Directors & Officers Liability Expert Witnesses: 23

Expert witness testimony for complex litigation involving damage analyses of lost profits, reasonable royalties, lost earnings, and lost value of business, forensic accounting, fraud investigation, investigative analysis of liability, marital dissolution, and tax planning and preparation. Excellent communicators with extensive testimony experience. Prior Big Four accountants. Specialties include: accounting, antitrust, breach of contract, business interruption, business dissolution, construction defects, delays and cost overruns, fraud investigation, asset tracing, intellectual property including patent, trademark and copyright infringement and trade secrets, malpractice, marital dissolution, personal injury and employment litigation, product liability, real estate, securities, spousal support, taxation, unfair advertising, unfair competition, valuation of businesses, and wrongful termination.

Experts:

Business Litigation and Valuation Barbara Luna, PhD, CPA, CFE, ASA,     CVA, ABV, CGREA, CCRA, CREA Dean Atkinson, CPA, CFE, ABV, CAC, CFF John Luna, JD/MBA, CPA, ABV, CFF David Turner, CPA, ABV, CFF Drew Hunt, MBA, CPA, ASA

Personal Injury / Employment Litigation Barbara Luna, PhD, CPA, CFE, ASA,     CVA, ABV, CGREA, CCRA, CREA Venita McMorris, MA

Dr. Barbara Luna is the partner in charge of the commercial litigation department of White Zuckerman. She has been providing Forensic Accounting, Economic Damages, Valuation, and Expert Witness Services for the past 30 years and has testified in court over 450 times. She has a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University with application to Physics and Finance and a BA in Physics from Wellesley College. Barbara is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, an Accredited Senior Appraiser in Business Valuation, a Certified Valuation Analyst, Accredited in Business Valuation, a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, and a Certified Financial Forensic. She previously was a partner with Coopers & Lybrand and has taught working capital management, business finance, forensic accounting and intermediate accounting at UCLA Graduate School of Management, California State University at Northridge and Pepperdine University.

Dean Atkinson is a partner in the commercial litigation practice of White Zuckerman. He has testified as an expert witness in Commercial Litigation and Family Law Matters and has been involved in Resolution and Settlement Negotiations since 1987. He holds credentials from the AICPA as a Certified Public Accountant, Accredited in Business Valuation and Certified Financial Forensics and from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Dean is experienced and has qualified as an expert in business valuation, business litigation and family law matters.

John Luna is a partner in the commercial litigation practice of White Zuckerman. He analyzes Financial, Accounting, Economic Damages, Business, Real Estate and Valuation issues and testifies as an expert witness on his findings. He has been an investment banker with Macquarie Capital, GCA Savian and Lazard. John has a JD from UCLA School of Law (Order of the Coif), an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management (Edward W. Carter Fellow), and an AB in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Accredited in Business Valuation, a Certified Financial Forensic and a member of the California Bar.

Venita McMorris is a partner and an Economist in the Personal Injury and Employment practice of White Zuckerman. She has been providing economic damages and expert witness services for over 20 years and has testified extensively in court. She has a Master of Arts degree in Economics from California State University, Fullerton and a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University. She previously was a manager with Coopers & Lybrand and an economist with a medical malpractice trust in Southern California. Venita has taught macroeconomics and microeconomics to college students at Pasadena City College as a full-time tenured instructor and at Glendale Community College as a part-time instructor.

Los Angeles 15490 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 300 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 Phone: (866) 981-4266 or (818) 981-4226 Fax: (818) 981-4278 Email: expert@wzwlh.com Website: www.wzwlh.com

Orange County 4 Park Plaza, Suite 200 Irvine, CA 92614 Phone: (949) 219-9816 Fax: (949) 219-9095 Email: expert@wzwlh.com Website: www.wzwlh.com

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

Scott Stein, A.R.M., is an Insurance Industry Expert and Property Casualty and Professional Liability Insurance Broker with over 25 years of experience. He has served the last 18 years as an Agency Owner preceded by 7 years at two of the world's largest insurance brokers. Throughout his career, Mr. Stein has been negotiating and placing the broadest and most comprehensive Property Casualty and Professional Liability Insurance with specific emphasis on Legal Malpractice Insurance and Directors and Officers cover; to also include Architects E&O, Accountant Malpractice Insurance, Employment Practice Liability Insurance, Medical Malpractice and Medical Defense coverage, and nearly every other specialty within the Professional Liability Insurance spectrum, as well as Worker's Compensation Insurance. Litigation Support - Mr. Stein provides expert witness services to counsel representing both plaintiff and defendant. He has been engaged in excess of 180 cases as an insurance industry expert in the past 15 years. Never disqualified or challenged as an expert by any Court, Mr. Stein has extensive deposition history and trial testimony experience. His cases involve all areas of Broker and Insurance Carrier Standards of Care and his services include depositions, Written reports, and trial testimony when necessary. Areas of Expertise:

