Directors & Officers Liability Consultants: 12

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

Barrington Capital Management, Inc. provides customized financial solutions for unique financial challenges and objectives. Their expertise is in the development, implementation and ongoing management of a customized and diversified investment strategy. Barrington's mission is to assist in building, enhancing, and protecting personal wealth and maintaining financial security. 

President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Lawson, has over 35 years of financial services experience as an Investment Advisory and Insurance Agency Executive, Securities Principal, and Options Principal. Bob proudly serves as an industry arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the National Futures Association (NFA), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), ERISA (3)-21 Fiduciary, Master Registered Financial Consultant, and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary. In addition to teaching advanced investment strategies and Retirement Planning classes throughout the year. 

Bob Lawson has special expertise in stock options and has presented the following Options Industry Council (OIC) seminars to retail and industry professionals throughout the United States:

Options Basics Options Intermediate Advanced Options

Covered Calls Options Spreads Option Volatility

View Bob Lawson's Expert Witness Profile.

  

BHK Associates, Inc. (BHK), is a Banking / Finance firm comprised of former bank presidents, chief executive officers, chief creditor officers, and chief lending officers. BHK clients include banks, credit unions, title companies, financial institutions, and insurance companies.

Advisory Services - BHK Associates, Inc., provides a broad range of advisory services to the financial industry and its clients, involving a number of disciplines: Banking Industry Standards & Best Practices, Strategic Planning and Performance Reviews, Banking Operations, Construction Lending, Due Diligence Reviews, Merger & Acquisition Reviews, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Real Estate Appraisal Issues, and more.

Special Credits & Loan Workouts - Their experts have years of experience advising in the areas of special credits, loan workouts, and collection. Specific areas of expertise include: Problem Loan Review & Classification, Problem Loan Workout Strategies, Negotiating Loan Workouts & Forbearance Agreement, Asset Disposition and Loan Sales, Intra-bank disputes, Problem Asset Valuation, Loan Quality Assessment and Analysis, etc.

Brian H. Kelley, Founder and Principal, is a seasoned Banking Executive, Lender, and Attorney with over 30 years of experience in lending, top management, and legal positions for both regional and larger commercial banks in California, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon. He has served as the CEO of three successful community banks and the head of a Multi-Billion Dollar lending group with a large international bank.

Mr. Kelley earned his BA and JD from Brigham Young University. He has been admitted to the CA, UT, and HI Bar Associations. He also has extensive professional course experience in loan underwriting, credit analysis, corporate finance, and lending practices. Mr. Kelley has been a featured speaker and panelist for various industry groups, including the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Hotel Finance & Investment Conference.

View Brian Kelley's Expert Witness Profile.

Hi, I’m Jess Birken.

I am the owner of Birken Law Office. I'm a lawyer and I help nonprofits solve problems so they can quit worrying and get back to what matters most – their mission. I’m not like most attorneys, I actually have an outgoing personality, and – like you – I like to think outside the box. Most of my clients are passionate and have an entrepreneurial spirit. I’m like that too. My goal is to help you crush it. Getting bogged down in the minutia sucks the joy out of the important work. My clients want to do The Work – not the paperwork.

My Credentials

• BA, Sociology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2001)
• JD, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Magna Cum Laude (2007)
• MA, Nonprofit Management, Hamline University (2010)
• Certified Transformative Mediator
• Want more? Check out my LinkedIn profile.

My Biography

I am the former CEO & Managing Partner at Urban Birken PLLC, a boutique firm that focused on serving the nonprofit community. I have worked with nonprofit organizations for most of my career.

Before becoming a private practice attorney, I spent four years inside a national nonprofit organization, Pheasants Forever. In that role I managed about $50M in state and federal government grants and worked on hundreds of conservation real estate deals. I also gained a deep knowledge of just what it's like to work inside a nonprofit - not just tell people what to do. My strength in that role was working with staff, volunteers and government stakeholders to keep complex projects moving and maintain a zero defect environment for audit time.

