St. Regis Club Owners vs Starwood Vacation Club
• Eden Roc LLLP v. Marriott International Inc., et al., No. 651027/2012, N.Y. Sup., App. Div., 1st Dept.)

Background Experience - Jon R. Simon started his career at KPMG where he was elected to the partnership at the age of 31, making him the youngest full equity partner in the United States.  At KPMG he headed the firm’s hospitality and real estate consulting practice for the Southeast US, Latin America and the Caribbean focusing on hotels, mixed-use resorts and shared ownership.  He also served as a national acquisitions partner serving senior roles in some of the largest hospitality industry acquisitions.

Mr. Simon was recruited by Starwood Capital to be CEO of WorldStar Resorts, a hospitality investment company dedicated to the Vacation Ownership Industry.  In that capacity, Mr. Simon quickly grew the company from a start-up to over $100 million in annual revenues and 250 employees by the end of its first full year of operations.

After leaving Starwood, Mr. Simon was one of the 5 founding principals of a late-stage private equity fund oriented to the hospitality industry where he also assumed the role of Chief Investment Officer.  In his first full year, he oversaw the underwriting and closing of over $150 million of direct investments, representing over $500 million of asset value.

View Chasen Capital Advisors, Inc.'s Consulting Profile.

Dick Bridy, PhD, is a Commercial Real Estate expert and entrepreneur with over 40 years of Commercial Real Estate Development, Brokerage, Investment, Leasing, Private Equity Sourcing, Operations, Construction, and Asset Management experience. He is the CEO of DBI Group (DBI) and Bedrock Investments Group (BIG), Bedrock 1st Mortgage, DBI Commercial Real Estate, and a principal of DBI Asset Management. 

Background Experience - Dr. Bridy and his team entitled and built two shopping centers and five single tenant properties. In addition, he has contracted for the redevelopment of over 3.5 million sq. ft. in 14 shopping centers in the Midwest and the Western US.

An accomplished scholar, Dr. Bridy is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.Sc. in Economics. His graduate studies garnered academic honors recognition from the San Diego State University Graduate School of Business, the Marshall School at the University of Southern California, and the University of Phoenix, from which he received an MBA, EMBA, and PhD respectively.

For decades, Dr. Bridy has served on the boards of many prominent real estate organizations, including the National Association of Realtors, California Association of Realtors, San Diego County Commercial Association of Realtors, and CCIM.

Litigation Support - Dr. Dick Bridy delivers real estate expert witness testimony for the commercial real estate and brokerage industry nationwide. He has been engaged by both plaintiff and defense attorneys. As a commercial real estate CEO, investor, developer, asset manager, broker, and syndicator, Dr. Bridy is an excellent communicator, honed by many years in leadership and advisory positions in the commercial real estate industry and as a Marine Corps officer.

Services include consultation, case review, technical investigation, IME’s, research, laboratory work (in-house or otherwise), report preparation, depositions, arbitration, mediation, court appearances, standby, cancellation of court deposition, and travel. 

Areas of Expertise: 

View Bedrock Consulting Group's Consulting Profile.

Steven M. Murow has over 45 years of experience in the Land Development and Construction industry with expertise in Earthmoving, Site Development, Street Improvements, and Underground Utilities. 

During that time, Mr. Murow has served as a principal in two leading contracting firms; consultant to major land developers; specifier and bid administrator; senior project manager, and as an expert witness. 

Litigation Support - Over the past 20 years, Mr. Murow has supported developers, municipalities, builders, and contractors through their legal teams. He has a perspective on general engineering contracting unmatched by opposing experts in the field having been involved in the bidding of over 2,000 projects since 1978 and managing over 300 of those projects in the mass grading and site development arena as a principal owner of the firm. Mr. Murow has been deposed 70 times and testified in trial / arbitration 34 times. His expertise has been called upon in Dallas, Texas, Conway, Ark. and throughout California.