• Agent and Broker Procedures
• Insurance Agent and Broker Liability
• Insurance Errors and Omissions
• Broker and Agency Standards of Care
• Failure to Procure Insurance
• Claims Management and Handling
• Insurance Coverage and Placement Issues
• Insurance Disputes-Sales Practices and Bad Faith
• Risk Management Practices and Procedures
• Insurance Contract Review
• Insurance Proposals- Brokers, Agents, and Agencies
• Umbrella Liability Exposure and Placement
• Insurance Compliance- Brokers and Agents
• Intermediary and Broker Procedures
• Risk Management Analysis
• Insurance Company Claims Management and Processing

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.

Mark I. Harrison, Esq. has been a civil and appellate litigator for over 50 years in Tort, Antitrust, and Commercial Cases. He has extensive experience litigating and testifying in cases involving Legal Malpractice, Legal Ethics, and Judicial Ethics. Mr. Harrison frequently serves as an expert witness in cases concerning the Standard of Care, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, and the Reasonableness of Attorneys' Fees. His client representation includes lawyers, law firms, judges and other licensed professionals.

Mr. Harrison has served as a consulting and/or testifying legal or judicial ethics expert witness in more than 160 cases and has been deposed or testified at trial in more than 20 matters in the past 10 years. He has been admitted to practice before all courts in Arizona since May, 1961 - United States District Court--District of Arizona, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Federal Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. He has also been admitted to practice in the state of Colorado since 1991.

Areas of Specialization:

• Judicial Ethics and Disqualification
• Legal Malpractice
• Attorney Breach of Fiduciary Duty
• Attorney Securities Fraud
• Attorney Aiding and Abetting Clients' Torts
• Partnership Disputes
• Law Firm Dissolution Disputes

View Consulting Profile.

Olie R. Jolstad, SCLA, FACFEI, has worked in the Insurance Industry for more than 37 years. Over the span of his career, Mr. Jolstad has worked with various types of civil litigation involving coverage disputes, claims handling practices, bad faith, unfair and deceptive practices, duties and standards of care regarding the procurement of insurance. In addition, he has worked on forensic insurance policy reconstruction projects on behalf of policyholders.

Litigation Support - Mr. Jolstad has been providing litigation support services for approximately 20 years. He has been retained as an expert witness in approximately 200 cases and has been qualified to testify in various state and federal courts. He offers services to attorneys representing both Plaintiff and Defense.

Mr. Jolstad has been retained as an expert and consultant where insurance coverage at issue involving:

• General Liability Insurance
• Commercial Property Insurance
• Commercial Property Time Element and Extra Expense Coverage
• Builders Risk / Construction
• Construction Wrap-Up
• Directors & Officers / Employment Practices Liability
• Umbrella and Excess Liability and Duty Triggering Events
• Aviation
• Workers' Compensation

With specific attention focused on:

• Insurance Industry Customs, Practices, and Standards
• Good Faith / Bad Faith Claims Handling Practices
• Insurance Agent and Broker Standard of Care and Duty to Procure Insurance
• Excess and Umbrella Duties / Exhaustion
• Excess and Surplus Lines Coverage and Claims Handling

View Olie Jolstad's Consulting Profile.

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"

Mr. Campbell has over 30 years of financial industry experience.  He is the principal of a financial litigation and investment management consulting firm, Kerry Campbell LLC, where he serves as a financial expert witness during litigations and provides consulting services to financial institutions and investors.

He has worked in investment research and portfolio construction, as a Managing Director at Arden Asset Management, and as a Senior Vice President at Guggenheim Partners.  He has worked in prime broker risk management as a Managing Director at Bear Stearns.  Prior to that he worked as a commissioned registered representative, a funding officer and as a credit analyst/loan officer.

