Securities Fraud Expert Witnesses

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

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

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)

California Main Office: 793A East Foothill Blvd., #200 San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Global Forensic Services, LLC (GFS) is a Forensic Consulting, Laboratory and Investigative Firm offering over 37 years of experience and training in a wide range of forensic science and private investigation disciplines.

Larry Stewart has personally examined tens of thousands of individual items of evidence from sources such as state, local, and federal agencies (e.g. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Central Intelligence Agency, and others), and foreign governments. On several occasions he has examined cases involving international disputes between governments. 

Mr. Stewart has testified as an Expert Witness in state, federal and military courts of law, as well as in foreign court systems to include; Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sri Lanka and Thailand. He has also testified at The Hague in the Netherlands and three times as an expert before the U.S. Congress. 

Areas of Expertise Include:

Questioned Documents Crime Scene Evaluation Trace Evidence Ink Analysis Age Determination Authenticity Fraud Investigations Fingerprints

Handwriting Daubert and Cold Case (consultant) Investigations Indented Writing Striations Typewriting Erasures Office Machines Tracing

Financial Management Consulting Group is an affiliation of well-experienced consultants serving banking interests throughout the country. Our years of experience, as bankers, as bank consultants, and as regulators provide valuable insight into case matters. We can assist both from the industry perspective and from the regulatory perspective, offering a comprehensive assessment and well-supported opinion. We have qualified as experts in numerous State and Federal jurisdictions and on numerous banking-related matters. We are dedicated to providing clients with quality, results-oriented service.

Areas of Expertise:

• Lender Liability
• Depository Standard of Care
• Lender Standard of Care
• Check Fraud and Scams
• Fidelity Bond Claim
• Failed Bank Analysis

View Mr. Finn's Consultant Profile.

Expert Witness Consulting Services, LLC (EWCS) provides a range of services to law firms, litigation trustees and others engaged in expert witness and related activities. We provide up-front assessment of cases, drafting assistance in writing the economic core of complaints; other consulting expert work; and testifying expert witness reports and testimony. As an affiliate of Gordian Group (one of the leading national restructuring investment banking firms), EWCS can tap Gordian's vast experience in litigation assignments, particularly relating to matters involving solvency, valuation, fairness and Board of Directors responsibilities. In addition, EWCS has built a nationwide cadre of other independent experts so that we can assist law firms and mediators in finding the right expert for each case.EWCS connects vetted and specialized expert witness professionals to law firms across the nation. With its incremental, litigation-experienced professional resources and national recognition within the legal community, EWCS’ mission is to work diligently with client law firms and mediators to provide exceptional work product in an efficient manner, starting with finding the right expert for each case. 

As Experts and Consultants, the professionals at EWCS are able to provide clients and Boards of Directors with advice and guidance in structuring transactions appropriately, and in delivering financial opinions in connection with the same. They can reconstruct financial data through forensic analysis in order to explain how financial markets or decision makers may have made decisions. When it comes to evaluating the performance of boards, management teams, and financial institutions, the experts at EWCS are well-positioned to have a credible point of view, given their experience in cleaning up the aftermath of corporate disasters and fraud up close. The EWCS professionals have substantial experience in most industries, including but not limited to aerospace and defense; consumer goods; electronic technology; finance and insurance; food and beverages; heavy industry and manufacturing; life sciences; metals & mining; oil & gas and energy; real estate and hospitality; and retail and apparel. Their experts have done transactions within these segments, and use their “real world” experience in approaching projects. 

