“The Formation & Proliferation of Financial Investigations at J.S. Held” by Division Leaders Robbie Brannon & Max Flynn

Founding the Division

The Financial Investigations division at J.S. Held formed in 2019 with the acquisitions of Magnan Graizzaro & Associates (MG&A) and Hagen, Streiff, Newton & Oshiro (HSNO), which brought ~50 forensic accountants to the firm primarily focused on advising in insurance claims and disputes. At the time, J.S. Held had a strong foundation providing technical and scientific expertise in building consulting; forensic engineering; surety; environmental, health, and safety; and construction advisory. Adding a financial component to the firm’s capabilities was a natural extension of the solutions we provided, positioning J.S. Held to assess and quantify damages in a comprehensive manner.

With a strong base in Forensic Accounting, we continued to grow and diversify, seeking out additional acquisition targets and key new hires with the vision of building out a division that could advise in all aspects of financial investigations, matters in dispute, risk management, strategic advisory, and regulatory compliance.

Milestones Throughout Our Growth

• In 2020, J.S. Held acquired VWM Analytics to establish our Economic Damages & Valuations practice, while also increasing our presence in the Western United States.
• Our expansion continued along the West Coast with the additions of Cohen Volk, a forensic economics consulting firm based in Northern California, and Mehner CPAs, which brought local experts in Southern California specializing in financial matters related to family law.
• The acquisition of Simon Consulting in 2021 was our first step into offering restructuring, turnaround, and receivership services in North America.
• Our Global Investigations practice was founded a few months later when we acquired Berkeley Research Group’s non-U.S. Global Investigations team and expanded our presence throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
• The addition of Kotzin Valuation Partners furthered our economic damages expert bench while really ramping up our suite of valuations services.
• Between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, we acquired IPFC Corp and Ocean Tomo, the two premium firms in Intellectual Property, which transformed J.S. Held into the global leader across all assets – tangible and intangible – and value at risk.
• In 2022, we launched our Digital Investigations & Discovery service line and acquired TBG Security to quickly scale our cyber security and investigation resources to meet client demand, while adding specialized iGaming and online sportsbook consulting services.
• That year, we also added expert advisory and investigative services in cryptocurrency and digital assets.
• Securities litigation, risk mitigation, and regulatory response became a focal point in our service offering, bringing over 30 experts from Capital Forensics, Inc. to strengthen our solutions for the financial services industry.
• Through acquisitions of GPW Group and Africa Matters Limited, we bolstered our cross-border investigations and disputes capabilities, while adding premiere business intelligence, political risk, and government relations advisory services. J.S. Held is now a trusted source for global organizations and the media on geopolitical topics, including Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Hamas, and the 2024 election megacycle.
• We developed a new service line within our Intellectual Property (IP) practice with the addition of TechPats™ to deliver patent-focused technical expertise alongside our IP financial services and broader scientific & engineering consulting solutions.
• Q4 2023 we completed the acquisitions of Phoenix Management Services® and Phoenix IB®, expanding our turnaround management, investor services, and investment banking solutions.
• Most recently we had Forensic Resolutions, Inc. join our division to continue strengthening our Economic Damages & Valuations practice.
• This year, as J.S. Held celebrates our 50th Anniversary, we released our inaugural Global Risk Report, featuring insights from our different practice lines on emerging risks and opportunities in the global marketplace, regulatory developments, economic trends, and technological advancements with widespread impacts on the business landscape.

Our Financial Investigations Division Today

As we’ve grown and realigned as an organization to pair synergistic practice lines across divisions and pave the way for continued expansion, our Financial Investigations team has transformed. Today, the division consists of Economic Damages & Valuations, led by David Weiner , Global Investigations, led by Greg Esslinger , and Intellectual Property, led by Todd Schoettelkotte, CPA, CVA , with specialized service lines within these practices. Our journey has brought together many different brands through acquisitions and senior professionals via organic hires that come from different backgrounds, industries, geographies, and cultures. This diversity and the complementary nature of our skillsets is one of our strongest assets and an element that differentiates J.S. Held.

We are proud of what the 500+ experts within our Financial Investigations division have accomplished together over the past several years and the partnership we have with our colleagues in other J.S. Held divisions to deliver unrivaled expertise and innovative solutions to our clients in a wide variety of matters. The collaboration and shared values amongst our experts, ranked among the best in the world by publications such as Chambers & Partners, IAM, Verdantix, Who’s Who Legal, and Leader’s League, continue to define our culture and drive our collective success.

Our steadfast commitment to quality and service has led us to become trusted advisors to organizations across six continents, including 81% of the Global 200 Law Firms, 70% of the Forbes Top 20 Insurance Companies, and 65% of Fortune 100 Companies.

The journey has been full of triumphs and challenges. It hasn’t always been easy. We’ve learned what works well, what doesn’t, and how we can continue to strengthen the value we have to offer our clients and team members. And we know that the road ahead will have more lessons along the way.

To celebrate 50 years is an honor. As we look around and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going, we feel a great sense of excitement about the future of our division and the firm as we continue to grow and advise clients seeking to mitigate risk and realize value globally.

Join Us as We Celebrate 50 Years

Throughout 2024, leaders from across J.S. Held are sharing stories of their experiences over the past 50 years and how the industry and different departments have evolved. We look forward to sharing more of our company’s journey, how we have reached this milestone, and how we are preparing for the future.