Home » Practice Areas » Investigative Financial Consulting
We are uniquely positioned to offer financial consulting services that are enhanced by our team’s financial investigation expertise and litigation experience. Our investigative financial consulting practice includes:
We unravel complex financial issues in commercial and personal disputes. Our integrated team provides insight and clarity to assist in every stage of a contested matter– from early case assessment and discovery through damage analysis to testimony. Our team of experts is highly skilled at interpreting complicated financial and data-driven facts. We can then communicate our findings to a trier of fact in understandable and visually meaningful flowcharts, timelines, pictures, and stories.
We conduct in-depth financial analysis and intelligence gathering to collect, analyze and evaluate financial data. We then illustrate findings that form the bases for discussion, debate, and dispute resolution for plaintiffs or defendants, whether in a court of law or another forum.
We use accepted methodologies to compute defensible economic damages. We regularly testify in federal and state courts about financial loss:
Lost profits | Diminution of value or slow death | Lost business value | Lost wages and earnings | Present value of future medical costs
When a dispute arises on intellectual property, we assess the financial impact of infringement or misappropriation of patents, trademarks and Lanham Act claims, trade secrets and copyrights. We have testified on issues involving:
Lost profits | Diminution of value | Unjust enrichment and disgorgement | Price erosion | Reasonable royalty | Valuation
Our team has experience and expertise in bankruptcy, insolvency, and reorganizations. As experienced fraud examiners, we understand how fraud can manifest in financial distress, and how financial distress motivates fraudulent acts.
Knowing that a picture is worth a thousand words, we assist litigators by presenting powerful, demonstrative exhibits that are effective and show a trier of fact conclusive information through flowcharts, timelines, pictures and stories. Our proven methods illustrate the patterns and trends that tell the story encapsulated within massive amounts of data.
Ralph Q. Summerford
President
Ralph Q. Summerford is the president of Forensic Strategic Solutions. Mr. Summerford has a broad range of forensic expertise, testifying as an expert witness in federal and state courts on matters involving complicated financial transaction, including fraud, economic damages, business valuation, bankruptcy and accounting malpractice.
Kelly J. Todd
Managing Member
Kelly J. Todd is a managing member and the member in charge of forensic investigations at Forensic Strategic Solutions. Ms. Todd has a broad range of forensic experience including financial and white‐collar investigations, fraudulent financial reporting, accounting malpractice, and the calculation of economic damages.
Jeffrey H. Lewis
Director of Investigative Financial Consulting
Jeffrey H. Lewis is the director of investigative financial consulting for Forensic Strategic Solutions, LLC. Mr. Lewis has more than two decades of experience in a broad range of forensic services, including forensic accounting, commercial and economic damages, fraud investigation, business valuation, and financial statement auditing. He has managed complex litigation consulting engagements and investigations for notable clients in numerous industries including healthcare, insurance, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and financial services.
Economic Damages – Civil Litigation
FSS was hired to compute reasonable and reliable estimates of economic damages and lost profits for an unestablished business, then to effectively present the findings of economic loss to a federal court jury. A business consortium of 15 individual charities and a gaming operator filed a civil suit in federal court alleging the defendant competing […]
READ CASE STUDYLost Earnings – Wrongful Termination – Civil Litigation
FSS was hired to compute reasonable and reliable estimates of lost earnings for several plaintiffs and to testify to our findings of economic loss in federal court. Three law enforcement officers filed a civil suit against their former employer alleging they were wrongfully terminated in retaliation for reporting to state officials allegations of corruption and […]
READ CASE STUDYLost Earnings – Wrongful Termination – Civil Litigation
A former city employee claimed she was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for raising concerns of health and safety issues and questionable financial management practices in her department. FSS was hired to compute a reasonable and reliable estimate of lost earnings and to testify to our findings of economic loss in state court.
