Banking - Banks (General) Expert Witnesses

Craig A. Wolson acts as a Structured Finance and Derivatives Expert Witness and Consultant. He specializes in cases involving credit default swaps (CDS), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and other types of derivatives and securities.

Background Experience Includes: Acting on behalf of 40,000 investors in $1.6 billion class action suit against bankrupt sponsor of special purpose issuer of notes secured by notes issued by CDO and credit default swaps with sponsor; acting on behalf of class led by two major pension funds against a major bank and numerous large underwriters involving mortgage-backed securities issued by several vehices established by the bank, and securities issued by the bank; acting on behalf of large investment bank defendant in arbitration proceeding brought by another large investment bank involving nine CDOS established by defendant; acting on behalf of large bank that had invested in now-worthless notes issued by SIV established by defendant banks; acting on behalf of large bank against another large bank that had sold the former CDOs and CDS.

Areas of Expertise:

• Securitizations
• Derivatives
• Securities Law and Corporate Finance
• Loans and Credit Facilities
• Due Diligence

Bruce Weiner is an Information and Internet Technology executive with over 30 years of in-depth experience managing product and software development for contracting companies and Fortune 100 companies. Since 2012, he has been a Technology leader at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Mr. Weiner is a Princeton trained computer scientist and electrical engineer, and a patent holder. Over his career, he has gained extensive experience in Information Systems management, program/project management, software development, software architecture, internet delivery, business applications, technology vendor selection, IT Outsourcing, and customer contact center operations.

Litigation Consulting Services: Mr. Weiner has experience as a consulting and/or testifying expert witness in software development, patent infringement, and commercial litigation matters for both plaintiffs and defendants. He is adept at translating complex software, patent, and technology issues for the lay person audience. He consulted on industry transforming anti-trust cases in the travel industry.

Industry Experience:

• Travel Industry Technology - Former technology leader for American Express Travel and Chief Technology Officer of United.com;
• Loyalty Industry Technology - 30 years experience in the technology that powers loyalty programs, working on Membership Miles, Thank You Rewards, Mileage Plus, #1 Gold, eRewards, MyPoints, Blockbuster Rewards, and AAdvantage
• Financial Services Technology – 30 years experience working with Financial Services Companies (American Express, Citibank, and Chase) on credit card and banking technology.

ValueScope, Inc. is excited to announce that Tom McNulty joined the firm on April 27, 2020 as a Principal and Managing Director who will launch our Houston Office.  Tom’s responsibilities include financial consulting, valuation analysis, transaction and dispute advisory, and expert testimony.  In addition to serving as the Managing Director of the Houston office, Tom will assume the position of Energy Practice Leader.

Tom McNulty has 25 years of experience working across numerous industries as well as the entire energy value chain.  He draws on a rare combination of industry, banking, consulting, and government experience to provide his clients with transaction, financial advisory, litigation, and valuation opinion services.  Tom is a nationally recognized energy industry expert and is a frequent contributor on CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV.  In addition to his deep knowledge and experience in the energy industry, Tom is well respected for his expertise in derivatives pricing and valuation.

As an advisor, and in his corporate career, Tom has delivered more than $52 billion in transaction, valuation, restructuring, and litigation projects, much of which is energy related.  He has also advised on, or executed, $13 billion in M&A and principal investment deals, and executed or valued more than $14 billion notional in derivative instruments.  His expert litigation work has included shareholder disputes, business valuation, derivatives and hedging, bankruptcy and restructuring matters, and economic damages assessments.  

Tom holds the prestigious CQF (Certificate of Quantitative Finance) and FRM (Financial Risk Management) designations and received his BA from Yale University and MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School with various honors.

Tom can be reached at tmcnulty@valuescopeinc.com and at 832-472-3717.