Areas of Expertise:

"DIRT, not civil engineering or geotechnical, but as a general engineering contractor performing the work and as a Construction Manager managing the work on projects up to 1,200 Acres and $50,000,000 in value. I can tell you how it was bid, should have been bid, where it went wrong, and cost to repair." - Steven M. Murow

Frank S. Ferrantello, PLS, is a New York State Licensed Land Surveyor with over 20 years of experience in Surveying, Civil Engineering, and Land Use Planning. Both his field and office Work experience have dealt with a wide range of projects and sites including residential single, multifamily, high rise municipal, utility, private and public, commercial, and industrial. Prior to and post college, 

Mr. Ferrantello worked for the firm of John P. Ferrantello PC from 1998 to 2010 and MJM engineering from 2008 to 2016. His duties consisted of performing office and field surveying, drafting, research, computations, boundary analysis, solutions, investigations and determinations. 

Mr. Ferrantello also has extensive experience in Site Planning and Subdivision Consulting, examining title records, deeds and other recorded documents such as ingress and egress, pedestrian easements, right of ways, air and development rights, vista easements, bridle paths, beach, bathing and mooring rights, covenants and restrictions, real property, zoning, and other land use principles. 

Litigation Support - A mapping professional, Frank S. Ferrantello will enhancing your case, whether it is a vehicular accident, tree collision, wrongful death, adverse possession, extreme error, or misconduct surveys and maps. He has extensive knowledge of the local Long Island zoning codes, site planning and subdivision regulations. His services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant, insurance companies, and experienced developers. 

Legal Services:

Areas of Expertise:

View Frank S. Ferrantello's Consulting Profile.

Robert S. Griswold, CRE, CPM, CCIM, ACoM, RPA, PCAM, CCAM, GRI, ARM, has over 30 years of specialized experience in the field of Real Estate Management. He is currently active as a day-to-day hands-on, licensed practitioner, consultant, and expert witness in all aspects of real estate (except valuation). A 3-time graduate of the distinguished Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with a BS ('81), MBA ('86) and MSBA (2nd Masters) ('88) in real estate and related disciplines, Mr. Griswold is a recognized expert on management of all types of residential real estate. He has actively managed over 60,000 residential units and several million square feet of commercial, industrial, self-storage and retail properties nationally. He has extensive experience as a court-appointed receiver (over 160 times) for private lenders and major financial institutions. 

Litigation Support - In the last 30+ years, Mr. Griswold has consulted on over 4,000 litigation matters, has been deposed over 700 times, and provided sworn testimony in trial or arbitration on over 200 occasions in both state and federal litigation matters throughout the United States. Also serving as a court-appointed bankruptcy Custodian and Referee, his case work is very evenly divided between plaintiff and defense work. Mr. Griswold is uniquely qualified to opine on real estate related litigation matters having authored or co-authored the 12 best selling real estate books: Real Estate Investing For Dummies; Property Management Kit For Dummies; Mortgage Management for Dummies and Landlord's Legal Kit For Dummies. His 15+ years as an On-Air NBC-TV Real Estate Expert and a similar tenure as a major radio station weekly talk show host have prepared him to present opinions to juries. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Robert Griswold's Consulting Profile.

P. Marc Fischer, MBA, CPM^®, RPA^®, CCIM^®, LEED^® GA, BOMA Fellow 

Marc Fischer is a nationally recognized Commercial Real Estate (CRE) expert with more than 30 years of proven performance in the fields of property management, building operations, and asset management. He is widely recognized as an innovative and dynamic leader, and he teaches, writes, and speaks to audiences around the world about CRE topics.

Litigation Support - As an expert witness, Mr. Fischer assists landlord and tenant counsel in finding the truth. His services include thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. Mr. Fischer supports both plaintiff and defendant counsel in a variety of real estate related issues including:

Highlights Include:

• 30 years of experience in all aspects of commercial real estate (CRE) property management, asset management, property operations, and construction
• MBA in Management / Organizational Behavior

Industry Designations:

• Real Property Administrator (RPA®)
• Certified Property Manager (CPM®) Designee
• Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM®) Designee
• LEED® Green Associate
• BOMA Fellow

Author of eight (8) CRE textbooks published by BOMA International (all translated into Mandarin):

• Acquisitions, Dispositions & Underwriting textbook
• Measuring Financial Returns textbook
• Lease Analysis, Evaluation, Negotiation, and Approval textbook
• Foundations of Real Estate Management textbook
• BOMA International Proactive Maintenance Guidebook for Industrial Properties
• Managing Industrial Properties
• Guide to Developing a Standard Operating Procedure Manual
• BOMA International Guide to Exterior Maintenance Manual

View InpiRE CRE, LLC's Consulting Profile.