READ CASE STUDYGuarding Against Embezzlement Fraud: Developing An Action Plan | Ralph Q. Summerford
We’d like to introduce our three-part educational series on Guarding Against Embezzlement Fraud. In this first installment, we will discuss preventive measures you can take. The second part will explain how embezzlement cases can bring about unexpected problems, and the third and final part of our series will discuss defensive measures. It’s not something business […]
READ FULL BLOGGuarding Against Embezzlement Fraud: What Can Go Wrong? | Ralph Q. Summerford
Welcome to the second installment of our three-part educational series on Guarding Against Embezzlement Fraud. Catch up on part one, Guarding Against Embezzlement Fraud: Developing An Action Plan. Simply adopting an action plan doesn’t necessarily eliminate the risk altogether. What can go wrong? Many varied problems. The reason unexpected situations arise is because they are unexpected. […]
READ FULL BLOGGuarding Against Embezzlement Fraud: Defensive Measures | Ralph Q. Summerford
Now that you’ve gained valuable information from the first and second parts of our educational series, Guarding Against Embezzlement Fraud, we offer insight into defensive measures. It is extremely important to understand the necessity of an adequately controlled investigation. The moment embezzlement or fraud is suspected, steps should be taken to mitigate the company’s damages while […]
READ FULL BLOGLook for the anomaly to find fraud | Ralph Q. Summerford
Events may happen in a person’s life that can lead to an act of desperation. And desperate people may take irrational actions. I am talking about bad economic times, the failure of a business, the loss of a job, divorce, a family member on drugs, disease, children in trouble, criminal acts by a family member […]
READ FULL BLOGUnlocking the Potential of Electronically Stored Information | Kelly J. Todd
Think twice before you assume that an unsophisticated small business cannot possibly have any useful or accessible electronically stored information (ESI).
READ FULL BLOGElectronically Stored Information: The Case Study | Kelly J. Todd
You might not think that a small business would have useful or accessible electronically stored information (ESI). Consider this example of identifying and obtaining relevant forensic evidence to determine lost profit damages with this particular small business.
READ FULL BLOGHow to Find Electronically Stored Information | Kelly J. Todd
In our case study, gas station owner, Morris, has alleged that Green Fuel, a small gasoline distributor, overcharged him. Both parties had inadequate and unsophisticated documentation, making determining losses very difficult.
READ FULL BLOGComputer Forensics v. E-Discovery: What Every Expert Should Know | Kelly J. Todd
Increasingly, the answers to the most fundamental litigation questions – the “who, what, where, when, and why” – are contained in electronically stored information (ESI), which can be retrieved through electronic discovery (e-discovery) and/or computer forensics.
READ FULL BLOGCyber-security: Minimizing Internal Threats | Kelly J. Todd
Like a magician’s sleight of hand, the barrage of headline news related to hackers and cyber criminals may divert attention away from the equally dangerous, but perhaps less obvious, threat to your corporate assets: employees. While trusted employees are moving, sharing, and exposing corporate data just to do their jobs, the malicious employee may be deliberately taking confidential information for personal gain or other nefarious reasons.
READ FULL BLOGCareful Out There – Ponzi Schemes are Alive and Well | Ralph Q. Summerford
With all of the publicity that surrounded the Bernard Madoff, Scott Rothstein, ZeekRewards and Allen Stanford Ponzi schemes, among many others, you would think that people would have by now received the message about Ponzi Schemes; how they work and how those investors lose their money.
READ FULL BLOGA Lesson on Investigating Fraud from A Fictional Investigator | Ralph Q. Summerford
As a frequent speaker on the subject of fraud, people often ask me, “How do you investigate fraud?” My answer is always the same: You look for the anomaly. To me, it sounds so simple until I step back and realize that most people cannot see the anomaly, although it is usually right in front of them.
READ FULL BLOGThe Give and the Take in Charitable Giving | Ralph Q. Summerford
Charitable giving, while good with intent, is not always received as expected. Let’s say you and I give to a seemingly worthwhile charity. You may be surprised at who really takes from the charity – frequently, it’s the fundraisers and executives. Oftentimes the fundraisers and executives are one in the same, since many founders will leave the charity to start a consulting and fundraising business to contract with the charity. This is really where it begins to get out of hand.
READ FULL BLOGStrengthen Waged-Based Loss Cases with a Forensic Accounting Expert Sooner Rather than Later | Kelly J. Todd
I have worked in investigative financial consulting for more than 17 years, and during my tenure I have worked with attorneys in a variety of capacities to provide financial consulting and expert support in a broad range of personal and corporate disputes. One of those capacities includes serving as a forensic accounting expert on cases involving wage-based losses.
