Robert N. Martin
Robert Martin is a litigation consultant specializing in the quantification of insurance recoveries. Mr. Martin has over fifteen years of experience providing analysis of complex insurance allocation and related cost recovery issues for insurance coverage disputes.
Mr. Martin has assisted counsel in insurance recovery matters dealing with environmental remediation costs, asbestos-related defense and settlement costs, MTBE product-liability defense and settlement costs, and directors and officers defense costs related to shareholder derivative lawsuits. He works closely with counsel to analyze the impact of allocation, coverage defenses, policy buybacks and carveouts, insurer insolvencies, and prejudgment interest. He also provides decision-tree analysis to analyze recovery scenarios for settlement purposes and financial disclosures.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Mr. Martin was a Financial Manager with CapAnalysis Group, LLC where he provided analysis for insurance recovery; commercial damages; EPA penalties under the Clean Air Act; antitrust matters involving offshore oil field services, beer, airline and airfreight traffic; and project financing for DOE-sponsored programs. Mr. Martin holds a B.S. in applied mathematics in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Matthew Ferrante
Matthew Ferrante’s experience includes quantifying lost profits and lost wages in contract disputes and personal injury litigation. He has also performed tasks associated with forensic accounting. His skills include financial statement analysis, economic modeling, and extensive research techniques.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Mr. Ferrante interned at the U.S. Consulate in Milan, where he gained experience with management software systems and performance metrics.
Mr. Ferrante earned a B.A. in Economics-Accounting and History from Claremont McKenna College.
Samantha Schwartzman
Samantha Schwartzman’s experience includes business valuations, damage modeling for intellectual property cases, and analysis and presentation of lost profits and lost earnings. Her skills include financial statement analysis, financial market research, economic modeling, and proficiency in a wide range of software applications.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Ms. Schwartzman was an intern analyst for Sabre Value Management, a hedge fund located in Santa Barbara, where she researched and analyzed potential stock investments, interfaced with investor relations representatives of prospective companies, and produced reports on prospective stocks for senior management. Additionally, she served as an intern analyst for WMD Capital, an investment banking firm in Montecito, where she performed securities research and analysis.
Ms. Schwartzman earned a B.A. in business economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is currently a CPA candidate.
Daniel Henriod
Mr. Henriod’s experience includes analysis and presentation of data in the telecommunications industry, securities fraud, and damage modeling in lost earnings litigation. His skills include database creation and management, financial statement analysis, proficiency in research, and experience using a variety of software applications.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Mr. Henriod interned with Bank Medici AG, a private bank based in Vienna, Austria, where he gained experience conducting volatility analysis in addition to researching targets for investment and emerging markets.
Mr. Henriod earned a B.A. in economics from Claremont McKenna College.
Brandon Halseide
Brandon Halseide’s experience includes data analysis and presentation in the healthcare, insurance and financial industries. He has performed liability assessment, damage quantification, and analysis of complex business transactions and deal structures. His skills include financial statement analysis, modeling and valuation, database management, and extensive software and research expertise.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Mr. Halseide was a summer analyst at First Q Capital, a long-short equity hedge fund based in Newport Beach, where he gained experience in financial modeling, company and industry analysis, and database management. He also served as a research assistant at The Lowe Institute of Political Economy at Claremont McKenna College where he applied econometric techniques in macroeconomic research and modeling.
Mr. Halseide earned a B.A. in economics and accounting from Claremont McKenna College.
