Page 16 - Family Law Services

Chapter 2

The CPA’s Role in Divorce Engagements

CPAs have certain roles and responsibilities in proceedings involving the resolution of family law mat-
ters. It is very important for the CPA to maintain objectivity because an unbiased opinion is in the best
interest of both the client and the court.

Moreover, the CPA should maintain objectivity to protect his or her own reputation and credibility,
which is at stake throughout the engagement. An important distinction between the advocacy roles of at-
torneys and CPAs is that attorneys advocate for their clients, and CPAs advocate their professional opin-
ions.

Consultant

Often, an attorney in a family law matter retains the CPA as a consultant to provide advice on the facts
and issues of the case and strategic positions that can be taken, offer opinions of value, and assist by
contributing financial advice in the areas of pensions, tax, market analysis, and statistics. As a consult-
ant, the CPA may also be asked to assist an attorney with evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the
financial aspects of a case. The CPA may also educate the attorney and client on possible financial theo-
ries that may be relevant to the matter.

If retained as a consulting expert, the CPA’s engagement letter should be between the CPA and the at-
torney or law firm, which allows for the CPA’s work product to be protected under the attorney-client
privilege and not become discoverable.

In a consulting engagement, the CPA’s work product, which could consist of personal knowledge, work-
ing papers, reports, calculations, exhibits, notes, e-mails, and other documents, may be protected by at-
torney work-product privilege. However, if the CPA’s role should change to expert witness, then that
same work product is likely to be subject to discovery, which includes the work product produced dur-
ing the consulting engagement. The court ultimately determines whether an item is discoverable.

Expert Witness

CPAs retained as experts may perform the same or similar duties that would be performed as consult-
ants. They may also be required to testify in depositions or at trials in support of their work product,
opinions, or conclusions. If retained as a testifying expert, all work product is typically discoverable. In
some cases, the CPA can originally be retained as a consulting expert and, later, transition into a testify-
ing expert. In those instances, the CPA must keep in mind that once he or she is designated as a testify-
ing expert, even work performed as the consulting expert becomes discoverable.

Litigation proceedings also demand that objectivity be maintained when providing courtroom testimony.
Experts must be believable and credible in the eyes of the trier of fact. Maintaining objectivity maximiz-
es both the CPA’s credibility with the court and his or her assistance and benefit to the client.

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