Business Valuation and Litigation Services Conference (E2109020)

Neil Beaton is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal Valuation Services practice in Seattle. Mr. Beaton specializes in the valuation of public and privately held businesses and intangible assets for purposes of litigation support (marriage dissolutions, lost profits claims and others), acquisitions, sales, buy-sell agreements, ESOPs, incentive stock options, and estate planning and taxation. He also performs economic analysis for personal injury claims, wrongful termination and wrongful death actions.

Although he has a broad range of experience, Mr. Beaton has particular expertise in the valuation of early-stage, venture-backed companies and has written and spoken extensively on valuation techniques for companies with complex capital structures. He has valued companies in most major industry groups including manufacturing, fishing, utilities, telecommunications, healthcare, wholesale, retail and service industries both domestically and internationally. Mr. Beaton has also testified on valuation issues in federal and state venues across the United States, as well as in international arbitrations.

Mr. Beaton has valued patents, trademarks, trade secrets, IFQs and a plethora of other intangible assets. He is regularly hired to perform purchase price allocations and valuations for the granting of stock options. Mr. Beaton also performs valuations for employee-owned companies, as well as municipal, state and federal entities. He has served as a neutral appraiser in numerous disputes and has served as a special master in a number of venues.

Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Beaton was a Partner with Grant Thornton LLP for over nine years. He joined Grant Thornton from a Seattle-based boutique business valuation and litigation consulting firm, where he worked for 14 years, ultimately as a Partner. Mr. Beaton began his consulting career at Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.

Mr. Beaton earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from National University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA). Additionally, he is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the CFA Institute and the American Society of Appraisers.

Mr. Beaton is the Co-Chair of the AICPA’s Valuation of Private Equity Securities Task Force and a member of the AICPA’s Mergers & Acquisitions Disputes Task Force. He is also a member of the Business Valuation Update Editorial Advisory Board, on the Board of Experts, Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert and is on the editorial board of the Valuation Examiner, a trade magazine of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts.

Scott joined Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in 1990, and has held a variety of investment roles at the firm over the past 34 years. His career began in international equities, where he was an analyst and portfolio manager of European and Asian equities, working out of the firm’s New York and London offices. He since broadened his responsibilities into domestic equity management and research, and managed the New York office of the firm’s Private Wealth Management business. In 2010 he was appointed Chief Investment Strategist, and is today one of the firm’s primary writers and speakers on topics related to the economy, financial markets and investing. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts and the CFA Institute. Scott serves on the boards of the Morgan Library and the Grolier Club in New York City, as well as the board of the Research Corporation for Science and the Journal of the History of Ideas.

Stacy Preston Collins, CPA/ABV, CFF is a managing director at Financial Research Associates. She has provided expert testimony on business valuation and forensic accounting issues in several states. Ms. Collins is immediate past Chair of the AICPA’s Family Law Task Force, is a former member of its Forensic and Litigation Services Committee, and was the 2010 FLS Volunteer of the Year. Ms. Collins is a member of the “Panel of Experts” in the publication Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert and is a contributing author to the following books: Financial Valuation Applications and Models, Third Edition, and Family Law Services Handbook. She has been on faculty for several years with the Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute (currently affiliated with NITA and the ABA) as well as the AAML’s Institute for Family Law Associates. Ms. Collins graduated from Drexel University with a concentration in accounting and finance.

Don is a graduate of LaSalle University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He is a senior shareholder in Gold Gerstein Group LLC, an accounting and business valuation firm (www.g3cga.com) with offices in Moorestown and Voorhees, N.J. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the New Jersey Society of CPAs, Expert Resource Connection, LLC and is a past chairman of the Forensic, Valuation and Litigation Services Committee of the New Jersey Society of CPAS. Don has provided testimony in business valuation for a variety of matters as well as in matrimonial, minority stockholder, and economic damages litigation and has been qualified as an expert witness by the federal and state courts. He also specializes in federal and state. multi—state and matrimonial taxation, as well as tax nexus issues.

Don has chaired and been a frequent speaker and panelist at various national and international conferences and webinars as well as state and local seminars conducted by the AICPA, the NJSCPA, the PICPA, the Florida Institute of CPAs, the American Bar Association, Integra International, Inc., the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education covering business and professional practice valuation, forensic accounting and federal taxation. He has authored numerous articles and contributed chapters to professional books on those subjects. He is an editor of the "Guide to Divorce Engagements" published by Practitioners Publishing Corporation (PPC) and an editor and (:o—author of the "Family Law Service Handbook, The Role of the Financial Expert" published by John Wiley & Sons.

He is a past Global Chairman of Integra International, Inc., a worldwide association of independent accounting and consulting firms, He is also a past president and remains a member of Integra's Americas, Asia & Australia and Global Boards.

Mark C. Dietrich, CPA, ABV, M.B.A., M.S.T., is a nationally recognized expert on health care matters. He served a term on the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Healthcare Expert Panel, is a past member of the AICPA National Healthcare Industry Conference Committee, and has authored and co-authored five books, including PPC's Guide to Healthcare Consulting (specifically, the managed care chapter) and one co-published by the American Health Lawyers Association. He is one of a small number of CPAs with frontline experience negotiating with health insurance companies and formal training in Medicare managed care. Mr. Dietrich has also lectured in the United Kingdom on managed care and was invited back again in the spring of 2011 as that nation reforms its health care system as well.

