What Smart Divorce Lawyers Look for When Hiring Financial Experts
Traits lawyers look for when recommending a forensic accounting expert witness to a client. What is the role of trial lawyer? What does it mean to be dedicated to forensic accounting as a profession?
The Forensic Accounting Deskbook by Miles Mason, Sr. JD, CPA, published by the ABA Family Law Section
Miles Mason, Sr. JD, CPA is the author of The Forensic Accounting Deskbook: A Practical Guide to Financial Investigation and Analysis for Family Lawyers, Second Edition, published by the ABA Family Law Section. This updated edition of one the ABA’s most popular resources explains the practice of forensic accounting and business valuation and how to apply it in family law cases. It provides a practice-focused introduction to the core financial concepts in divorce, such as asset identification, classification, and valuation, income determination, expenses, and more.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Tracy Coenen: What are some of the traits that you’re looking for, trying to identify, in a potential expert?
Miles Mason: Usually I do the shopping for a client. Often clients expect me to know who to call, and I do because it’s my job. But what I’m looking for is a calm witness. I’m looking for somebody that’s going to go walk into the courtroom and not be freaked out by the fact that there’s an actual judge there, there’s a bailiff, there’s a sheriff’s deputy over there with a gun and a badge. So calm, to me, translates into credible, and credible is calm.
I also look for forensic accountants who can speak precisely. Not only are their materials precise, but their language, their command of the language, the legal language that comes with it as well as the financial language, and to be able to speak precisely, because the number one way to attack a forensic accountant on cross examination is imprecise use of words.
I’m looking for a forensic accountant that’s going to ooze judgment, and what is judgment? Judgment is a function of education, training, and experience, all put together. And be able to command the field, command the courtroom with, “This is the information you asked me to provide. Here it is, and here’s what it means. This is why it fits within the overall framework of the question and the legal question before the court.”
I’m looking for a forensic accountant, or any expert witness, that’s going to be intentional, that’s not fidgeting, that’s not looking to add something to the program that I don’t want. As a trial lawyer, my job is to be a director. I want to direct everything. I want to eliminate variables. I want an expert witness that’s going to be comfortable and come in and know what the role is and how to fill it.
I’m also looking for forensic accountants, or an expert witnesses, who are dedicated to their profession. When I say dedicated to their profession, I mean that attends the professional conferences, that knows what the major issues are at the national and local level, I want to say the local level, the state level, and be able to speak and say, “Oh yeah.” Even though they may not be an expert on a particular issue, they’ve been to seminars and classes from the national experts who are experts on that issue. For example, we’ve got a forensic accountant a couple of cities over from us, where the forensic accountant is an expert on Daubert. Well, I don’t expect every expert to be an expert on Daubert challenges, and we talked about that earlier, but I expect them to have seen that forensic accountant speak on the topic. That forensic accountant has written articles on the topic. Well, I expect them to have read it. I’ve read them. Why haven’t they read it?
That’s the kind of thing when I talk about dedicated to the profession, you don’t have to know everything. You don’t have to have everything memorized. You don’t have to have done everything, but know what’s out there. The best place to learn what’s out there is attending conferences. What conferences are we talking about? We’re talking about state society. I guess you’d have the Wisconsin Society of CPAs. They’re going to have maybe a small conference in Wisconsin, maybe a large conference, where a day, two days, go and talk about nothing but forensic accounting issues. We have that in Tennessee. I’ve spoken at it, at the Mississippi.
These are great conferences and great way to meet people at the local level and figure out what’s going on, but also at the national level. AICPA, NACVA, they’ve got conferences where they’re bringing in some of the best speakers in the country. What I enjoy doing when I go to those conferences, go to a session that I have no idea what the topic is. If I read a session topic and I have no idea what the topic is going to be because I just don’t know, that’s perfect. I’m all about that, because I always learn from seeing something different.
But another thing I’m looking for when I’m picking an expert witness and trying to get the right fit for a particular case, I want an expert witness that’s independent. I want an expert witness that is not going to be questioned on bias, that they’re buddies with me, that they’re buddies with the client, that they’ve done work for the client before. I see that time and time again, where forensic accountants are being picked because they have a prior relationship with a client. That’s a mistake in litigation. As a lawyer cross examining that expert, I own them. If they have any kind of prior relationship with the client or the lawyer, I’m going to really delve into that. I’m going to try to take advantage of that. Even if nothing’s there, I’m still going to try to take advantage of it, because that’s in my job description as an attorney. Take advantage of anything you get.
Cost, no question. If my client can’t afford the best forensic accountant in town, that’s not going to happen. So we’re going to mesh a lot of different factors and hopefully come up with somebody that makes sense.
Thank you to Tracy Coenen, CPA, CFF for inviting me to join her in this video series. Tracy is a nationally recognized forensic accountant practicing in Milwaukee and Chicago.