Rod Tasker specializes in Payment Services, Transaction Banking, and e-Commerce. He has over 20 years of experience working for major banks in strategic and business planning and cradle to grave product management, including business cases, feasibility, piloting, commercialization, and retirement. Mr. Tasker consults in strategic management and innovative solution delivery in the banking and finance industry. His achievements in Australia and internationally include:
     - Leading a team of 25 people in developing an internet payment service
     - Developing an enterprise Sales and Service architecture for a major bank
     - Developing an international payments business architecture & operations strategy for a major bank
     - Obtaining consensus amongst a consortium of 15 global banks for the strategic vision and plan for implementing B2B international ePayments
     - Developing a variety of e-Banking and e-Payment products and services
     - Building a payments business from start-up as CEO

Areas of Expertise:

Payments e-Commerce Transaction Banking Identity Services

Product Development / Product Management Piloting Commercializing Business and Strategy Formulation

Consulting Services - Mr. Tasker is engaged by companies that offer payment services as products or services, or for whom payments are "strategic" or "core," for example, insurance companies, exchanges, retailers, and investors wanting to evaluate payment business acquisitions, mergers, or funding opportunities. His services include:

Strategy Formulation Business Planning Profitability Improvement Change Management

Program and Portfolio Management Regulatory Compliance Risk Analysis Ventures / Mergers & Acquisitions

SEDA Experts is a boutique consulting firm specializing in Financial Services. They provide superior independent advice, data analytics, valuation, and expert testimony services to financial institutions and law firms in both litigation and business contexts.

Their experts have unmatched industry experience in a vast array of financial services practices. With over 30 years as global managing directors at leading financial institutions and consulting firms, each of their experts is dedicated to applying exceptional real-world economic, financial, and quantitative principles to complex business and legal challenges.  

SEDA Experts provides independent advice, financial consulting, data analytics, valuation, and expert testimony services to financial institutions and law firms in both litigation and business contexts.

Services:

Expert Witnesses Testimony and Report Litigation Process Support Mediation Class Certification Consulting

Complex Data Analysis  Damages Calculations Engaging World Class Expert Advisory Services

Richard A. Marin, Managing Director, a former finance senior executive with over 40 years of industry experience, and a former clinical professor at Cornell University, is a world-class testifying expert. Mr. Marin is a Finance, Real Estate, and Venture Capital industry executive who is currently the CEO of Low Emissions Resources Corporation.  He also is involved in managing private equity investments, consulting on major commercial real estate and attractions projects, and an expert in the retirement field.

Mr. Marin was previously a senior executive at three major financial institutions; Bankers Trust Company, Deutsche Bank and Bear Stearns.  His initial career spanned corporate finance, sales and trading, structured products, emerging markets, processing, and several other disciplines. Later in his career, he focused on building and running large asset management businesses in both the traditional and alternative spaces and in the institutional and high net worth markets. He also served as Chairman and CEO of AFI (USA), a major distressed commercial and residential property developer, for whom he restructured over $2B of liabilities. 

Mr. Marin has been a successful financial entrepreneur, involved in founding several venture capital firms (Beehive Ventures and Green Visor Capital) and a hedge fund (Ironwood Global).  He served as CEO of the New York Wheel, a $650 million development project, from 2012 to 2017.  He is currently the CEO of Low Emission Resource Corporation, a start-up scientific research & development company working in the areas of hydrogen and ammonia production. 

He is a published author of Global Pension Crisis: Unfunded Liabilities and How We Can Fill the Gap (Wiley & Sons, 2013), Mater Gladiatrix (Lulu Press, 2017) and Gulag 401k: Tales of a Modern Prisoner (Lulu Press, 2017). View full Vitae.

 Areas of Expertise: 

Asset Management Alternative Investments Private Equity Investments

Securities Lending Retirement and Pensions Real Estate / Project Financing

Kenneth Simmons, Managing Director, has over 30 years of industry experience as Executive Vice President at leading financial institutions, and at regulatory agencies such as OCC and FDIC. He is a Review Board Member and Faculty member at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, and the North & South Metro Atlanta Compliance Roundtable Founder and Chairperson at the Community Bankers Association. 

He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Origin Bank, and in a similar position at Hamilton State Bank. During his career he was responsible for all aspects of Regulatory Compliance, he devised comprehensive BSA/AML Programs including complex layers of investigations and an enhanced monitoring system to exceed Supervisory Expectations, and developed comprehensive risk assessments, audit schedule and compliance testing programs addressing regulatory inventory of risks.