Charlene Laino Podlipna, CPA, CFF
Charlene Podlipna is a Certified Public Accountant and has provided litigation support services for over six years, working with counsel in civil and criminal litigation. Ms. Podlipna’s experience includes a variety of disputes including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, partnership disputes, shareholder suits, economic damages, lost earnings, business valuations, and alleged embezzlements. Her industry experience includes media, telecommunications, entertainment, real estate development and construction, healthcare, non-profit, and manufacturing. In assisting counsel with these various matters, Ms. Podlipna has performed detailed analyses of financial records including general ledgers and financial statements, reviewed audit work papers, researched GAAP, GAAS and SEC rules and regulations, and assisted counsel and expert witnesses in preparation for report submittal, deposition, and trial testimony.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Ms. Podlipna worked as a consultant, independently and for Resources Global Professionals, on accounting projects to analyze the internal controls of publicly held companies for compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Prior to working as a consultant, Ms. Podlipna trained and implemented audit software at CPA firms as a Senior Software Consultant for CCH Incorporated, a leading tax and accounting software company. She worked in public accounting for five years as a consultant in the Litigation Services division at Gursey, Schneider & Co., LLP and as a senior auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP.
Ms. Podlipna earned a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California at Los Angeles.
Team
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Julie Plat, CPA, CFE
Julie Plat, a Senior Consultant, has provided litigation support services for over fifteen years working with counsel in civil litigation, arbitration and mediation. She has served as a court appointed expert and has testified at trial and deposition.
Ms. Plat’s experience includes a variety of disputes including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, partnership disputes, shareholder suits, loss of income, business interruption, accounting malpractice, insurance claims, lender liability, earn-out agreements, royalty agreements, alter-ego issues, net worth and alleged embezzlements. Her industry experience includes financial services, insurance, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, health care, professional services, construction and real estate. In addition to assisting on disputed matters, Ms. Plat has also performed financial investigations for counsel, businesses and individuals. She is experienced at assessing internal controls, tracing funds, interpreting financial records and obtaining information through interviews.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Ms. Plat had her own practice for 10 years that provided forensic accounting services and financial fraud investigations. Prior to that she was a manager in the litigation consulting group at Coopers & Lybrand. Ms. Plat holds a BA in business economics from University of California at Santa Barbara.
Robert Kirwin, CFE
Robert Kirwin has over ten years experience in a wide range of project management positions. He has broad software and database management skills as well as extensive experience in research design, implementation and presentation. He has assisted in various litigation consulting assignments including liability analysis and quantification of damages in commercial litigation, intellectual property and securities-related matters.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Mr. Kirwin worked in a variety of project management positions including development, implementation, and management of large-scale customer relationship management systems, cost-tracking and defect-tracking databases, software delivery systems and digital content management systems.
Mr. Kirwin earned a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an M.A. in Organizational Management from Antioch University.
Michael G. Kaplan, CPA, CVA, CFFA
Michael Kaplan has more than 30 years of experience in the areas of forensic accounting, business valuation and litigation consulting. He has rendered services in numerous litigation matters, including business litigation, valuation, professional malpractice, fraud and embezzlement, intellectual property, marital dissolution, loss of earnings, employment matters, and partner and shareholder disputes. He has qualified to testify in court as an expert witness in many matters and has served as a court appointed expert and accounting referee.
Mr. Kaplan has served on the faculty of the Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California. He is a frequent and award winning lecturer, having presented to various Bar Association groups, CPA groups, appraiser groups, and other professional organizations. He has developed and presented continuing education programs in financial and management accounting, economic damages, forensic accounting, business valuation, and the financial expert’s role in litigation. He has authored publications in the areas of Business Valuation, Litigation Practice Marketing, Valuation Practice Management, Mediation, the Accounting Expert, and Marital Dissolution.
Mr. Kaplan is a principal member of the training development team of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA) and director of NACVA’s Forensic Institute. He is a member of NACVA’s Executive Advisory Board and has served as the chairman of its Certification and Litigation Forensics Boards. Mr. Kaplan has also served on the Forensic and Litigation Services Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mr. Kaplan holds a BS (Business Administration) and MBA from the University of Southern California.
Roger Shlonsky, CPA
Mr. Shlonsky is a Certified Public Accountant and retired KPMG accounting firm partner specializing in litigation support and forensic accounting services. He has extensive experience in complex national and international commercial litigation, including providing expert witness testimony. He has served as a sole arbitrator in merger and acquisition and construction cost disputes.
