FVC2429. The Role of a Forensic Accountant in a Class Action Dispute

This session will focus on how a forensic accountant can assist in the various stages of a class action matter. The session will provide a general overview of class action claims and the process and requirements to certify a class, as well as the potential areas for forensic accounting assistance. CPAs are capable of analyzing accounting and financial data to assess issues such as risk exposure and early case assessment, discovery assistance, identification of potential class members, development of a class-wide damages framework for class certification, and typical damages approaches and challenges encountered by expert witnesses.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the various stages of a class action lawsuit.
• Identify an accountant's role in the analysis of financial and accounting information to assist in class action matters.
• Distinguish approaches to calculating damages on a class-wide basis.