Mr. Simmons served the Office of the Comptroller Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as Compliance/ BSA Specialist Bank Examiner. During his tenure with the OCC he was the functional Examiner-in-Charge (FEIC) on complex BSA & Compliance examinations, and the Supervisory Review Examiner for BSA/AML, fair lending, and CRA examinations. 

He evaluated effectiveness of AML systems (such as FCRM, Bankers Toolbox, and FIS (Prime) and formulated opinions on the use of such systems. He also worked directly with Supervisory office and legal staff regarding BSA/AML violations, MRAs, and consent order issuances, providing guidance and direction to financial institutions regarding resolution of these matters.

In addition, he served as the General Audit Manager for a multi-billion dollar financial institution, and he served as a Compliance Officer for several financial institutions.  View full Vitae.

Areas of Expertise:

Finance Anti-Money Laundering Bank Secrecy Act Compliance

Financial Crimes Risk Management Regulatory Compliance AML / BSA Risk Management

Kevin D. Oden, Managing Director, has unrivaled Financial Risk Management expertise and over 30 years of financial markets experience with leading financial institutions firms Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs, holding executive positions. 

Mr. is an innovative risk manager and entrepreneur with a strong track record of leading risk teams to the forefront of industry practice. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Risk Management Association (RMA) and on the RMA Journal Editorial Advisory Board and the financial technology firm Scienaptic Systems.

During his career, he managed small and large teams (as many as 4000) across a number of risk disciplines including market risk, counterparty risk, model validation, risk model development, operational risk, cyber security, financial crimes and compliance. Developed an industry leading practice in model risk management with patents pending on several innovations in system design. Highly successful at building working relationships with business leaders as well as U.S. and foreign regulators. 

Mr. Oden has over 30 years of industry experience, including risk management, trading, sales, portfolio management. Superior quantitative background and communication skills provide a unique ability to deliver risk insight to all stakeholders and influence decision making throughout the firm. He was a member of Wells Fargo’s management committee and Asset Liability Committee (ALCO). 

Dr. Oden was an Executive Vice President and Head of Operational Risk and Compliance within Corporate Risk at Wells Fargo & Co., managing second-line risk activities across information security, financial crimes risk, model risk, operational risk, regulatory compliance risk, and technology risk. Prior to this he was the Chief Market & Institutional Risk officer for Wells Fargo & Co.  View full Vitae.

Areas of Expertise:

Market, Credit and Counterparty Risk Operational Risk Risk Model Development and Validation

Risk Management and Compliance Portfolio Management Asset and Liability Management

Leon Royer has over 40 years of Banking experience, 30 years of which were in executive management positions in banks ranging in size from community banks to multi-billion dollar, multi-state banking organizations.

Please see his attached CV for a detailed description of his activities which span virtually all areas of Lending and Bank Management.

Litigation Support - As an Executive responsible for all phases of Lending, Lending Disciplines, and Credit Assessment, Mr. Royer has special expertise in determining Borrower Creditworthiness.  In addition, he possesses a keen interest in assessing the appropriateness of Lender Behavior. He has outstanding references upon request.

Robin Byrant has over 30 years of experience in the Banking Industry. Mr. Bryant started his career in a retail bank, followed by three investment banks and an international bank. His experience also includes the activities and procedures of non-banks such as building societies and centralised lenders. In two of the banks in which he worked he devised systems and procedure manuals and wrote the lending policy for one of the banks.

Mr. Bryant has been providing advice and banking expert witness evidence in respect of disputes involving banks and other lenders for nearly twenty years. Most of the cases have been in the English High Court but he has also provided evidence for courts in overseas jurisdictions. Advice and evidence has been provided for and on behalf of banks and other lenders or for those opposing them. The majority of the work has been in connection with professional negligence where allegations of a bank’s contributory negligence are raised.

Mr. Bryant is a member of the Academy of Experts and a founding member of the Expert Witness Institute, where he was a member of the Blom-Cooper working party drawing up guidelines for experts. He has acted in over 250 cases and been cross examined 14 times.