Mr. Shlonsky has over 35 years of diversified multinational experience in engagements dealing with the audit, review and compilation of financial statements, and providing litigation services He has counseled entities in a variety of industries, both publicly and privately owned, in the areas of accounting, finance, auditing, business acquisitions and local, federal and international litigation. His clients have been involved in industries as diverse as heavy manufacturing and financial institutions. He has experience in a wide variety of industries including steel, insurance, oil, mining, armaments, electronics, real estate development, heavy construction, chain store retailing, franchising, pension funds, banks, agriculture entities and wholesale distribution.
Mr. Shlonsky is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of a number of state and national accounting societies. He is the recent past Chairman of the Litigation Sections of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a past member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution Services Subcommittee, and is presently co-editor of the Institute’s CPA Expert newsletter. He is a graduate of Syracuse University and has served as an infantry officer in the United States Army.
George P. Roach, MBA, J.D.
George Roach has more than 25 years of business experience in financial analysis, valuation and business management. He worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert for seven years as an investment banker: two years in bankruptcy/workout and five years in corporate finance. He also managed a family business for more than fourteen years. As a licensed attorney, he has concentrated in creditors’ rights law.
As a litigation consultant, Mr. Roach has operated his own practice and, for more than three years, directed an in-house consulting group, consisting of fourteen consultants and thirty five support staff, which managed the case facts and damage analysis for a Dallas law firm specializing in complex commercial litigation. As an in-house consultant and an independent litigation consultant, Mr. Roach has addressed a broad range of damage and valuation issues across a variety of businesses, including hospitality, telecommunications, securities transactions, and retail.
Mr. Roach’s consulting approach combines his business and financial experience with his education and experience in remedies and damages law, interfacing between liability theories, case facts and legal theory and business fact. Over the last five years, he has written nine articles on a broad range of subjects, including fraudulent transfer analyses, business valuation and business consequential damages.
Mr. Roach received his MBA from Harvard University in 1975 (high honors), J.D. from the University of Texas in 1993 (honors) and an A.B. in economics from the University of California at Davis in 1973 (high honors).
Renée N. Azrieli, CPA
Renée Azrieli has over thirty-five years of diversified, complex tax experience including more than twenty years with the Internal Revenue Service. She has extensive experience in representing individual, corporate and partnership taxpayers who are under audit examination by taxing authorities or are protesting the results at the appeals level. She also has experience in the challenges of criminal tax matters and provides assistance to counsel practicing before the Federal District Courts and with the United States Department of Justice.
Ms. Azrieli’s experience includes procedural matters at all IRS levels, as well as employee-independent contractor cases, criminal investigation matters, tax research projects, pre-bankruptcy planning, penalty and interest abatements, and collection matters including trust fund recovery cases, offers in compromise, installment plans, seizures, liens and discharges. Her experience also encompasses state matters, involving the Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, and the Employment Development Department. The tax dollars at risk to clients have been as high as $200 million to as low as $100,000.
Previously, Ms. Azrieli was an Associate Chief of Appeals in Los Angeles for the IRS. Ms. Azrieli has lectured on various IRS topics to the local Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agent groups, and public service organizations. She has published articles and written columns on tax controversy and IRS matters.
Ms. Azrieli is a member of various national and state professional societies, as well as those specifically related to tax matters. She is an honors graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles.
