Litigation Consulting
Our Group often extends its expertise into the realm of consulting, offering a comprehensive review of relevant financial issues in the early stages of a case. Our broad -based exposure in prior engagements as an expert witness uniquely positions us to provide pre-trial analysis which may or may not result in a case going to trial. We review the key issues with Counsel and provide a report of our findings as they apply to standard of practice in the finance industry. That may ultimately lead to deposition and testimony as your expert witness. In many situations, our deep understanding of financial intricacies as applied to the legal landscape could have an impact on how a case is presented in court.
Sherwood Kelley: An Expert at All Levels of Finance
Sherwood Kelley has 50+ years of experience in domestic and international finance. As a senior executive at prominent financial corporations, he started and then served as a board member for several financial entities. Since 1994, Mr. Kelley has served as the Managing Principal of Calinvest, an investment banking firm in Southern California. He facilitated more than 68 transactions with a combined project value of nearly $800 Million. Mr. Kelley and Calinvest remain active in public markets, commercial finance, and private or hard money finance (www.calinvest.net). Mr. Kelley is a licensed Real Estate Broker in California (1996). He holds an AB degree in Biology from Lafayette College and an MBA from Boston University. He has also taken postgrad courses in Appraisal, SBA, and CA Real Estate Law in recent years.
Sherwood Kelley: Investment Banker and Experienced Expert Witness
While operating as an investment banker, Mr. Kelley has, for the last 25 years, also served as a consultant or expert witness on 27 engagements. Mr. Kelley has qualified and testified as an expert witness in the Superior Courts of California for both Los Angeles and Santa Barbara Counties, including 5 trials, 11 depositions, and 2 MSJs. Mr. Kelley has worked with law firms based in California, Washington, Arizona, Texas, and Nevada.
Some Background About Expert Witnesses?
“An intelligent evaluation of facts is often difficult or impossible without the application of some scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge. The most common source of this knowledge is the expert witness ….” [FRE 702- Committee Notes] In non-scientific, financial issues cases, experience often is the predominant, if not sole, basis for reliable expert testimony.
The specialized knowledge-based testimony by the expert often includes the accepted industry standards and principles applicable to the events or transactions at issue in the case. The expert may also take the additional step to infer or conclude whether those standards or principles were met, if the court finds that testimony would be helpful to a determination by the judge or jury.
To admit experts’ testimony, courts typically find whether experts are qualified based on their knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, and whether the testimony will be reliable and helpful to the court. Where the testimony is grounded in the experts’ experience in the field, the witness must explain how that experience leads to the conclusion reached, why that experience is a sufficient and reliable basis for the opinion, and how that experience is reliably applied to the facts. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 43 F.3d 1311, 1319 (9th Cir. 1995).
Specific Areas of Expert Witness Experience
Mr. Kelley has been engaged as an expert witness in the following areas:
- Real estate and construction financing
- Private or hard money financing
- Risk Mitigation
- Banking and commercial underwriting
- Capital adequacy issues
A Final Thought…
Asserting or defending a court case requiring expert testimony benefits from a synergy between counsel and the expert. Opinions provided by the expert must be independent and ethical. Mr. Kelley accepts many cases for both plaintiffs and defendants, but not all of them. Cases are accepted by Mr. Kelley where he believes his professional opinion can make a material difference in a just outcome.
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