Areas of Expertise:

• Banking practice and operations
• Retail banks, Building Societies and Centralised Lenders
• Corporate lending
• Property / Real Estate sector lending
• Personal lending
• Residential loans
• Buy to Let loans
• Commercial loans
• Investment / merchant banking
• International banking
• Trade Finance
• Loan documentation
• Lending manuals
• Credit analysis
• Debt recovery

Vaughn C. Pearson has more than 40 years of experience in Executive Lending and Credit Roles in Commercial Banks and Financial Services Consulting Organizations providing knowledge in Corporate Governance, Regulatory Preparation and Response, Lending and Credit Administration, Problem Asset Remediation, Small Business and Commercial Lending.

For over 25 years, Mr. Pearson worked in four mid-sized regional and community banks, serving in senior and executive management roles, including Chief Credit Officer and Chief Lending Officer. He also worked for 15 years in managing consultant roles that included major organizations Hewlett-Packard (formerly EDS), Deloitte, and Computer Sciences Corporation.

Mr. Pearson's activities include five years serving as a special agent for the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Banking overseeing troubled banks typically under consent orders resulting from poor lending and credit practices. He has been vetted by the FDIC for leading asset liquidation teams

Litigation Support - Mr. Pearson represents both plaintiff and defense attorneys in banking and insurance Industries in loan structuring issues; credit underwriting, processes, and controls; and best practices in originating, servicing, and collection of commercial and industrial loans and commercial real estate credits. Casework examples and attorney client comments are provided in website.

Expert witness services include consultations, written reports, depositions, and courtroom testimony. Forensic Expert Witness Association (FEWA) professional member and has been designated by IMS as an EliteXpert.

Areas of Expertise:

Bank Governance Commercial Credit Underwriting Real Estate Financing Collections Loan Workouts Regulatory Response Credit Review and Examination

Due Diligence Consent Orders Lender Liability Breach of Good Faith Wrongful Defaults Control and Interference Duress and Coercion.

Michael F. Richards is a Banking Expert Witness and Consultant with more than 34 years of experience. His experience as a Founder, President, and Director of two De-Novo banks and the head of a work-out department for a regional bank give clients and attorneys a crucial behind-the-scene understanding of all aspects of banking. 

Mr. Richards' experience in heading a work-out department provides a wealth of knowledge in litigation testimony from the perspective of a bank officer. He has extensive experience in Lending, Lender Liability, Banking Operations, Regulatory Oversight, Policies, Procedures, and Standards of Care in the Banking Practice. Mr. Richards' represents both Plaintiffs and Defendants. Over the past 7 years he has been retained in over 95 cases in 33 different states. 

Areas of Expertise:

• De Novo Start-ups / Fundraising
• Banking Practices, Policies, and Procedures
• Standards of Care
• Bank Officers’ / Directors’ Conduct, Actions, Negligence
• Banking Operations
• Credit Analysis
• Loan Review
• Loan Documentation
• Bank Regulations / Law
• Commercial and Real Estate Lending Practices
• Consumer Lending Practices
• Forensic Commercial Loans
• Lender Liability
• Loan Participation and Documentation
• Troubled Debt Restructuring Practices, Workouts, Forbearance
• Collection Practices
• Loan Commitment Issues
• Loan Guarantee Issues
• Bank Credit Administration and Credit Policy Issues, Customs and Practices
• Real Estate Appraisal
• Bank Fraud
• Bankruptcy, Fairness of Interest Rates "Cramdown"

Pat McElroy, Jr. has more than 40 years of experience in the Banking Industry as a Regulator, Banker and Consultant. He has provided various management, lending, operational and regulatory services to financial institutions throughout the United States. Mr. McElroy has extensive experience as an expert witness and has been qualified in civil, criminal and bankruptcy proceedings. He is courtroom seasoned and also has high profile case experience. 

Areas of Expertise:

Bank Policies and Procedures Forgery Fraud Lender Liability Lending Related Matters Bond Claims

Regulatory Compliance Credit & Collections Ordinary Care Employee Crime Industry Standards Bankruptcy Proceedings

John A. Rodgers, III, Esq., principal of John Rodgers & Associates, has over 40 years of experience in various positions in the field of Trusts and Estates. For more than 15 years, he has been providing fiduciary litigation consulting, dispute resolution, and expert witness services for cases involving:

 Trusts - Estates - Investment Management

He is a graduate of Cornell University, The University of Virginia School of Law, a memberof the Illinois Bar, the North Carolina Bar Association, and has held FINRA Scurities Licenses Series 7,24 and 63

Litigation Support: Having worked for such companies as U.S. Trust Company, Wachovia, and Prudential Securities, Mr. Rodgers' expertise in the banking, trust, and investment industry give him a unique perspective and credibility in a court of law (see Blog Entries & Recent Cases). He also managed a regional bank trust department for 10 years requiring close familiarity with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Regulation 9 concerning regulatory compliance and audit operational issues. 

