Tips for Selecting a Financial Expert Witness

Attorneys are certainly well-versed in many facets of the law. However, sometime cases can be cumbersome and require someone with in-depth knowledge of the subject matter. This is often the case with cases involving financial law. Financial law can often be circuitous and challenging, and in order to properly explain these difficult concepts, it takes a person who not only specializes in financial law but also has real-world experience in the financial field. This is where a financial expert witness comes into play.

Financial expert witnesses can bolster your case by providing useful information and informed, unbiased analysis. He or she can also provide this information using language that the layperson can easily grasp and understand. When looking for the right financial expert witness, be sure to look for someone who specializes in the subject matter at hand. Expert witnesses can range from certified public accountants, finance specialists, economists, and fraud examiners.

Another factor you should consider is the financial expert witness’s experience in providing testimony. You want to make sure that your expert witness knows the Federal Rules of Evidence, as well as how to create detailed, written opinions to accompany testimony. It is also important that your financial expert witness can display excellent communication skills, as he or she will be providing dense information to a jury who probably won’t know intricate financial law.

What is Lender Liability?

Michael F. Richards is well versed in a wide variety of subjects in the banking and financial industry. His knowledge and experience has been used in serious trials all over the country, and he has built a reputation as an indispensable wealth of knowledge that will only bolster your case and add credibility to your client.

One of his areas of expertise is lender liability. Since the 1980s, lender liability has gained prominence in courts, and now, it accounts for a large number court cases all across America. Despite its ubiquity, many people are unaware of what exactly lender liability is. Simply put, lender liability law states that lenders must treat their borrowers fairly. It seems simple enough; unfortunately, there have been plenty of lenders who try to take advantage of their borrowers, and chances are these underhanded practices will continue in the future.

At first, most cases involved the lender suing the barrower for failure to pay and other breaches of loan agreements. Once lender liability became law, the tables turned. Borrowers found themselves with much better protection against shady lending practices, and became just as likely to sue lenders for breaches on their part.

One of the most common times lender liability is brought into the court is when a lender fraudulently induces a loan agreement or if there wasn’t mutual consent. In these cases, the lender can most certainly be sued.

Wire Fraud: An Emerging Field for Litigation Support Specialist Services

These days, a growing percentage of banking is done electronically. With the advent of the smartphone came new and exciting ways for people to keep track of their personal and business finances. As technology evolves, however, the opportunity for wire fraud grows. Wire fraud is becoming just as sophisticated as the banking technology it exploits, and since it is always changing, it can be extremely difficult to explain to a jury of people who probably aren’t familiar with this type of malicious technology.

In order to prove that wire fraud occurred, it takes someone who is well-versed in bank and credit statements and displays the attention to detail that can easily point out and explain any discrepancies. A litigation support specialist who knows how banking works can analyze a bank’s documents and, using experience and knowledge gained in the field, can explain why or why not the questionable transactions are legal. If the specialist sees something out of the ordinary that might not be initially apparent to the layperson, he or she can explain to the jury where the inconsistencies are and how they may indicate fraudulent wire transactions.

As people grow more and more dependent on state-of-the-art technology to perform banking tasks, banks need to be held accountable whenever the threat of wire fraud is accountable. Sound testimony from a litigation support specialist will absolutely help.

Expert Witness Testimony Helps in Regulatory Compliance Cases

Banks have to adhere to strict, detailed regulations set forth by various governmental agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, and the Federal Reserve System. After the financial crisis the country faced in 2008, these agencies began taking great pains to ensure that banking institutions were taking these regulations seriously. Because of this intense scrutiny, many banks were found to be somewhat lax in enforcing government-mandated regulations. This resulted in many cases being brought to court focused on regulatory compliance.

Regulatory compliance cases aren’t always black and white. In many instances, juries are presented with testimony from economists who may be educated in the financial world, but lack the hands-on experience necessary to fully explain regulatory compliance and its importance. Banking expert witness testimony, like the testimony that can be provided by Michael F. Richards, can provide not only detailed facts about regulatory compliance, but also reinforce its importance in the workplace by relating real-world experiences to the jury.

Michael F. Richards has been heavily involved in the financial world for two decades, and this in-depth experience brings an authoritative voice to any regulatory compliance case. Having your jury understand the facts and nature of regulatory compliance is crucial in any regulatory compliance case, and Michael F. Richards can help bring that necessary clarity.

Underwriting Policies and Financial Expert Witness Services

In 2008, the United States experienced what has been called The Great Recession. A large part of blame for this financial crisis was placed on underwriting policies used by financial institutions. As a result, Americans have been taking a closer look at these sometimes shady policies in order to battle foreclosures.

Some of the largest banks in the country have been taken to court over these underwriting policies, and litigation continues to this day. With such rampant litigation, it is obvious that underwriting policies are intricate and baffling documents that can only be properly explained by a professional in the financial. This is where a financial expert witness comes in.

When a trusted financial expert witness is brought into a trial, he or she can explain the history of underwriting policies and how they may or may not be fair to banks’ clients. The expert witness can provide research and cite examples of why or why not a bank’s loan terms are fair. These statements can help prove if a bank is responsible for intentionally creating lending terms that are impossible to repay or are structured to fail.

The most important part of a financial expert witness’s duty is that his or her testimony is fact-based and completely objective.

Banking Expert Witness Services for Standards of Care

In the financial world, issues of legality come up time and time again. In these situations, the only way to rectify legal issues is by bringing cases to court. These circumstances are often challenging for both the defense and the prosecution, due to the complexity and depth of banking and financial law. For this very reason, having a banking expert witness on hand can turn your case from a confusing mire of dense financial legalese into a clean, concise presentation of easy-to-understand facts.

As with any case, presenting your side in simple terms is paramount. If the jury fails to understand the facts, the trial could be declared a mistrial or, worse, you could simply lose your case. One of the most confusing areas of financial law involves standards of care. Standards of care are based on the idea that there is an implied trust between professional financiers and their clients. A banking expert witness can easily explain this murky area of financial law in terms that the jury can understand.

A major aspect of Standards of Care is what is called “good faith.” Good faith is defined as “honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing.” A banking expert witness can help you better explain the shades of grey that comprise the idea of good faith.