Detecting and Mitigating Common Construction Industry Fraud & Legal Risks / Fair Value Accounting (E1712979)

Mr. McEwan, Esq., is Co-Office Managing Shareholder at Littler. He combines real world business experience, legal acumen and pragmatism to effectively manage labor and employment law issues faced by clients in a wide variety of industries, including the construction, manufacturing, retail, service, and transportation industries. His practice entails representation of clients in federal and state court litigation, before labor arbitrators, at the bargaining table, and before regulatory agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U. S. Department of Labor, and numerous state departments of labor.

Russ proactively counsels employers on strategies to promote workplace harmony, strengthen the employment relationship, and minimize the risk of litigation. He assists clients in developing training tools, crafting effective employment agreements and policies, and training supervisory employees on a wide variety of workplace issues.

Russ has extensive experience helping clients during times of labor strife. He has advised clients on issues related to union organizing drives and representation petitions involving virtually all of the major U. S. labor unions.

During the course of his legal career, Russ has developed a depth of knowledge and expertise in representing construction industry employers.

Before embarking on his legal career, Russ was a business banker for a leading New York City commercial bank and worked in the general counsel’s office of a major accounting firm.

Russ earned his BA from Rutgers University and his J.D. from New York Law School.

Edward Rigby is a Partner in the Tax Services Department of Prager Metis, a member of Prager Metis International Group. He has over 25 years of experience as a tax professional.

In his position as Tax Partner, Ed acts as a lead tax consultant and strategist to the firm’s clients. His responsibilities include directing, motivating, and managing firm tax department personnel, directing the business relationships with clients, and leading the firm’s business development initiatives.

Prior to joining the firm in January 2020, Ed held tax leadership positions with prominent New Jersey and New York accounting firms. He earned an impressive reputation among clients and fellow colleagues as being a highly successful negotiator and sophisticated tax strategist for leading companies and high wealth business executives. Ed also founded a successful corporate tax consulting firm which serviced privately owned companies in life sciences, manufacturing, and financial services industries. His past experience as a business owner helped him better understand and appreciate the necessity of having trusted business and financial advisors.

Edward has been recognized as being a trusted advisor to business executives in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, financial services, real estate development, global art and fashion industries. His areas of expertise include providing advice on mergers and acquisitions, international tax structuring and tax benefits for business investment, and research and development. He has also successfully negotiated financially impactful tax rulings with IRS and State taxing authorities. Ed’s clients not only benefit from tax savings resulting from sophisticated tax planning, but are also able to avoid problems associated with non-compliance with the ever increasing complexity of federal tax law and regulations.

Ed has authored numerous articles on behalf of the New Jersey Society of CPAs covering topics such as Opportunity Zone tax benefits, Section 199A deductions, and interest expense limitation rules. He has served as guest speaker at Monmouth University’s Real Estate Graduate program and presented tax-related education and training to law firms, bankers, and internal professional staff.

Richard F. Vermeulen, CPA, CFE, CR.FA is a Partner at Yip Associates and leads the Integrity Monitoring and Government Sector Advisory Services practice. Mr. Vermeulen has over twenty-three (23) years of experience providing forensic accounting, investigative auditing, integrity and compliance monitoring, insurance and bond claims consulting, fraud risk mitigation, internal controls and regulatory compliance services to a wide range of public and private clients.

Prior to joining Yip Associates, Mr. Vermeulen gained valuable experience working at CohnReznick and K2 Intelligence/Thacher Associates where he developed and headed industry leading integrity monitoring and forensic accounting practices focusing primarily on the real estate and construction industries.

He graduated from Monmouth University with a BS in Accounting. Mr. Vermeulen is a member of the AICPA, NYSSCPA and NJCPA.