Cryptocurrency (Crypto) - Digital Currency Expert Witnesses: 7

“We settled the case...for $5 million. Your report played a huge role in that.  Thank you for everything!”  Nicolas H. 

Beth A. Mohr, CFE, FSA, CFCS, CAMS, CCCI, MPA, PI, is a Police Practices expert with over 30 years of sworn and non-sworn investigative experience.  Ms. Mohr has testified as an expert in numerous state and federal court proceedings, depositions, and administrative hearings federal and state courts, including New Mexico, Ohio, Illinois, Arizona, California, and Washington state.  Ms. Mohr has testified on a variety of subjects, including police procedures, police misconduct, white collar crime and fraud examinations.  Her expertise has been verified by the courts via a Daubert challenge, in which Ms. Mohr was found to be qualified as an expert in police practices generally, and well as the specific areas of interviewing, interrogation, false and recanted confessions, cognitive bias, investigations and investigative failures, vice, and human trafficking.  Ms. Mohr is neutral, fair, and her opinions are rooted in provable facts, as well as academic literature, where appropriate.  She strives to balance her cases between defense and plaintiff-sided cases, and also provides habeas consulting services.  

Ms. Mohr is credentialed as a Nationally Certified Law Enforcement Instructor by the IADLEST, and is one of fewer than 150 individuals who have been nationally certified as an expert law enforcement instructor.  She is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Force Science Analyst (FSA) Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Financial Crimes Specialist (CFCS) and a Certified Cyber Crimes Investigator (CCCI).  She is also a Private Investigator (PI) licensed in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California.  

Areas of Expertise:

• Police Practices and allegation of Police Misconduct
• Excessive Force, Deadly Force & Use-of-Force
• Taser, ECWs, and other uses of force intended to be less-lethal
• Interviewing, Interrogations & False and Recanted Confessions
• Police Ethics
• Investigative Failure, Cognitive Bias, Confirmation Bias
• Habeas Consulting, including death penalty cases
• False Arrest
• Failure to Train / Failure to Supervise               
• Evidence Handling
• Police Policy, SOPs
• Fraud & White-Collar Crime
• Vice & Human Trafficking
• Money-Laundering Cases
• Cryptocurrencies / Bitcoin
• Retaliation & Qui Tam
• Workplace Violence & Sexual Harassment
• Private Investigations & PI Failures

During her career with the San Diego Police Department, Ms. Mohr was awarded three Commanding Officer’s Citations, which were the highest awards offered by the San Diego Police Department for investigative acumen at the time.  After retiring from the San Diego Police Department, she conducted death penalty mitigation investigations, and other complex felony investigations, including homicide and white-collar cases, for the Whatcom County, Washington, Public Defender’s Office.  This includes conducting investigations of allegations of police misconduct for the City of Albuquerque Independent Review Office. Ms. Mohr recently chaired the City of Albuquerque’s Police Oversight Board, a civilian board which was created as part of the US Department of Justice’s Consent Decree with the City of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Department.

Ms. Mohr has published a chapter entitled “Skepticism”, in the newly-released book The Art of Investigation Revisited, as well as having penned articles for bar journals and other peer-reviewed publications.  Ms. Mohr has taught courses on law enforcement topics including interviewing techniques, investigative ethics, evidence collection, financial and fraud investigations, and many other topics.  Her ethics courses, investigative courses, and fraud courses are certified for law enforcement credit.  

Summary

Mr. Pflaum is the Director of Complex Software Litigation at Quandary Peak Research where he leads teams of experts in a variety of intellectual property, contract, fraud, and computer forensics cases. Since 2013, Mr. Pflaum has specialized in advising clients on software-related intellectual property, software project failure, and contract disputes. Mr. Pflaum has testified as an expert at deposition and trial and has extensive experience reviewing and reverse engineering software source code, architecture, and designs. Mr. Pflaum has reviewed and rendered opinions relating to source code written in a variety of programming languages and relating to a broad range of technologies, including mobile and IoT devices, industrial and automotive controls, consumer and medical devices, and e-commerce and enterprise systems and websites. Mr. Pflaum is also an attorney and registered patent agent with professional experience in financial services and software development.

