Certified forensic accountants and financial experts serving Los Angeles attorneys in fraud investigation, economic damages analysis, business valuation, matrimonial disputes, and financial litigation support. CPA, CFF, CFE, and ABV credentialed.
Specialized financial analysis for LA's entertainment, real estate, and commercial litigation, from fraud investigation to high-net-worth divorce.
Los Angeles is home to one of the world's most complex commercial economies: entertainment, real estate, technology, manufacturing, and international trade. This diversity generates a steady stream of financial disputes requiring forensic accountants and financial experts.
The work ranges from multi-million-dollar entertainment contract disputes to high-net-worth Beverly Hills divorces, garment district fraud investigations, and shareholder litigation. Forensic accountants bring the analytical rigor needed to trace funds, quantify damages, and present financial evidence clearly in LA-area courts.
Their services include fraud detection, economic damages quantification, business valuation, lost profits analysis, forensic tracing of commingled assets, insurance claim analysis, and financial statement reconstruction. They produce detailed reports and demonstrative exhibits that turn complex financial data into clear courtroom evidence.
Practitioners range from sole practitioners with niche expertise to teams embedded within national accounting firms. Many have deep experience with California-specific frameworks: the community property regime, California Corporations Code provisions, and the Unfair Competition Law (Business and Professions Code Section 17200).
From family law divisions to entertainment profit disputes: the cases that demand financial forensics.
In LA Superior Court's Family Law divisions, forensic accountants trace separate and community property, value closely held businesses, identify hidden assets and income, and calculate support obligations. California's community property framework makes forensic tracing unavoidable when spouses commingle funds over a long marriage.
Forensic accountants quantify lost profits, analyze breach-of-contract damages, and investigate allegations of embezzlement or self-dealing. Entertainment industry disputes (profit participation, royalty accounting, production cost overruns) are a distinctive LA specialty requiring knowledge of studio audit rights.
The LA County DA's office and the California Department of Insurance pursue insurance fraud aggressively. Forensic accountants assist both sides in analyzing records and quantifying losses. In construction litigation, common given LA's continuous development, they analyze cost overruns, change order disputes, and delay damages.
Certifications and courtroom experience that matter most.
Evaluate deposition and trial testimony experience in LA Superior Court, the Central District of California, and AAA arbitrations. In California, the Sargon Enterprises v. USC decision established the court's gatekeeping role in evaluating expert methods. Your forensic accountant must be able to defend their analytical approach.
A regular CPA focuses on tax preparation, auditing, and financial reporting. A forensic accountant applies accounting skills specifically to legal disputes: investigating fraud, tracing assets, and preparing analyses built to withstand cross-examination. Not all CPAs have the investigative mindset or courtroom communication skills that forensic work demands.
Hourly rates range from $300 to $700 depending on experience and firm size. A straightforward business valuation might cost $15,000 to $40,000, while complex fraud investigations can exceed $100,000. Most practitioners bill hourly and require a retainer upfront. Discuss scope and budget expectations at the outset.
Yes. This is one of their most common roles in LA family law. They analyze bank records, tax returns, business statements, and investment accounts to identify unreported income and undisclosed assets. They also analyze lifestyle spending to detect discrepancies between reported income and actual living expenses.
High-net-worth divorces, partnership disputes, breach-of-contract actions, fraud investigations, entertainment profit participation disputes, insurance fraud, construction cost disputes, and shareholder litigation. Employment cases involving unpaid wages or misclassified contractors also benefit from forensic analysis.
Early retention is almost always advisable. A forensic accountant retained at the outset can shape discovery requests, identify key financial issues, and flag problems before they become costly surprises. In family law cases, early retention matters because California requires preliminary and final declarations of disclosure.
Ron J. Anfuso, CPA, ABV, CFF, CDFA, FABFA runs a Los Angeles forensic accounting firm focused on family law and divorce litigation. He has made over 400 consecutive court appearances without substitution and has testified in Superior Courts across Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Ventura, and San Bernardino counties.
CROSSCOR Litigation Forensics is an Orange County forensic accounting firm led by Greg Raffaele that focuses on divorce and family law matters. Since 2003, the firm has supported attorneys and mediators with expert testimony, business valuations, and Moore Marsden analyses in courts across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties.
Engel & Engel is a Los Angeles forensic accounting firm established in 1994 that provides litigation support in fraud investigations, economic damages, business valuation, and bankruptcy matters. The firm's lead expert has served as an expert witness in over 500 forensic accounting cases, including testimony supporting a $2.3 billion jury award.
Forensic Accounting Services Team, Inc. provides forensic accounting, litigation support, expert witness testimony, and business valuation services throughout the Southern California region from its Arcadia office. The firm's forensic accountants specialize in uncovering financial irregularities and presenting findings in legal proceedings.
Garry Jones is a CPA and Certified in Financial Forensics who founded his Westlake Village firm over 30 years ago. He has served as an expert witness, court-appointed arbitrator, receiver, and litigation team member in U.S. Superior Court and federal bankruptcy cases across Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Thomas Neches has worked as a forensic accountant for over 38 years, making him one of the most experienced CPA expert witnesses in the Los Angeles area. He has testified in both state and federal courts throughout the country on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants across many case types and industries.
Fill out the form below and you'll hear back within 1 business day.
Your request has been sent. You'll hear back within 1 business day.