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Review of Case Materials
Reviews records, documents, testimony, data, and other relevant materials and consults with counsel regarding technical issues related to the matter.
Provide Expert Analysis
Applies specialized knowledge and experience to evaluate the technical or professional issues involved.
Form Expert Opinions
Develops independent, supportable opinions based on the available evidence and relevant standards.
Prepare Expert Reports
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When investment advice is disputed, the record may include advisory agreements, Form ADV disclosures, investment objectives, portfolio holdings, recommendations, monitoring records, fees, communications, and documentation concerning conflicts of interest. An investment expert can examine what information was available, what strategy was implemented, and how the investment activity developed over time. Under the SEC's interpretation of the Investment Advisers Act, investment advisers owe clients a fiduciary duty comprising duties of care and loyalty, with application depending on the scope of the adviser-client relationship. The exact legal application remains a matter for counsel and the court.
Investment banking becomes distinct when the dispute centers on capital raising, underwriting, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, transaction structuring, or similar corporate-finance activities rather than management or evaluation of investments. SEC broker-dealer guidance identifies activities such as finding investors, participating in private placements, and finding buyers or sellers of businesses as activities that can implicate broker-dealer requirements. When those transaction-level investment-banking functions dominate the case, Investment Banking expertise may be the clearer fit.
Relevant materials can include customer or advisory agreements, account-opening documents, Form CRS and Form ADV, where applicable, investment-policy materials, trade records, account statements, portfolio reports, fee schedules, communications, compliance records, and disclosures concerning services or conflicts. The type of firm matters. SEC investor guidance distinguishes broker-dealers, which generally provide more transactional services, from investment advisers, which typically provide ongoing portfolio advice and monitoring. Some firms operate in both capacities. An expert should therefore identify the actual relationship and services involved rather than infer them from the firm's title alone.
Securities, +4
Finance
Securities, +4
Finance
Prepares clear, well-supported expert reports outlining methodology, analysis, findings, and opinions.
Provide Deposition Testimony
Explains findings and opinions under oath and responds to questioning during deposition testimony.
Testify in Court
Presents specialized findings and opinions clearly to judges, juries, arbitrators, or other decision-makers.
Automated investment services may involve questionnaires, model portfolios, asset-allocation logic, rebalancing processes, account settings, disclosures, fee structures, and records showing how the system generated or implemented investment recommendations. Those materials can be compared with the investor information entered into the system and the resulting portfolio activity. SEC materials describe robo-advisers as investment advisers that use computer algorithms to provide investment-advisory services, often with limited human interaction. A dispute involving a robo-adviser or model-based investment product may therefore require examination of both the investment methodology and how the automated process operated in the account at issue.
A short-selling dispute may require examination of trading records, position reports, margin information, order records, securities lending information, and the chronology of purchases and sales. The analysis can help establish how a short position was created, maintained, reported, or closed. FINRA Rule 4560 requires member firms to maintain and report specified short positions in equity securities, while FINRA separately publishes short-interest information collected from member firms. Questions about securities-market rules or broker-dealer compliance may also require Securities, Broker, or FINRA-specific expertise.
Forensic Accounting, +4
Finance
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), +4
Finance