Software Review Experience (Languages)

C/C++/C#, Obj-C (iOS), Swift,  SQL, Java, Kotlin, VB.Net, COBOL, JS, TS, PHP, Python, GoLang, Ruby, CodeSys, MatLab, Fortran, VHDL, Assembly, TEAL 

Software Review Experience (Industries)

•    Software project failure (Government software procurement, public benefits administration, Out of the Box (OOTB), Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS), customizations, configurations, add-ons and extensions to ERP, SAP, and IBM products)

•    E-commerce and enterprise systems and websites (e.g., SaaS, COTS, OOTB and custom applications, AWS, Azure, IBM, and SAP)

•    Mobile devices (e.g., applications and operating systems for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets), Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensor networks, and consumer electronics (e.g., set-top boxes and portable media players)

•    Industrial and automotive controls and machine vision (e.g., robotics and factory automation technologies, automotive throttle, braking controls, communication systems, CAN bus communications protocols and designs, and functional safety technology), and on-Chip and on-board controllers including power management and memory access controllers

•    FinTech (e.g., loan underwriting, insurance and benefits administration, consumer credit reporting, cryptographic protocols, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts and peer-to-peer messaging systems)

•    Medical and analytical devices and electronic medical record databases

Bert Schiettecatte, MSc/CS, MA/MST, is a Computer Scientist and Software and Hardware Engineer with over 20 years of experience. He is the Founder of Percussa, a pro-audio consumer electronics company with a focus on Audio and Video Processing Applications, Consumer Electronics, and Proprietary Trading.

Litigation Support - Mr. Schiettecatte has been retained for Software / Hardware Engineering and Electronics cases in states throughout the nation. His services include thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. See CV for Litigation Case List.

Areas of Expertise:

Education: Master in Computer Science from Brussels Free University (VUB, summa cum laude) and Master of Arts in Music, Science and Technology from Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).

Mitch Jackson is a master communicator, lawyer and private mediator with over three decades of experience in the private sector. He's personally tried more than 70 trials and has a consistent track record of obtaining and negotiating numerous million-dollar verdicts and settlements, Mitch brings a massive amount of expertise to every case and matter he handles. He's served as a Judge Pro Tem with the Orange County Superior Court and fees mediator with the Orange County Bar Association.

Mitch’s accolades speak volumes: he’s an “AV” rated lawyer, the highest independent peer honor for ability and ethics by Martindale-Hubbell. He’s also been named California Litigation Lawyer of the Year in 2013 and Orange County Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2009.

When he's not in the courtroom or successfully mediating a resolution to a dispute, Mitch is on the move—traveling, speaking at conferences, and sharing insights through his blog and books. He’s written and co-written several notable works, including:

"AI in Law- Revolutionizing Your Legal Practice with Innovative Strategies and Tools" (click to read)

"Mastering The Art of Negotiation- Insider Secrets for Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, and Professionals"

"The Mediator's Handbook: Turning Conflict into Collaboration"

"From Courtroom to Boardroom: A Trial Lawyer's Guide to Winning Negotiations!"

"How to Create AI, Web3, and Metaverse Branding and Licensing Opportunities"

"The Web3, Metaverse, and AI Handbook"

"From AI to Blockchain: 14 Technology Trends Every Lawyer Must Know!"

"The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for Business Owners, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs"

Mitch’s influence extends beyond the legal field. He’s twice graced the stage at the Tony Robbins Business Mastery Event, captivating audiences of thousands. As a consulting expert in Sue Scheff’s "Shame Nation" and a contributing author to California’s Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) in "Effective Introduction of Evidence in California - Chapter 54 Electronic and Social Media Evidence," Mitch is a sought-after thought leader.

Stay connected with Mitch on Linkedin and explore more of his work at his blog mitchjackson.com

Nicolas ("Nick") A. Bax, PhD, is a seasoned Cryptocurrency Forensics Researcher with over 7 years of experience. His journey in blockchain forensics began in 2017, spurred by his personal encounter with crypto theft. Nick holds a PhD in structural biology from Stanford University, where he concurrently honed his skills in blockchain forensics, working for multiple VC-backed startups. Currently, he is the Director of Analytics at Unciphered LLC, a company specializing in crypto wallet recovery.

Nick's expertise extends to publishing research on diverse cryptocurrency-related subjects, including statistical detection of market abuse, NFT data analysis, and the tracing of anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrency transactions. His work has not only gained recognition in industry circles but has also been featured in major media outlets. His unique blend of in-depth knowledge of the crypto world, advanced data engineering skills, and a solid scientific research background enables him to conduct thorough forensic investigations. He adeptly extracts meaningful insights and delivers powerful testimony on complicated topics, making them accessible to various audiences.