READ FULL BLOGBig 4 CPA Firm Knew in Advance Which Audits Would Be Inspected by Government Watchdogs | Ralph Q. Summerford
This is violation of trust, and it matters! Auditors must design their audits to look for fraud, and failure to do so may cause massive losses for stakeholders, investors, creditors and retirees. Neglecting to detect fraud can be truly life-altering — especially for retirees. While teaching a business ethics class in Jackson, Mississippi, I was […]
READ FULL BLOGAuditors Who Stole the Exam Are Convicted of Fraud | Ralph Q. Summerford
This failure of duty matters – it violates public trust and costs innocent people their jobs, their pensions and above all – faith in a system. The Wall Street Journal reported on March 11, 2019 that David Middendorf, the former national managing partner for audit quality and professional practice at KPMG, and co-defendant, Jeffrey Wada, […]
READ FULL BLOGBrilliance v. Ethics – Which One Wins? | Ralph Q. Summerford
Originally published by ACFE Insights. Smart people commit fraud every day. A recent case gives us a prime example. A federal judge asked Donald Watkins, Sr. to step away from the jury box as Watkins, Sr. made an impassioned plea in his closing argument. Watkins, Sr. was in the personal space of front-row jurors, who were […]
READ FULL BLOGAccountant Malpractice Claims Are Likely to Rise. Are You Prepared? | Ralph Q. Summerford
CPAs, especially those in smaller accounting practices, usually have close relationships with their clients—and rightfully so. After all, who else is better positioned to understand clients’ finances and businesses than their trusted accountants? That is until they suffer a financial fraud scheme that a CPA has failed to uncover. Then, what I call the “client […]
READ FULL BLOGThe Shift to Teleworking: Protecting Your Business Data from Fraud | Kelly Todd
The mass exodus of employees from traditional offices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing ease with which information can be moved and shared has made one thing clear: Businesses are facing a risk-filled new frontier when it comes to their data security. The rapid shift to telework has only expanded the […]
READ FULL BLOGHow to Prevent Workplace Corruption and Collusion? Think Like a Financial Fraud Investigator | Kelly Todd
When financial fraud investigators discuss corruption in the workplace, they are usually referring to a single employee who is exploiting their position for personal benefit. Collusion, however, involves multiple people working together to abuse their power. When a collision occurs, the damage to a company’s finances and reputation multiplies. And pinpointing the perpetrators and the […]
READ FULL BLOGFraud Examination: Protecting Your Business from Workplace Fraud | Kelly J. Todd
Despite the distractions and upheaval the Covid-19 pandemic has had on your business, be careful not to overlook another threat that could be looming around the corner — fraud in the workplace. Occupational fraud is the misuse of one’s occupation for personal gain and includes anything from stealing office supplies to cooking the books to […]
READ FULL BLOGHow Getting Too Close to Clients Can Lead Accountant Malpractice Claims | Ralph Q. Summerford
Accountant malpractice claims have been a growth industry for litigators for more than two decades, thanks to increasingly strict professional standards for auditors and accountants. And there’s no letup in sight. In fact, even in 2020, with the coronavirus wreaking havoc with the business community, regulators have continued to crack down on auditors who […]
READ FULL BLOGUnlocking the Potential of Electronically Stored Information to Determine Lost Profit Damages | Kelly J. Todd
At many small businesses, it’s not uncommon to still find a mass of paper records, yellowing with age and haphazardly tossed in boxes, as well as old-school computers and dot-matrix printers with tractor feeds and green bar paper. Yet even the most unorganized and technologically unsophisticated small business may contain a trove of useful electronically […]
READ FULL BLOGHow Attorneys Can Effectively Utilize a CPA in a Breach of Contract Claim | Jeffrey H. Lewis
Selecting the right expert to calculate economic damages in a breach of contract claim can be critical in the success of an attorney’s case. The expert must be able to calculate damages resulting from a breach of contract and convey the story to a trier of fact in a manner that will make the attorney’s […]
READ FULL BLOGCalculating Economic Damages: It’s About Far More than the Math | Jeffrey H. Lewis
Economic damages are designed to give claimants a chance to recover their financial positions in the wake of injuries caused by another party. To calculate those damages, however, is no easy task. Experts are required to help counsel and claimants build a credible calculation that matches the facts and circumstances of a case and can […]
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