Michelle F. Gallagher is a certified public accountant (CPA), accredited in business valuation (ABV), and certified in financial forensics (CFF). Her extensive years of experience includes professional services in the areas of accounting, tax, business valuation, forensic accounting, litigation support, determination of damages, pension valuation, mediation, divorce consulting, and business advisory services. Michelle’s experience includes services as a trusted consultant, expert witness, mediator, and court-appointed expert.

Michelle spent over 11 years with Plante & Moran, PLLC working in their tax and litigation support departments before forming Gallagher & Associates CPAs, PLC in 2002. Since then, she has developed an extensive business valuation and forensic accounting practice while expanding her traditional accounting firm and tax practice.

Jerome is a principal in Jerome Johnson CPA, LLC, The Forensic Firm. He is experienced in providing forensic accounting services in various types of litigation; is routinely appointed as the Court's neutral Rule 11-706 witness, Special Master, and serves as a settlement facilitator in the 2nd Judicial District in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. He has provided expert witness testimony in the areas of business valuation, tax aspects of marital dissolution, alimony, child support, wrongful termination, and minority shareholder issues.

As a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Jerome served as Chair of the Task Force on Family Law and was also a member of the Forensic and Litigation Services Committee. In addition to chairing the AICPA Family Law Conference, he is a contributing author to the Family Law Services Handbook – The Role of the Financial Expert. He also served as the President of the New Mexico Collaborative Practice Group.

Jerome is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Mexico State Society of Certified Public Accountants, and holds the accredited Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) as well as the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) certifications from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Additionally, Jerome holds the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation from the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. He is a graduate of Regis University in Denver Colorado.

Judge Rand has conferenced, managed, settled and tried hundreds of cases for the past fourteen (14) years as PRESIDING JUDGE, FAMILY PART, CAMDEN COUNTY.

Ron is Managing Partner of Seigneur Gustafson LLP, based in Lakewood Colorado, where he is responsible for financial forensics, economic damages assessments, business and intellectual property valuation, exit planning and related litigation support services. He is co-author of Financial Valuations: Applications and Models, published by John Wiley & Sons and Reasonable Compensation: Applications and Analysis for Management, Valuation and Tax, published by Business Valuation Resources. Ron is also the editor of the just released Law Firm Valuation Guide by BVR.

He has been an adjunct professor at the University of Denver, Strum College of Law for over 25 years, where he teaches law firm finance, leadership and management classes and is also an adjunct at the Daniels College of Business where he teaches a graduate business appraisal course. Ron has a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He is a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, an ABV Hall of Fame inductee, a charter member of the AAML Forensic and Valuation Services Division, a member of the Downtown Denver Partnership Distinguished Clown Brigade, and a frequent speaker and author on valuation, economic damages, leadership, cannabis industry matters and other professional firm practice management topics. Ron is currently writing a children’s book on the Sayings of our Elders with his daughter, Chelsea.

Barry S. Sziklay, CPA, ABV, CFF, PFS, a partner at Friedman LLP, is a nationally recognized valuation and litigation support practitioner with more than 30 years of experience in a broad range of CPA firms as well as within the investment banking industry. He was a founding and managing member of a major New York-area PCAOB-registered financial services firm serving individuals, domestic and international businesses and their attorneys. Mr. Sziklay has served as an expert witness in valuation, economic damages, theft of intellectual property, forensic accounting, securities fraud, accountants’ malpractice, and fiduciary dispute cases. An accomplished author and speaker, he has shared his knowledge and thought leadership on valuation, forensic accounting, litigation support, mergers and acquisitions, income, gift, trust and estate and other financial planning matters in a variety of forums—serving on editorial boards, writing for industry publications and contributing course materials and training programs for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Federal Judiciary, the United States Tax Court and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Sziklay is a member of the AICPA, the NJSCPA, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA), and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA). From December 2002 – August 2007, Mr. Sziklay was a member of the AICPA’s National Accreditation Commission (“NAC”), and Chairman of its Accredited in Business Valuation Task Force, which is the senior body of the AICPA reporting directly to the Board of Directors that oversees all specialty accreditations. Mr. Sziklay is a member of the national teaching faculty of the AICPA. He authored a major segment of the review course for the AICPA’s Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) specialty designation. He is also an inductee in the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame. Mr. Sziklay is the first business appraiser in the United States to be appointed as a business appraisal expert by the United States Tax Court in a case involving financial derivatives, and he developed a comprehensive approach to valuing financial service industry receivables for the IRS. He is also one of the first business appraisers to provide the FBI with training involving the use of business appraisal and forensic accounting techniques related to money laundering, white-collar crime and offshore entities. He graduated from Queens College with a B.A. in Accounting and in Economics.

Stacey is a director of Valuation and Litigation Services at HBK Valuation Group, which specializes in valuation, forensic accounting, economic damages and litigation support services. Her experience includes valuations of businesses and professional practices for purposes of estate and gift tax planning and compliance, divorce, business succession planning and mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, she has prepared damage study reports in connection with stockholder, insurance claims, and lost profits litigation, as well as reports in connection with bankruptcy proceedings utilized by the courts and trustees. Stacey also provides accounting and tax services for closely-held and family businesses including financial statement preparation, business and personal income tax planning and compliance, estate and business succession planning. She is a member of the AICPA, NJCPA, NACVA and New Jersey NACVA, and was previously the leader of the NJCPA Cannabis Interest Group.