Haley J. Eckhart, CPA, CFE
Haley Eckhart is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner and has provided litigation support services for over fifteen years, working with counsel in civil litigation, arbitration and mediation. Ms. Eckhart’s practice has included significant experience with matters in the following areas: damages associated with breach of contract, business interruption or breach of fiduciary duty claims; damages related to misappropriation of trade secrets; fraud investigations; securities litigation; white collar criminal matters; bankruptcy valuation; lost earnings; and, accountants’ professional responsibilities. Ms. Eckhart has testified at trial and in deposition.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Ms. Eckhart was a director in the Litigation Support Group of American Express Tax and Business Services (TBS) and a member of the National American Express TBS Litigation Steering Committee. Prior to American Express TBS, she worked as an independent litigation consultant, as an associate with PHB Hagler Bailly, Inc. (formerly Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett, Inc.) and as a senior consultant in the Dispute Resolution and Litigation Services Department of Ernst & Young, LLP. As a member of the professional staff of Ernst & Young, LLP, Ms. Eckhart performed audits, generally for publicly and privately held clients in manufacturing industries. Ms. Eckhart earned a B.A. in business economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Kevin F. Henry
Kevin Henry has over fifteen years of experience in corporate finance, with specialized expertise in valuing businesses and in analyzing complex business transactions. Mr. Henry’s experience includes valuing minority interests, reviewing proposed reorganization plans on behalf of creditors’ committees, critiquing solvency opinions, analyzing post-merger operations, evaluating rates of return on investment portfolios, and developing equity return analyses in defense of class action shareholder litigation.
In addition to his litigation related experience, Mr. Henry has also served as an investment banker with extensive international experience. He has structured acquisition and divestiture transactions, negotiated contracts, evaluated business plans and advised clients on such issues as due diligence reviews, purchase investigations and employment tie-in arrangements.
His industry expertise includes motion pictures, telecommunications, oil and gas, new media, real estate, power cogeneration, electronics, financial institutions, retail and aerospace. In addition, Mr. Henry has conducted numerous training sessions on corporate finance issues. Mr. Henry is a Chartered Financial Analyst Candidate and holds a B.S. in business from Lewis & Clark College.
William R. Ackerman, CPA
William Ackerman, a Certified Public Accountant, has over twenty years of experience as an auditor and consultant. His consulting experience includes lost earnings, associated with wrongful terminations, wrongful death and personal injury claims; damages associated with breach of contract, business interruption or breach of fiduciary duty claims; fraud investigations, both to uncover the devices used to perpetrate fraud and to uncover fraudulent financial reporting practices; corporate and partnership dissolutions; auditing and accounting issues relating to accountant’s malpractice and/or merger and acquisition disputes; antitrust matters, trademark and copyright infringement damages, small business valuations, and alter ego analysis.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Mr. Ackerman spent five years in public accounting at KPMG Peat Marwick, where he supervised audit engagements in the manufacturing, distribution, entertainment, oil and gas, and hospitality industries. He has provided expert testimony in both state and federal courts as well as with the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Ackerman earned a B.S. in business administration from Georgetown University.
Alan G. Goedde, PhD
Alan Goedde has more than twenty-five years of experience developing financial and economic analyses to solve business problems. Dr. Goedde’s practice principally involves intellectual property issues, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret as well as unfair competition antitrust matters and business valuations, breach of contract disputes, and technology assessment.
His training in engineering and economics, combined with his experience in profit planning, budgeting, product marketing and acquisitions analysis, has enabled him to assist clients on a wide range of litigation issues. Dr. Goedde has testified as an expert witness on issues involving patent infringement, trademark and copyright misappropriation, and trade secret theft. On royalty matters, his testimony has included such issues as scope of the royalty base, lump sum and running royalties, royalty stacking, license comparability, and profit apportionment to noninfringing alternatives. Dr. Goedde’s testimony has also included issues involving antitrust, price fixing, lost profits, incremental costs, market growth, price erosion, licensing, franchising, and environmental matters including stigma damages. His industry experience includes pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food, industrial products, machinery, automotive aftermarket, electronic components, telecommunications, airlines, computer hardware, software, and media and entertainment. He has testified in state court, U.S. District Court, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of International Trade, and before the Federal Trade Commission.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills, Dr. Goedde served in senior corporate positions in business planning, acquisitions, and product development. He was president of a technology marketing and licensing company; served as an economist at the Department of the Treasury, where his responsibilities included corporate fraud, technology licensing and transfer pricing; and was a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Dr. Goedde holds a B.S. in engineering and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in economics, all from Duke University.
