Directors and Officers Liability Consultants: 8

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

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:

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:

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:

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 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.

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 DRE #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.

James W. Lovely, BBA, MBA, JD, is an experienced provider of consulting advice, case analysis and expert witness testimony. He has more than 30 years of business and legal experience in the financial markets with particular expertise in:

• Complex financial products, including swaps, swaptions, options, futures, repurchase agreements, foreign exchange, commodities, prime brokerage arrangements, securitizations, structured notes and municipal bonds;
• Secured commercial lending and hedging arrangements often (but not exclusively) involving those complex financial products; and
• U.S. commercial, commodities, securities and banking law and regulations governing those financial products; and
• LIBOR transition to SOFR, Ameribor and other reference rates.

Mr. Lovely is a very capable writer and public speaker and currently maintains his own consultancy in the above-described areas of expertise. He assists his consulting clients and their legal counsel with: (i) structuring and documenting transactions involving financial products; (ii) evaluating and complying with, and educating personnel concerning, applicable law and regulation; and (iii) tailoring client business practices, compliance programs, and operating procedures to facilitate adherence to both law and corporate policy. He is adept at simplifying or clarifying complex financial products, disputes, and compliance obligations and translating between a client’s legal team and its executive/financial officers while delivering insightful analysis and sound practical guidance. He is intimately familiar with ISDA, NAESB, EEI, ICOM, IFEMA and SIFMA financial product documentation, forms and protocols. 

Consulting Engagements:

• Mr. Lovely has consulted with regional and community banks that provide derivative and/or foreign exchange products to customers and hedge residual risks with the major money-center banks. In this capacity, he has been involved with the evaluation, structuring, documentation, collateralization and occasional modification or novation of a wide range of financial products, typically in the context of a larger commercial lending relationship.
• Mr. Lovely has provided consulting services to family offices, hedge funds and CFTC licensed commodity pool operators in connection with a wide range of financial products and prime brokerage arrangements and concerning both SEC and CFTC compliance programs and obligations arising from that activity.

View James Lovely's Expert Witness Profile.