Andrew Shedlin, BA, JD, CRX, CLS, CSM, is an acknowledged industry leader in the field of Real Estate Leasing. He specializes in consulting on the Development, Management and Leasing of Shopping Centers & Airports for both developers and retailers. Mr. Shedlin serves as a developer and consultant for dozens of shopping center landlords and tenants. He also has extensive experience in Airport Retail and Restaurants as both landlord and tenant.

Mr. Shedlin has developed or redeveloped more than 35,000,000 square feet of shopping centers as principal or consultant and at all of the top 50 airports in the US, and negotiated more than 15,000 leases as principal, consultant, landlord or tenant (as a business person and attorney), his clients have included dozens of international, national, regional, and local retailers and restaurants. Mr. Shedlin is a longtime member of ICSC’s faculty of the John T. Riordan School for Professional Development and a founding member of ICSC’s CLS Admissions and Governing Committee. He has received the ICSC Trustee’s Distinguished Award, serves on the ICSC Illinois State Committee and was previously NY/NJ state director for ICSC. Mr. Shedlin has taught at both Columbia University Graduate School of Business and Georgetown University Law School and holds a JD from Boston University. He frequently lectures at business schools, law schools, and for industry groups on Shopping Center Leasing, Understanding Leases, and Business Ethics.

Litigation Support - Considered the definitive industry expert in negotiating and interpreting shopping center and airport leases, Andrew Shedlin has worked as an expert on dozens of landlord / tenant disputes involving Interpretation and Enforcement of Leases and Shopping Center Management. He has worked with major law firms in numerous cities throughout the US. His services are available to counsel representing plaintiff and defendant and include written reports, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Background Experience:

• Halperin, Shivitz, Scholer & Steingut - Associate
• Arlen Shopping Centers - Executive Vice President & Counsel
• Equity Properties and Development Company - Executive Vice President (responsible for leasing and development)
• Previously owned and operated 2 retail businesses
• Facilitated entry of several international retailers into the US market
• Authored several chapters in real estate publications on subjects of leasing and understanding the lease
• Co-authored definitive audio tape on lease negotiations
• Frequently quoted in media publications

James D. Wamble, PE, RLS has over 40 years of experience as a Professional Civil Engineer and Registered Land Surveyor. During the course of his career, Mr. Wamble has worked on land planning, land surveying, or civil engineering projects in all counties of the middle and west Tennessee regions, and several counties in east Tennessee. Mr. Wamble has offered litigation support services as an expert witness in cases since 1976. In the last four years, he has testified 12 times in 8 lawsuits. These litigation cases include land planning, land surveying, and civil engineering issues. Mr. Wamble has experience with depositions, trials, hearings, and arbitrations.

Expert Witness Services Include:

Areas of Expertise:

• Civil Engineering: Design of grading, drainage, utilities, roads, lakes, dams, detention basins, parking lots, shopping centers, subdivisions, apartments, condominiums, planned unit developments, specific plans, industrial parks, mobile home parks, mini warehouses, hotels and office building site plans; flood, drainage, and utility studies; low impact design; financial developability and constructability analysis of proposed developments; preparation of cost estimates; assisting clients in setting project budgets; designing projects to contain cost within determined project budget; construction project management, inspection, administration, and processing of contractors’ pay requests
• Land Surveying: Topographic, Route, Land, Boundary, Utilities, Aerial ground control, Engineering design, and Construction Surveys
• Land Planning: Land use/development feasibility analysis, planning and concept design of residential, commercial, industrial and municipal projects; zone change applications; planned unit development and specific plan applications; site selection consultation; and graphic presentations

View James Wamble's Consulting Profile.