William J. Michiels, CPA, MBA, MBT, CFE, CVA
Bill Michiels, a Certified Public Accountant, specializes in the financial and economic analysis of contested business issues. He is able to draw on extensive experience in accounting, valuation, taxation and financial analysis to conduct client assignments. Mr. Michiels is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Valuation Analyst.
As an expert witness, Mr. Michiels has testified as to damage computations, complex financial and tax transactions, solvency, capital adequacy, valuations, accountants’ professional responsibilities, and other matters. He has completed engagements related to lost earnings, valuations of intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, and fraud investigations. His assignments have spanned numerous industries, with emphasis on securities and insurance. Mr. Michiels has testified in state and federal courts and in arbitrations. His clients have included the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice relating to cases involving financial statements and other matters. Mr. Michiels has also conducted fraud investigations and due diligence projects.
Prior to joining Freeman & Mills in 1989, Mr. Michiels was both a tax and an audit partner at Coopers & Lybrand. He holds a B.A. in economics from Claremont McKenna College, a M.B.A. from Wharton and a master’s degree in business taxation (MBT) from the University of Southern California.
Larry S. Murphy, CPA
Larry Murphy, a Certified Public Accountant, has more than thirty years of experience evaluating accounting, auditing and business practices, including more than twenty years as a consultant. He spent two years on assignment in Switzerland, where he was involved in the audits of international financial services organizations and manufacturing and marketing concerns.
Mr. Murphy’s more recent consulting engagements have included complex litigation involving financial institutions, real estate transactions, accountants’ professional responsibilities and securities matters, including the defense of officers, directors and other insiders, and assisting corporate and individual targets of investigations by regulatory agencies. He has testified as an expert witness in federal and state court and in arbitrations. Mr. Murphy’s audit experience, at both the partner and manager level, included SEC reporting companies and involved numerous industries, including franchising, multinational corporations, financial institutions and extractive industries. Mr. Murphy holds a B.S. in accounting from San Diego State University.
Laurence A. Mills, CPA (inactive)
Laurence Mills, a Certified Public Accountant (inactive), has more than thirty years of experience as an auditor and consultant to public and private companies in a variety of industries. His assignments have involved the preparation of periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and filings for mergers and acquisitions, as well as identification and evaluation of internal accounting controls for a variety of transaction systems. Mr. Mills’ experience has ranged from advising clients in the petroleum and gasoline retailing industries to consulting on negotiable instruments and white-collar crime.
Previously, Mr. Mills was an audit manager in the Los Angeles office of Coopers & Lybrand. While there, he participated in Coopers and Lybrand’s international exchange program, spending eighteen months in its Toronto, Canada office. He has testified in California Superior Court and U.S. district courts. Mr. Mills holds a B.S. in business administration from California State University, Long Beach.
Neill W. Freeman III, CPA, CFE
Neill Freeman has three decades of consulting experience, providing services in the areas of accounting, finance, economics and business practices and procedures. Mr. Freeman specializes in the computation of commercial damages and business valuations. He has consulted with clients on mergers and acquisitions and the accounting and reporting aspects of public securities offerings. He has conducted audits of public and private companies. He has provided expert testimony and served as a special master and court-appointed expert, in both state and federal courts.
Mr. Freeman was a founder of the 1st Business Bank of Los Angeles. In addition, Mr. Freeman served as consultant to the Independent Commission on the Los Angles Police Department, chaired by the Honorable Warren Christopher (the “Christopher Commission”). Mr. Freeman is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of local, state and national accounting societies. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and has served as a member of the Technical Review Panel of the California State Board of Accountancy. Mr. Freeman holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of Washington.