He is an Approved FINRA Dispute Resolution Arbitrator, a Chartered Financial Analyst^®, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, an Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ and a Securities Experts Roundtable Member.  He has held the following licenses: Series 7 – General Securities Representative, Series 55 – Equity Trader Representative, Series 63 – New York Uniform Agent and Series 65 – Uniform Investment Advisor.

Litigation Support - Mr. Campbell has served as the sole experience witness for the claimant in an $8.7 million award. (See: www.gerardfoxlaw.com/news/firm-news/gerard-fox-law-attorneys-earn-landmark-87-million-victory-against-wells-fargo-advisors-in-finra-arbitration-for-decorated-retired-ceo/. In addition, he has served as an expert witness for petitioners in State Court, for defendants in Federal District Court, for claimants and respondents in FINRA Arbitrations, and for claimants in offshore Federal Courts. He has been retained by institutional investors, high net worth investors, and large global diversified financial institutions. 

Areas of Expertise:

Liability Damage Calculations Out-of-Pocket Damages Market-Adjusted Damages Well-Managed Account Inappropriate Asset Allocation Over Concentration Suitability Breach of Fiduciary Duty Trading Analysis Uniform Prudent Investors Act Portfolio Management Security Analysis

Risk Management Elder Financial Abuse Wasteful Dissipation of Marital Assets Due Diligence Misrepresentations and Omissions Negligence Failure to Supervise Due Diligence Stocks, Bonds, Options and Futures Mutual Funds Hedge Funds Exchange Traded Funds (Inverse and Leveraged)

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

Jay Hibert was in the Commercial Banking Industry for over 30 years before leaving to form his own company, a real estate lending and consulting company. The company provides services to banks, non-banks, and individuals in need of creative financing solutions.  Still an ACTIVE lender in the industry, Jay stays updated on current customs and practices annd has transacted hundreds of real estate and non-real estate loan negotiations in times of economic growth as well as downturns in the economy. His extensive credit background arms him with the understanding of how banks and other lenders operate internally.  

Litigation Experience - Mr. Hibert has been providing expert witness and consulting services since 2010. He has been designated over 100 times as an expert in 13 different states concerning matters relating to commercial lending, real estate, construction finance, SBA loans, brokerage, hard money loan expert and investment issues. His experience includes both Federal and State court cases where he has provided deposition testimony, trial testimony and arbitration testimony. 

Jay is a licensed Real Estate Broker (CalBRE #01523) and for 10 years his company was a California Finance Lender and Broker through the California Department of Business Oversight. He is experienced in trial and deposition testimony and his services are available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defense. 

Key areas of expertise in litigation work include:

• SBA Real Estate Loans
• Hard Money Loans
• Lending Policies, Custom and Practice/Lender Liability
• Broker Standards of Care and Fiduciary Responsibility
• Loan Underwriting and Credit Administration
• Loan Process and Bank Loan Restructure/Workout Process
• Note Valuations/Collateral Review
• Litigation and Discovery Consulting
• Banking Operations/Administration
• Expert reports adherent to Federal Rule 26
• Hard Money Lending
• SBA Lending
• Loan Syndication/Secondary Market Loan Sales
• Title Insurance Cases
• Private Money Lending

*****Experienced in trial and deposition testimony*****

View Jay Hibert's Consulting Profile.

Mr. Sagalow is the Founder & CEO of Innovation Insurance Group, LLC.  Founded in 2012, IIG is a premier insurance consulting firm providing expert witness services, specializing in the management and professional liability lines.  Mr. Sagalow is a 35 year insurance veteran with prior senior roles at AIG (25 yrs) as Chief Underwriting Officer, Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and Chief Innovation Officer of various divisions.  Following AIG, Mr. Sagalow was Chief Innovation Officer at Zurich NA and the Tower Group.

In the expert witness field, Mr. Sagalow has been retained over 79 times including testifying on 28 occasions (as of August 2019) in various insurance disputes, on behalf of both the policyholder and the insurance carrier.  

Mr. Sagalow is a cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and holds a L.L.M degree from New York University Law School.

According to the U.S. District Court, “Mr. Sagalow’s diverse professional experience demonstrates a breadth of experience drafting and interpreting policies, making underwriting decisions, and claims handling… The Court that Sagalow's experience, training and education provided a sufficient foundation of reliability for his testimony. His specialized knowledge in the insurance field may be helpful to the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or determining facts in issue...Mr. Sagalow is qualified under Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.Ideal Client Engagement:

• Law firms needing expert witness for D&O or E&O coverage disputes (either party)
• Insurance Claims departments needing expert witness for D&O or E&O
• Investment firm seeking expert opinion on most areas of P&C insurance

More information about Mr. Sagalow, including a list of law firms who has retained me, and over a dozen testimonials can be found at http://innovationinsurancegroup.com/our-services/expert-witness-services/

View Ty Sagalow's Consulting Profile.