Birken Law Video Introduction

Since that time, I have run my own firms. I’m now the owner of Birken Law Office a firm designed to help nonprofits. Ideal Client Engagements are nonprofits looking for a strategic partner who will give pragmatic advice and keep business operations on track so the mission work stays a priority. I love working with organizations that understand that 'nonprofit' is a tax status - not a business model.
My work experience entails largely business and compliance needs of nonprofit issues around:

Formation Executive Compensation HR Real Estate Property Tax Board / Staff Conflicts

Voting Member Issues Internal/External Stakeholder Conflict Government Grant Compliance Transactions Crisis Management

My Contact Information

You can contact me via e-mail or follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

Click here to schedule a free call now.

Marguerita M. Cheng, CFP®, CRPC®, RICP®, Chief Executive Officer at Blue Ocean Global Wealth, is a Certified Financial Planning Expert with 18 years of experience. Prior to co-founding Blue Ocean Global Wealth, she was a Financial Advisor at Ameriprise Financial and an Analyst and Editor at Towa Securities in Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Cheng is a past spokesperson for the AARP Financial Freedom Campaign and a regular columnist for Investopedia & Kiplinger. She is a CFP® professional, a Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM, a Retirement Income Certified Professional® and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. As a Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) Ambassador, Ms. Cheng helps educate the public, policymakers, and media about the benefits of competent, ethical financial planning. She served on the Financial Planning Association (FPA) National Board of Directors from 2013 – 2015 and is a past president of the Financial Planning Association of the National Capital Area (FPA NCA). 

Marguerita Cheng CNBC Interview on Social Security

Awards and Honors - Ms. Cheng is a recipient of the Ameriprise Financial Presidential Award for Quality of Advice and the prestigious Japanese Monbukagakusho Scholarship. In 2017, she was named the #3 Most Influential Financial Advisor in the Investopedia Top 100, a Woman to Watch by InvestmentNews, and a Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise (MBE®) by the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council (CRMSDC).

Litigation Support - Ms. Cheng serves as a Women’s Initiative (WIN) Advocate and subject matter expert for CFP Board, contributing to the development of examination questions for the CFP® Certification Examination. She also volunteers for CFP Board Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (DEC) hearings. Services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant include financial due diligence, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Litigation Expertise:

Financial Planning Issues Social Security Elder Financial Abuse

Financial Planner Standard of Care Financial Planner Code of Ethics Investor Rights

Clarity Concepts, Inc. provides risk consulting and training services that help develop businesses into a high-functioning organization through specially designed consulting and training programs that suit both individual and corporate needs. 

Clarity Concepts, Inc.'s Services:

Corporate strategy Enterprise Risk Management Outsourced Risk Management Insurance Program Analysis Claims reduction through Risk Control

Corporate Governance Consulting and Training Organizational / Group Training Teambuilding for Organizational Effectiveness Strategic Innovation Training Crisis Management Planning

Principal, Jane Marie Downey, M.Ed, ARM, has over 35 years of experience in Risk Management and Property, Casualty, and Professional Liability Insurance. A well-known risk management consultant, leadership trainer, and frequent public speaker, she provides risk consulting, insurance broker management, outsourced risk management, as well as leadership and team training. Her risk management clients have included Schott Corporation, Carl Zeiss, Inc., Main Line Health Systems, Genencor International, Entech Creative Industries, Saint-Gobain Corp., Commerce National Insurance Services, Napco and CIGNA International. 

Background - Ms. Downey’s corporate experience includes risk management positions with IU International, PaineWebber Group, Inc., and The West Company. She also worked as an Account Executive in insurance brokerage with the Hobbs Group, now part of Willis.

 She taught Risk Management at Temple University's Fox School and Crisis Management at Penn State's Graduate Program. She currently teaches Continuing Educations courses for brokers and agents for the Institute of Strategic Educational Parners. 

View Jane Downey's Expert Witness Profile.

CMC Advisors Inc. (CMC) provides expert Insurance Consulting and offers clients the upper hand in managing their assets and liabilities. They assist clients in managing investment portfolios by helping to determine if current Financial Retirement plans such as IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, 401(K), Keogh Plans, Pensions and Profit Sharing Plans are meeting retirement goals.

Consulting Areas:

Annuities Life Insurance Term Insurance Single Premium Variable Insurance

Retirement Disability Insurance Consultant Expert Witness Services

Wayne Citron has 45 years of experience as an expert in Forensic Reconstruction of Insurance Transactions. He is an insurance expert and consultant.