Areas of Expertise:

Litigation Support - Nick's approach to forensics is comprehensive and detailed. His engagements generally require correlating blockchain data with a range of other data sources, such as private communications, social media, contracts, and more. This multi-dimensional analysis has proven invaluable in a wide array of investigations, encompassing fraud, market manipulation, and tracking hackers of varying sophistication levels. His Chainalysis Reactor Certification and access to a broad spectrum of both peer-reviewed and proprietary tools, methodologies, and data sources equip him to tackle the most challenging of cases with precision and effectiveness.

With his extensive background and proven track record, Nick stands as a leading expert in the field, adept at navigating the complexities of cryptocurrency and delivering results with clarity and authority.

Dr. Stephen Castell, Chartered Information Systems Practitioner and Member of the Expert Witness Institute, is Chairman of CASTELL Consulting. He is an internationally acknowledged Independent Computer Expert who has been involved in a wide range of computer litigation over many years. CASTELL Consulting, currently in its twenty-fifth year, provides independent professional consultancy and expert services in Computer Systems, Software, Project Management, Strategy, and Contract Disputes, to a wide variety of international clients and companies. 

As an Expert Witness in computer litigation, Dr. Castell has acted in over 100 major cases including the largest and longest computer software actions to have come to trial in the English High Court. He is the author of the best-selling Computer Bluff (1983), and of The APPEAL Report (1990) on the admissibility of computer evidence in court and the 'legal reliability' of information systems and technologies (with the CCTA).

Dr Castell, award-winning international Professional ICT Consultant and Expert has acted as expert witness in an unusual medical equipment procurement litigation of relevance to the current Covid-19 pandemic and its profound clinical and hospitalisation implications.  The court case, specific details of which cannot be given since the matter is subject to Confidentiality Hearing strictures, was over a dispute concerning due and diligent process undertaken by a major Hospital Management Group, the Defendant in the action, in issuing a Tender for complex diagnostic units, and the Group’s selection of the bid put in by a US corporation, a leader in its field.  That winning bid was challenged by a Claimant, another US corporation, a market competitor to the winning company.  The dispute hinged on whether or not the operational computer software of the winning bidder’s units was compliant with the Hospital Management Group’s strict Tender stipulation that the software had to be identical across all versions of the equipment to be supplied in meeting the Tender requirements.  

Dr Castell’s investigation and analysis of the operational software involved, and his opinion as to the extent that the software was compliant with the strict Tender condition, provided insight and assistance to the parties in reaching a satisfactory settlement.

J. Mason Bump is a Cryptocurrency Fraud and Blockchain Architecture Expert. An early adopter of decentralized technologies, he has extensive business acumen and deep knowledge of blockchain technology, tokenomics, and public policy. He holds a JD and MBA along with multiple certifications on protocols and cryptocurrency digital fraud / forensic investigation.

Mason achieved success as a general practitioner with exposure to entity structuring and formation, contract drafting, land disputes, litigation, trial, and appellate work. In his appellate.practiced his arguments were heard and accepted by the Iowa Supreme Court.  

More recently, Mason's been employed by a blockchain startup as a Protocol Specialist and Governance Expert (previously Protocol Analyst), where he provides high-level insight into the architecture, the mechanics and economics of tokenomics, and parameters of dozens of blockchain networks the company supports. This company maintains its status as a "Unicorn" staking firm with a valuation in excess of $1 billion. Blockchain Expert Consulting is a separate entity from this company.

Litigation Support - Mason is a Certified Cryptocurrency Forensic Investigator, and Certified by the Blockchain Council as both a Blockchain and Law Professional and as a Certified Blockchain Expert. In his role as an expert witness, he assists with the development of litigation and trial strategy regardless of the stage of the case. His  communication style allows for simple, fact-based explanations for the team, opposing counsel,  judges, and juries.

Areas of Expertise:

"In the landmark case of Hoop v. Doe,  the Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of Iowa approved alternate service of process on the defendants' wallet address using an NFT. The Court found that service provided in this manner was "reasonably calculated to reach" the defendants since all other methods of providing service were inadequate. This resulted in the Court entering a permanent injunction against disposition of the assets at issue, freezing them at the exchange level and preventing them from being disposed of on any exchange that performs KYC on its customers. It is my hope that many more such cases will be brought, and justice will become more prevalent on the blockchain." - J. Mason Bump

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