It is not a secret that the United States is a litigious society. Statistics show that most U.S. Citizens, at some point in their lives, will be involved in some form of litigation process. CPAs are becoming an indispensable part of the process. I have served as litigation support for both plaintiffs and defendants. I also have been called upon to be an "expert" witness, where I help the attorneys and the court understand the complex financial aspects of their case.

With my thirty-two years experience in auditing, fraud, tax and accounting and having been a VP of Finance for a hospital and an Associate Dean of a dental school, I am uniquely qualified to help my clients and the court understand complex financial transactions. (Click here to review a copy of my CV.)

Areas Where I Have Helped Attorneys

• Uncovered and gathered evidence for one of the largest frauds in the history of a large university.
• Extremely useful in locating unreported and underreported income and assets in divorce cases.
• Presented testimony in several divorce cases where the attorney was the defendant, speaking to the issue of practice goodwill.
• Presented testimony involving pathologists regarding the value of their practice and goodwill in paticualar.
• Called in to assist an attorney just prior to the case being settled and discovered in excess of $100,000 in underreported earnings.
• Helped attorneys to reconstruct books and records.
• Prepared for testimony in a case involving work life estimates, economic loss and estimated cost of care for the life of a patient.

Areas Where A CPA Can Be Helpful

Investigations and Pleadings.

• Assistance during the pre-filing investigation to see if the case has financial merit.

Discovery

• Requests for documents from the opposing side. Giving significant assistance in preparing written request for financial information.
• Interrogatories. I can provide assistance in drafting interrogatories by suggesting relevant questions and help in responding to opposing side's question to maintain consistent answers with the presentation that I will be making at trial.
• Request for admissions. CPAs can sometimes provide assistance in drafting and responding to such requests.
• Depositions. Many attorneys have found it very helpful to have a CPA help them draft questions to be asked during a deposition of the opposing expert. It is even better to have me present during the deposition.

Motion Practice and Negotiation

• Provide support for one or more motions filed by the client's attorney.
• Attend and even participate in settlement negotiations. Once, after three days of testimony, I was able to present an idea and calculations that, in a matter of minutes, settled the case.

Trial and Appeal

• Testify in support of my findings to help the judge and jury understand the technical issues involved in the case.

  Adapted from PPC Litigation Support Services

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Copyright 1999 Jerry E. Bartram, CPA All rights reserved.

Web designed and authored by Jerry E. Bartram, CPA Last Updated 02/08/08

"IRS Circular 230 disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, I inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any matters addressed herein."