What are the 5 Signs of a Competent Financial Expert Witness

In high-stakes lawsuits, it can be disastrous to not hire qualified and competent financial expert witnesses. Depending on their areas of expertise, financial expert witnesses can assist you in lawsuits related to corporate finance, guarantees, financial futures trades, lease lending, and many other finance categories. Anyone with a degree in finance and a few years of relevant experience can start advertising themselves as a financial expert witness. But, it takes a painstaking amount of experience and zealousness to gather enough knowledge and skills to become a competent one. So, here’s your simple guide to find the best financial expert witness to assist you in your case.

Academic Qualifications

The best people in the business understand that learning is an ongoing process that never stops. They keep acquiring new skills, hone their current skills, and stay ahead of the curve. So, one of the things that separate such professional from the rest is their qualifications. They usually have at least a master’s degree in their CV, and often a PhD to top it off. That’s only a beginning point. They keep enrolling in new courses, executive programs, and so on. Each time, they emerge with more knowledge than before.

Skilled professionals also have a healthy list of publications to their credit. In fact, the material they publish is the most tangible measure of authority they have on their areas of interest. Additionally, the worth of their publications can be gauged by the amount of respect they garner from their peers, the number of times their works are cited, and the reputation of the journal where their works are published. It takes some work to find an accomplished financial expert witness. But, their services are well worth the effort.

Experience and Knowledge

As a thumb rule, the more experience they have, the more knowledge they tend to have. This rule doesn’t always hold true, but it is a good proxy for knowledge, unless you know what questions to ask them. You may not have the necessary knowledge or experience to test theirs. Yet, you can ask some relevant questions.

Have you heard of a similar case? If yes, please share the details.

What should have been done in the hindsight to ensure that your legal issue would never have popped up?

In how many cases have you been a financial expert witness? References please?

Questions like these will give you some idea of their authority on the subjects of your interest.

Industry Reputation

Competent financial experts are respected across the board. Therefore, they end up serving in the most respected organizations in the most respected jobs. The best of them have years of experience in CXO level positions. Titles like President, Vice President, Director, Senior Associate, and so on are littered across their CVs. Also, they are or have been heads of different finance verticals in their organizations such as private equity, mergers and acquisitions, corporate banking, risk management, and so on.