Areas of Expertise:

Financial Services Economics Restructuring Bankruptcy International Business (particularly in Asia) Fiduciary Duties Private Placements Damages

Equity Compensation Market Assessments Business Valuations Manufacturing Pharmaceuticals Technology Intellectual Property / Patents Real Estate Market Feasibility

Kelly T. Hickel, Co-founder at EWCS, is a Financial and Business Advisor who has served as a senior executive for over 30 years. Mr. Hickel has many years of experience in the technology industry and with turnarounds of troubled companies. Throughout his career, he has arranged numerous private and public company financings and financial restructurings and has raised and/or returned over a $1 billion to investors and lenders. Mr. Hickel served as Turn-around President to Miniscribe Corp., a troubled Fortune 500, $600 million annual revenue disk drive manufacturer, and President of the Maxwell Technology Information Systems Group from 1993 until 1997, during which, Maxwell was the 9th best performing stock on NASDAQ and the #1 performing stock in California in 1996. As Chairman and Chief Restructuring Office of The Tyree Company in Farmingdale, New York, Mr. Hickel was responsible for running the largest oil downstream services company in the northeast. With all of his experience, he then founded and managed emerging Pharmaceutical companies, taking a product through FDA approval for a supplement through distribution in over 2000 retail pharmacy outlets. Beltway Catalyst recently interviewed Kelly T. Hickel for their Thought Leader Spotlight. Check out the podcast here: https://lnkd.in/gPg23ue 

Jim Timmins, ASA BV/IA, MAFF, CEP, is the Managing Director and heads the valuation, litigation, and advisory services practices at Teknos. He has worked in Silicon Valley for more than 35 years, as a Valuation expert, a Venture Capitalist, and an Investment Banker. Mr. Timmins has overseen 1,000s of valuations, fairness opinions, and solvency opinions in connection with financial reporting, tax compliance, merger and acquisition transactions, financings, spin-offs, and recapitalizations, and litigation. He has also participated in numerous merger and acquisition transactions, private placements, and public offerings during his career. Prior to forming Teknos, Mr. Timmins was a Managing Director at Pagemill Partners, where he created and managed the valuation practice. Before that he was the Managing Director of the Silicon Valley office of NIF Ventures (the venture capital arm of Daiwa Securities SMBC of Japan), and a General Partner of Glenwood Ventures and Glenwood Capital. Earlier in his career, he held positions in investment banking at Hambrecht & Quist and Salomon Brothers. Mr. Timmins has served as an expert witness for more than 60 cases involving valuation, fiduciary duty, and venture capital practice. He has been retained as an expert by both plaintiffs and defendants.

Paul S. Black, President of Paul S. Black & Assoc., Inc. has more than 35 years of experience as a Real Estate Market Feasibility Analyst, including multiple types of residential, office, retail, industrial and mixed-use properties. Mr. Black has been employed by local and international accounting firms in their real estate consulting groups as well as local and regional consulting companies. For 20 years, Mr. Black has served as a lecturer/adjunct professor teaching Real Estate Principles and Practices as well as Real Estate Market Analysis at the graduate (MBA) and undergraduate levels. Areas of Expertise: Economic Damages, Construction Defects / Delay Damages, Lost Revenue / Profits, Unjust Enrichment, Due Diligence, Commission Disputes, Procuring Cause, Real Estate Brokerage, Broker/Realtor Standard of Care, Code of Ethics – National Association of Realtors (NAR), Real Estate Disputes, Fraud / Misrepresentation, Insurance Defense, Eminent Domain, Market Feasibility / Evaluation.

Donald M. May PhD, CPA, Managing Partner at DMA Economics, LLC, possesses over 30 years of Valuation and Economic Damages experience. He implements a broad range of damage analyses and valuations for clients, including billion-dollar investment funds under SEC investigation as well multi-national firms involved in intellectual property disputes, consumers in product mislabeling cases, and small to mid-sized businesses involved in complex commercial litigation.

Background Experience - Prior to founding DMA Economics LLC, Dr. May was Managing Director at Berkley Research Group and the Principal in charge of valuation and litigation support services for a regional accounting firm, a Managing Director for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Sloan School of Management. He has performed over 200 valuations of closely held businesses across numerous industries for financial reporting and estate planning.

Dr. May has been published in several distinguished academic and practitioner journals such as The Journal of Finance, The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Hedge Fund Law Review, and is currently an editorial board member of The Journal of Business Valuation and Economic Loss Analysis.

