Consulting

At Dr. John McGowan LLC, consulting is not limited to theoretical analysis—it is practical, courtroom-ready expertise shaped by decades of academic scholarship, professional practice, and litigation experience. Our consulting services span four core areas: Economic, Financial, Accounting, and Tax. Each area is supported by rigorous methodology, professional credentials, and a commitment to clarity and integrity in expert witness practice.

Economic Consulting

Our economic consulting practice addresses the quantification of damages and valuation of losses across a broad spectrum of cases. We provide attorneys with clear, defensible analysis that translates complex data into courtroom-ready conclusions.

Key areas of expertise include:

• • Lost Earnings and Earning Capacity: Evaluating income loss in personal injury, wrongful death, and employment cases, with consideration of age, work-life expectancy, benefits, and inflation.
  • Business Valuation and Lost Profits: Quantifying damages in commercial disputes, breach of contract, and business interruption claims.
  • Life Care Plan Valuation: Calculating present values of long-term medical costs, including category-specific medical inflation adjustments.
  • Labor and Employment Matters: Assessing wage discrimination, wrongful termination, or reduced earning capacity claims.
  • Public Policy and Regulatory Impact: Evaluating the economic implications of government regulation, tax policy, and industry-specific standards.

Our goal is to provide the rational, data-driven framework that supports counsel in negotiating, mediating, or presenting fair economic damages.

Financial Consulting

Financial disputes require both technical insight and practical judgment. Our financial consulting services help attorneys understand the capital structures, markets, and investment issues at stake in litigation.

Areas of focus include:

• Financial Statement Analysis: Examining financial reports for accuracy, completeness, and relevance in litigation settings.
• Valuation of Securities and Investments: Determining fair value in shareholder disputes, portfolio losses, or fraud cases.
• Corporate Finance Disputes: Assessing solvency, capital structure, and liquidity in bankruptcy or restructuring litigation.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty Cases: Analyzing financial mismanagement, insider transactions, or excessive risk-taking.
• Complex Financial Instruments: Evaluating derivatives, hedging strategies, and structured finance arrangements in litigation.

We provide attorneys and courts with a clear, principled understanding of financial evidence, grounded in accepted practices of valuation and market analysis.

Accounting Consulting

Accounting disputes often demand the highest level of scrutiny and independence. With a Ph.D. in Economics, a CPA license, and extensive academic and professional experience, Dr. McGowan provides expert analysis across a range of accounting issues.

Central to this practice is Forensic Accounting, where we investigate and explain financial irregularities, fraudulent reporting, and misappropriation of assets. Areas of service include:

• Fraud Investigation: Applying skills from the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential to detect, document, and explain fraudulent schemes.
• Financial Restatement Analysis: Reviewing misstatements or errors in financial reports.
• Revenue Recognition Disputes: Evaluating whether accounting treatments comply with GAAP and regulatory standards.
• Tracing and Reconstruction: Reconstructing incomplete or manipulated records to establish accurate financial pictures.
• Corporate Veil / Alter Ego Analyses: Evaluating whether companies have operated as distinct entities or under common control in litigation.

Dr. McGowan’s work in this area is strengthened by 34 years as an Accounting Professor and practical experience as a CPA, ensuring the court receives opinions that are rigorous, impartial, and deeply informed.

Tax Consulting

Tax disputes require specialized expertise that bridges technical tax law, accounting principles, and economic impact. Dr. McGowan brings decades of experience as a Tax Professor, a former Tax Manager at Ernst & Young, and Director of Tax Strategies at Archford Accounting.

Areas of practice include:

• Corporate Tax Disputes: Addressing issues of income recognition, transfer pricing, loss carryforwards, and corporate reorganizations.
• Partnership and Pass-Through Entities: Analyzing allocations, distributions, and compliance with partnership taxation rules.
• Tax Provision and ASC 740 Matters: Reviewing and evaluating income tax provisions, deferred tax assets, and uncertain tax positions.
• Estate and Trust Taxation: Offering expert guidance on fiduciary accounting, estate valuations, and tax planning disputes.
• Tax Litigation Support: Assisting attorneys in IRS disputes, state tax controversies, and expert rebuttal of opposing tax experts.

This deep background allows Dr. McGowan to provide testimony and consultation that both clarifies technical tax concepts and frames them within their economic and financial context.

Our Consulting Philosophy

Consulting at Dr. John McGowan LLC is defined by integrity, clarity, and credibility. Each opinion is grounded in accepted professional methods, explained in terms judges and juries can understand, and presented with the independence expected of a trusted expert witness.