Mr. Citron established the Citron Agency and CMC Advisors Inc. in 1972, where his duties included executive and managerial responsibilities, sales, service, compliance with all insurance matters as well as securities laws and regulations. Both firms are leaders in life, health, disability and property and casualty insurance.

Mr. Citron has served as an instructor for Prudential Insurance Company Brooklyn Agency (1973) educating personnel in general insurance matters, underwriting, and insurance law. He has worked with companies including Prudential Insurance Company, United States Life Insurance Company, North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, American General Life Insurance Company, William Penn Life Insurance Company, American Life Insurance Company, Chubb Insurance Company, Travelers Insurance Company, Mass Mutual Insurance Company, John Hancock Insurance Company, and American International Group (AIG), among other.

Mr. Citron recently volunteered for Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group (OCLTRG) to reopen Super Storm Sandy flood claims and examine National Flood Insurance Policies, as well as deal with FEMA in these matters (2015 & 2016).

View Wayne Citron's Expert Witness Profile.

David D. Gibbons & Company, LLC provides Banking and Bank Regulation Litigation Consulting and Advisory services. Their business serves a diverse clientele, ranging from banks and bankers to lawyers and litigators, to bank regulators, to other financial service organizations. Their knowledge, expertise, experience, and services cover a broad spectrum of banking, bank regulation, and enforcement matters, from safety and soundness to compliance and conduct. 

Regulatory Risk Advisory Services:

Enterprise Risk Management  Culture and Tone at the Top Governance and Structure Risk Assessment, Identification, Measurement, Reporting, and Mitigation Audit and Other Assurance Functions Board Risk Reporting Heightened Standards

Commercial and Retail Credit Portfolio Credit Risk Management and Credit Administration Risk Analysis and Evaluation Risk Recognition and Ratings Credit Risk Accounting Matters/Nonperforming, TDRs Impairment, etc. Problem Asset Management Credit Risk Review

Troubled Institutions Identification Rehabilitation and Resolution

Enforcement Matters  Avoidance Compliance

Policies, Plans, and Frameworks

ERM Credit Problem Asset Management Liquidity and Contingency Funding

Capital Adequacy / Capital Restoration Strategic Compliance Crisis Management and Recovery

Allowance for Loan Losses
Regulatory Relations Management

David D. Gibbons, President, has 45 years of experience in Banking, Risk Evaluation and Risk Management, and Bank Regulation. He is widely recognized as an accomplished financial services executive with unique perspectives as a Former Chief Risk Officer HSBC, former Senior Bank Regulator (both policy and supervision), Chief Risk Officer, Deputy Comptroller for Credit Risk and Troubled Banks at Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Banking Consultant (shadow regulator).

Mr. Gibbons leverages his experience with financial services organizations, ranging from community to regional to systemically important.  He has demonstrated credit and enterprise risk evaluation and management expertise. He has extensive knowledge of industry regulatory policies and practices, including risk assessment, examination, and enforcement. With proven regulatory issue, and troubled bank, remediation and resolution expertise, he is effective both as an individual contributor or in a team leadership role.

View David D. Gibbons' Expert Witness Profile.

David Friedler, LMHC, MPH Is an expert in the regulatory standard of care in Nursing Facilities, Psychiatric, Alcohol/Substance Use Rehabilitation Facilities as well as Group Homes for the disabled. He has worked in clinical and administrative roles in these environments over four decades. He has extensive experience with survey compliance, Federal and State regulation, JCAHO and CARF accreditation, OSHA compliance and policy and procedure development.

Areas of Expertise:

• Long Term Care
• Nursing Homes
• Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
• Behavioral Health / Psychiatric Care in Drug Treatment Facilities
• Psychiatric care in Nursing Homes, Group Homes

Frederick J. Fisher, JD, is the President of Fisher Consulting Group, Inc. and was the Founder of E.L.M. Insurance Brokers, a Wholesale & MGA facility specializing in Professional Liability and Specialty Line risks. He is a Member of the Editorial Board for Agents of America; a Faculty Member of the Claims College, and Member of the Executive Council, School of Professional Lines sponsored by the Claims & Litigation Management Association and a course designer and webinar Instructor for the Academy of Insurance. 

