Page 14 - Expert Witness

ties reaching a nonbinding agreement supported by legal counsel and experts. Forms of ADR are dis-
cussed more fully in the section "Overview of Alternative Dispute Resolution."

The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is one of the largest ADR provider organizations, alt-
hough there are several others throughout the United States. AAA uses proprietary governing processes
consisting of established rules and protocols to hear and resolve disputes. Alternatively, disputing parties
may simply agree to prepare a tailored set of rules and protocols to be used for the ADR proceedings.

Internal Guidance

Practitioners providing forensic accounting services should have and comply with internal guidance re-
lated to the acceptance and provision of litigation support services to ensure conformance with applica-
ble professional standards. Internal guidance may be subject to discovery by opposing parties when the
practitioner is serving as an expert witness or providing other litigation support services.

Other Considerations

Conflict of Interest

Conflicts of interest are actual or apparent incompatible interests between the practitioner and others
connected to the engagement. These may include the potential client and legal counsel, opposing parties
and legal counsel, and unnamed but associated third parties to the dispute. Accordingly, before begin-
ning work, the practitioner should undertake a conflict of interest check by making an effort to identify
all of the potentially relevant parties. If a conflict of interest exists, the practitioner should not accept the
engagement or, alternatively, should attempt to resolve the conflict, if possible. The parties and entities
causing the conflict of interest for the practitioner generally should not be disclosed to the potential cli-
ent or others, due to client confidentiality standards.

Conflicts of interest may impair objectivity. When performing forensic accounting services, attorneys or
courts may evaluate potential conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest can impair a practitioner’s abil-
ity to objectively evaluate and present an issue for a client because of a current, prior, or possible future
relationship with other parties, including those who may be involved in the engagement.

Determining whether it is a conflict of interest to accept a litigation engagement against a former client
can best be resolved on a case-by-case basis. The practitioner should consider the “Conflicts of Interest
for Members in Public Practice” interpretation (ET sec. 1.110.010) under the "Integrity and Objectivity
Rule" for guidance regarding identification, evaluation, disclosures, and consent. Factors to consider in-
clude the length of time since the party was a client, the confidential information the practitioner pos-
sesses that may become an issue in the litigation, and the facts and circumstances of the case. The practi-
tioner’s ability to maintain integrity and objectivity as required by SSFS No. 1 fn 3 is paramount in mak-
ing a decision to accept the engagement. The practitioner should be mindful of, and deal with, conflicts
of interest before accepting the engagement and should continue to monitor for conflicts of interest
throughout the performance of the engagement.

Practitioners should consider whether they would be asked to perform services that are inconsistent with
what they currently provide other clients. For example, in a typical securities fraud case, the plaintiff

fn 3 See ET sec. 300.040 and 300.050 respectively. All ET sections can be found in AICPA Professional Standards.

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