How Litigation Support is Crucial in Case Outcomes

For a story accompanying the latest entry in SFBW’s series of lists, some of the region’s top CPAs convened to talk shop and share insights about litigation support accounting practices during a roundtable discussion. SFBW Editor-in-Chief Kevin Gale moderated the discussion, and Kaufman Rossin Principal Byron M. Brown, CPA, CFF, CFE, was one of the panelists. The following is an excerpt from that discussion:

In general, what are the steps in discovery that include forensics and litigation support? How does this process unfold?

Brown: I think a lot of it depends on what stage we are engaged. One thing we’ve observed as of late, is that it seems that the courts are pushing the action a lot quicker. These days, a lot of judges are not giving extensions on cases. I’ve found lately that, a lot of times, we’ve been getting calls three or four weeks before a report is due. And when we get brought in at that point, our hands are tied, because we can only work with what we have. And we only have a few weeks to do it. We’ve found it makes everything more efficient if you can bring the expert in early, like, at the time the complaint is filed. Then we can really help pinpoint the discovery that we need and what we will be most helpful for our case. Also if you bring us in early, it allows us to focus on the items that are the real important issues in the case. And it makes it cheaper for the client.

Download the article below to read the full story.