Consulting - Since his career began, Mr. Fisher focused on one vision: providing financial security to the client. The result was a successful 40 year career in Specialty Lines Insurance which have resulted in substantial cost savings for clients. He provides consulting and audit services in all areas of Professional Liability, D&O, and EPLI Insurance. This includes Processes, Underwriting, Claims, and Product Distribution. 

Background - In 1975, Mr. Fisher began his career on the service side, as an Independent E&O claims adjuster. In 1982, he bought the Company and increased annual billings by 400% in only 4 years. In 1995, he formed what is now known as ELM insurance Brokers, a firm that has acted as an MGA and Wholesale Broker of Professional Liability Insurance and Specialty Lines. From nothing, the firm grew rapidly to a $30 Million dollar facility when sold in 2008. 

Author and Speaker - Frederick Fisher has lectured extensively on professional liability issues since 1978, and authored over 64 articles in trade journals and periodicals. He is the author of BROKER BEWARE, Selling Real Estate within the Law. Mr. Fisher remains a Special Materials Expert for several RPLU courses and is the Senior Technical Advisor for The Professional Liability Manual, first published by the International Risk Management Institute in 1990. He has taught over 100 CE classes and lectures. Mr. Fisher can be reached at: fjfisher@fishercg.com

View Frederick Fisher's Expert Witness Profile.

During his four decades as a financial problem solver, Ted Phelps has built a reputation for integrity, diligence, and leadership.

Phelps is skilled in the fields of insolvency, reorganization, and restructuring. As a court-appointed fiduciary, he has completed dozens of business receiverships, many of which involved fraud and shareholder oppression issues.

A forensic accountant and testifying expert in the areas of Fraud, Business Valuation, and Economic Damages, Phelps excels in following the money – no matter where the trail leads.

Although it is a necessity in many litigated matters, forensic accounting can be time-consuming and expensive. Experience and sound judgment matter. “I separate gossip from fact,” Phelps says of his work. “I listen to the parties, and I strain out the extraneous and irrelevant. In the end, I come up with a road map showing the detours that led to the problems and the route to their solutions.”

As the founder and president of FVLS Consultancy, Phelps developed and taught a forensic accounting course at California State University, Los Angeles. He currently teaches classes in Accounting and Fraud Investigation at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash.

Phelps earned his M.B.A. from Whitworth University and his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. He also studied Engineering at the United States Naval Academy. He is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts.

In addition to founding and leading his own company, Phelps has held leadership positions with several publicly traded and privately held companies, including as Director of Corporate Reorganization at Price Waterhouse. Phelps serves on the board of Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Santa Clarita, Calif., and he is a life member of MENSA and the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association.

View Theodore Phelps' Expert Witness Profile.

Litigation - When a case is not to the point where an expert needs to be designated, clients and attorneys often benefit from consulting with an expert in order to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their case. Our firm offers services in these early stages, allowing the attorney to consider key questions, such as whether or not the case has enough value for litigating, potential settlement value, and often times forming the framework for discovery requests. With our in-depth experience in banking and real estate, we have been able to help our clients identify key issues to investigate in a deposition, consider different complexities of a case, and assist in fact development by suggesting documents or information to request. When we work in this consulting capacity, our communication is covered by the attorney-client privilege, so our clients and attorneys are free to discuss trial strategy without the worry of discoverability. This has allowed us to add value by performing preliminary analyses to assess the viability of different strategic directions for the case.

Bank Negotiation - Situations may arise where you could benefit from the knowledge and experience of an unbiased party in a financial situation. Whether you need help negotiating a short sale on your commercial property, working with the SBA, or renegotiating an operating line of credit with your bank, we can help. Our many years in the banking industry have given us the knowledge and contacts necessary to help you through the transaction. For these situations that require a greater depth of experience than you may have on staff, JBH Real Estate Experts can do the job on a project basis.

Real Estate Brokerage

Jay Hibert is a licensed Real Estate Broker CA BRE #01523075 . He is happy to assist your existing broker, or he can represent you in a transaction. Jay's expertise is in negotiating transactions between buyer and seller, identifying purchase opportunities for 1031 exchange, contract review, and arranging financing.

View Jay Hibert's Expert Witness Profile.