Litigation Support - Dr. May is a world class expert in the Valuation of Damages. Dr. May has prepared expert reports and testified in federal and state courts as well as AAA, JAMS, and FINRA arbitration hearings, and has also effectively communicated as an expert witness testifier and consultant in several multi-million dollar cases.

Recent Litigation Matters:

• Misrepresentations in Leveraged Buyout (“LBO”) Financing Practices
• Theft of Trade Secrets, Trade Dress, and Intellectual Property
• Food Product Mislabeling
• Securities Fraud Under SEC Section 10b-5 and Section 11
• Accounting Misstatements in Public and Private Company Acquisitions
• Lost Profits and Lost Enterprise Value Associated with Product Defects and Breach of Contract

View DMA Economics' Consulting Profile.

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

Litigation Support - Wayne Citron specializes in policy interpretation of the rules, laws, and regulations governing insurance and financial matters. His services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant and include effective reports, affidavits, depositions, and testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Insurance Bad Faith Insurance Customs and Practices Insurance Health / HMO / Disability

Insurance - Life & Annuities Property / Casualty Insurance Insurance Agents & Brokers - Standard of Care

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 is an expert in all forms of insurance, including:

Life Insurance Health Insurance Property and casualty Insurance Disability Insurance Annuities Retirement, IRAs & Pensions

Flood Insurance Broker Malpractice / Bad Faith Profit Sharing Group Coverage Self-insurance Insurance Laws / Regulations

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.

View CMC Advisors' Consulting Profile.

Bob Lawson,  AIF®, CFE®, MRFC®, LUTCF®, is a Securities & FINRA Expert Witness retained for FINRA arbitration, mediation, and federal/civil court litigation. Mr. Lawson possesses over 35 years of experience within the securities and insurance industries. In 1988, Mr. Lawson founded Barrington Capital Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisory firm and Insurance Agency, and currently serves as the Managing Principal of Barrington Financial Consulting Group, Inc, a 12-person Securities Litigation and Consulting Expert firm. . 

In addition, Mr. Lawson serves as a FINRA Mediator and presides as a FINRA & NFA Dispute Resolution Chairman for disputes concerning investors, financial services professionals, broker-dealers, and dually-registered investment advisers. Claims often arise regarding breach of fiduciary duties, securities fraud, employment disputes, conflicts of interest, churning, unsuitable investments, and failure to supervise, among others. Mr. Lawson also serves as a public mediator and is a Qualified Neutral under Minnesota Rule 114 of Standard Practice in Mediation and Arbitration. His breadth of experience includes managing and supervising FINRA broker-dealer branch offices as a Registered Securities Principal, Options Principal, and Chief Compliance Officer.

Mr. Lawson also has considerable experience with insurance products including variable annuities, fixed and indexed annuities, long term care, and life insurance. Mr. Lawson possesses numerous accolades and is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE®), Master Registered Financial Consultant (MRFC), and a Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF®). 

Retaining Mr. Lawson as an Expert Witness and Litigation Consultant will clarify and address relevant issues pertaining to your case from an insider's point of view. Upon a thorough examination and analysis of the case material, Mr. Lawson’s conclusions and opinions are impartial, objective, and predicated upon years of industry expertise and experience. Expert testimony and reports are supported by thorough and detailed research through case-specific analysis.  

Bob is an active board member for the following organizations:  Twin Cities Certified Fraud Examiners Association, Minnesota State Bar Association ADR Section, Master Registered Financial Consultants, and Securities Experts Roundtable. 

Areas of Expertise:

• FINRA Expert Witness
• Securities Expert Witness
• FINRA Arbitration 
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty
• Liabiity Expert
• Promissory Notes
• Securities Fraud Investigations
• Ponzi Schemes
• Options, Stocks & Bonds
• Due Diligence
• Professional Malpractice
• Economic Damages & Losses
• Employment Discrimination & Termination

Services:

• Litigation Consulting
• Unbiased Case Analysis
• Discovery Review & Recommendations
• Portfolio Risk Reports
• Securities Fraud Investigation
• Damage Calculations
• Expert Testimony

View Bob Lawson's Consulting Profile.