Guy O. Kornblum has specialized as a Trial and Appellate Lawyer for 40 years. He has handled over 4,000 litigated matters to conclusion and has several million dollar cases to his credit. Mr. Kornblum has represented hundreds of clients, small businesses, individuals, and large Fortune 500 corporations during his 40 plus years of practice. He is highly regarded for his courtroom and appellate skills, and his representation of his clients in mediations, where he has a strong track record of successful settlements.

Litigation Support - Mr. Kornblum serves as a mediator and expert witness and has qualified as an expert in federal and state court. His testimony on insurance claims handling was cited by a California Court of Appeal in upholding a jury verdict in favor of a plaintiff in an insurance bad faith case.

Expertise Includes:

• Insurance Company Claims Practices - personal and commercial, property and casualty, employment coverage, director‘s and officer‘s coverage, professional liability coverage, general commercial coverage, life, health and disability insurance, bad faith, serious personal injury, professional liability, real estate, employment matters, and fraud claims involving employee welfare benefit plans, wrongful death, and actions claiming punitive damages
• Standard of Care in Legal Malpractice Cases Involving Civil Litigation Issues
• Case Settlement Value

Mr. Kornblum is Certified in Civil Trial Advocacy and Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy by the prestigious National Board of Trial Advocacy, and is a Fellow, American College of Board Certified Attorneys. He is also a Life Member of the Multi-Million Dollar and Million Dollar Advocate’s Forum, for those attorneys who have achieved multi-million dollar awards or settlements for their clients. Mr. Kornblum is also a Charter Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America Trial Lawyer Honorary, a Platinum Member of The Verdict Club, recognizing his “professional excellence in litigation,” and a Legends Society “Top Lawyer” in the personal injury field, and a Silver Member of the Elite Lawyers of America. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer each year since 2006.

View Guy Kornblum's Consulting Profile.

As a forensic accountant and testifying expert in the areas of fraud, business valuation, and economic damages, Ted Phelps excels in following the money – no matter where the trail leads. During his four decades as a financial problem solver, Phelps has built a reputation for integrity, diligence, and leadership. He has testified as an expert witness in both federal and state courts. When working as a court-appointed neutral, he assists the court in carrying out its orders, performs forensic investigations, and reports his findings. His testimony has been critical to the outcome of many significant cases. For example, Phelps was instrumental in a fraud/forensic investigation that led to a verdict of $21,000,000. He also performed a court-ordered forensic study involving a 14-year reconstruction of books and records on eight single asset real estate entities, conclusively proving that plaintiff's allegations of fraud were false. 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. 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.

Areas of Expertise:

Insolvency Business Valuation Corporate Turnarounds Economic Damages

Fiduciary Appointments Forensic Accounting Fraud Investigations Shareholder Lawsuits

View Theodore Phelps' Consulting Profile.

Frederick J. Fisher, JD, is the President of Fisher Consulting Group, Inc., a Professional Liability firm. 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.

Mr. Fisher provides Expert Witness services and Litigation Strategies to attorneys representing Plaintiff and Defense. He testifies regularly as an expert witness in cases dealing with:

• Insurance Broker Standards of Care
• Real Estate Broker Standards of Care
• Third Party Administrator Standards (TPA)
• Claims Handling and Bad Faith
• Wholesale Broker Policies with "gotchya's"

Background Experience:

• For almost 20 years, Mr. Fisher was the Founder of E.L.M. Insurance Brokers, a Wholesale & MGA facility specializing in Professional Liability and Specialty Line Risks. 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
• Mr. Fisher began his career on the service side, as an Independent E&O claims adjuster. In 1982, he bought the Company. In only 4 years, the annual billings increased by 400%
• In 1989, Mr. Fisher became a Founding Member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS), and was elected to the PLUS Board of Trustees in 1993. After serving in all Officer capacities, he was elected President in 1997. He 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

For more information on his Litigation Support Services, Email Frederick Fisher at: fjfisher@fishercg.comView Frederick Fisher's Consulting Profile.