Qualified as a testifying expert under the Frye Test, Daubert Standard, and Federal Rules of Evidence Rule 702, Mr. Rodgers has worked with more than 90 law firms in 22 states with about 60% of his activities focused on plaintiff beneficiaries of trusts and 40% on defendant trustees, primarily corporate fiduciaries, in both federal and state courts. His services include thorough examination and reporting, the development of damage models, deposition, and trial testimony as needed. Mr. Rodgers is also available via Skype for trials and depositions.

Areas of Expertise:

Breach of Fiduciary Duty by a Trustee Breach of Trust by a Trustee Appropriateness of the Trust Investments?

Trust Administered according to its Terms? Beneficiaries Treated Fairly in a Split Interest Trust? Damages Calculations

David Peterson, is a well-recognized ebanking pioneer, with a national reputation as a subject matter expert in Financial Technologies and Electronic Payments. As expert witness - 36 years experience in banking technology, 30 years experience in payments, 25 years experience with internet/online banking, 24 years experience in correspondent banking. Founder of Goldleaf Technologies. Member National Speakers Assoc. Board member of PaymentsFirst (Regional Payments Association serving FIs in the Southeastern U.S.) Atlanta GA, Citizens Community Bank Valdosta GA, ArgosRisk, Minneappolis, MN, and softgiving Atlanta, GA.  Have experience as Sr. Operations Officer of a community bank with compliance and computer operations experience. Expert in Corespondent Banking. Extremely qualified in electronic banking, payments and general banking operations. Self-motivated and will take necessary initiative for investigations, with direction from retaining counsel. Experience with expert reports, depositions and trial testimony. Areas of Specialization:

Electronic Banking Virtual Banking Internet Banking Virtual Branch Correspondent Banking

Payments Automated Clearing House (ACH) Electronic Checks Wire Transfers Credit Card Transactions

View David Peterson's Consulting Profile.

Scott D. Gilbert, PhD, has over 20 years of experience specializing in Economics and Statistics. He is an academic research economist, financial expert, and statistician, with banking sector experience. Dr. Gilbert received his PhD degree in economics in the year 1996, and before that worked as an economics research associate at the nation's central bank on the west coast, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He serves as associate editor of The American Statistician, and his academic research has been published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals in the fields of Economics, Statistics, and Finance. He also has 25 years of teaching experience in economics and statistics, at University of California San Diego, Claremont Graduate School, University of Mississippi, Southern Illinois University, and Webster University. Dr. Gilbert is a Member and Board member of AAEFE (American Academy of Economic and Financial Experts), a member of the NAFE (National Association of Forensic Economics), the AEA (American Economics Association), the National Bar Association, and the CPDE (Collegium of Pecuniary Damage Experts).

Litigation Support - Dr. Gilbert provides expert witness and litigation support services on economic matters in tort and contract law, via the consulting firm Gilbert Economics. Since 1998, he has served as an economics expert on a range of legal matters, in cases filed in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, and Mississippi. As an expert witness he serves all Midwest states, and does not charge clients for travel time or expenses in the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, Tennessee, or Wisconsin. Dr. Gilbert uses his expertise in economics, statistics, and financial matters to assist both plaintiff and defense lawyers in tort and contract cases. As an academic and researcher, his approach to loss and damages estimation is modern and rigorous. Equally important for litigation matters, he knows that evidence documentation is key to developing useful expert opinions, and he assists attorneys in the discovery process. He also explains to lawyers weaknesses in opposing experts' views. His writing in this area has appeared in the Journal of the Missouri Bar Association, and more is (tentatively) forthcoming in the Illinois Bar Journal.

Areas of Expertise:

Economic Damages Personal Injury Wrongful Death Commercial, Contract Disputes, Competition Divorce Valuation

Statistical Evidence - Hypothesis Testing Wrongful Termination Contract Disputes Statistical Evidence-Regression Analysis

Catherine Ghiglieri, former Texas Banking Commissioner, has more than 25 years bank regulatory experience, including 18 years with the Comptroller of the Currency. Ms. Ghiglieri has provided banking expert witness testimony in Federal and State Courts throughout the country. Ms. Ghiglieri founded Ghiglieri & Company, a full service consulting firm, which provides strategic planning, management studies, director training, and assistance with bank regulatory agencies. Ms. Ghiglieri co-founded The Bank Directors' College which provided training for bank directors and is co-author of The Ultimate Guide for Bank Directors, The Ultimate Guide for Bank Directors, Revised Edition and Boardroom Strategies for Financial Institutions. 

Services:

Ms. Ghiglieri provides expert witness testimony on the following subjects:

Bank regulatory practices of the FDIC, OCC, Federal Reserve, and state banking departments Banking industry standards Banking practices and procedures Federal and state banking laws and regulations Bank fraud and Ponzi schemes Check fraud & check kiting Deposit account procedures Directors' and officers' fiduciary duties Corporate governance Fraud detection procedures Bank internal controls

Qualifications:

Ms. Ghiglieri is the former Texas Banking Commissioner and has over 25 years of bank regulatory experience, including 18 years with the Comptroller of the Currency. As Texas Banking Commissioner, Ms. Ghiglieri was responsible for the supervision of the third largest state banking system in the United States, and the regulation of trust companies, foreign bank agencies, prepaid funeral contract providers, sale of check licensees, and money transmission businesses. She served as statutory receiver for failed trust companies, prepaid funeral contract providers and perpetual care cemeteries. Ms. Ghiglieri directed the statutory modernization of all statutes under the Texas Banking Department, most notably, revision of Texas’ 50-year-old banking laws. She made numerous appearances before the U.S. Congress and the Texas Legislature providing testimony on subjects such as financial modernization, and bank and funeral regulation. 

Education:

University of Notre Dame - BBA in Finance

Georgia State University - JD 

Licenses:

Member of the State Bar of Georgia and the District of Columbia Bar.

Douglas E. Johnston, Jr., is an expert witness in banking and corporate finance. He has 30 years experience across the US in senior management of leading Banking, Private Equity/Mergers and Acquisitions and Real Estate companies.

Trained at a major AAA-rated East Coast bank, honored early in his career as a bank President, and confirmed by regulators in a Class 1 rated bank, Doug Johnston managed five full-service banking offices in Texas and California over 11 additional years, before expanding into mergers & acquisitions as EVP-Finance and Administration and a Founding Father of the largest private company in Los Angeles. He has due diligence, negotiation, documentation, and monitoring experience including as a lender, borrower, buyer, seller, manager and/or co-investor in hundreds of transactions including the service, technology, manufacturing, and real estate sectors across the US and also in Europe, with over $2 Billion in closed transactions. His over 3 decades in banking and finance management includes Bank Operations, Regulations, Credit Underwriting, Financial Statements, Commitments, Loan Agreements, Deeds, Guarantees, Purchase and Sale Agreements, Ventures, and Equity Partnerships, plus analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the parties. Doug is a published author on banking and finance topics since 2008, he is a past President of the Century City Rotary Club, and he is a frequent speaker to Advance Placement high school juniors in South Central Los Angeles under the Youth Business Alliance program.

Litigation Support – Five Management, LLC and Doug Johnston provide complex business litigation support in Banking, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, Due Diligence and Lender Liability for counsel representing Plaintiff and Defense. Mr. Johnston has provided litigation support in breach, misrepresentation, fraud and other actions in complex Business, Family and Employment cases since 2010.

Areas of Expertise:

Banking & Lending Policy & Regulations Mergers & Acquisitions Corporate Finance Private Equity Due Diligence Operating Management

Leveraged Buyouts Equity Syndications International Business Foreign Currencies Hedging Commodities Marketing & Development

View Douglas Johnston's Consulting Profile.