Leadership Team

Richard Aindow

Partner, Group Finance Director

Richard is an experienced finance leader with over 15 years of experience in a variety of operational and commercial finance roles. He oversees the day-to-day operations of HKA’s Global Finance team and is responsible for statutory compliance, working capital management, monthly reporting, budgeting, and forecasting.

Richard has a background in statutory audit with several clients in the professional services sector. He also worked as an Operations Manager in a professional services business before joining HKA. Since then, Richard has held various roles in our EMEA and Corporate teams, covering different aspects of Finance and Operations.

Richard is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Chris Bernard

Partner, Global People Recruitment and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Chris Bernard has thirty years of experience in board-level talent acquisition and career development. She is responsible for the group’s people recruitment strategy and the implementation and delivery of the firm’s equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) strategy.  

Chris’s background as a professional headhunter and ED&I lead underpins her passion for people. She leads and works closely with our global recruitment team to drive people growth strategies and brings equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives into focus across all HKA offices worldwide.  

Chris’s priority is to attract the best people in the industry to HKA whilst ensuring that the business retains, develops and engages with all existing colleagues. She is dedicated to promoting an inclusive culture, fostering diversity, and maximising our talent across the firm.  

Prior to HKA, Chris has held several senior positions across a diverse range of UK and international corporations in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She specialises in executive talent acquisition, talent management, equality, diversity and inclusion, succession planning, leadership development, business transformation and executive search solutions.  

Renny Borhan

Partner, Chief Executive Officer

Renny Borhan has over 35 years of experience in leading management consulting, dispute resolution, and project management professional services businesses.

Before becoming the CEO of HKA, Renny served as the Senior Vice President & Managing Director, International for the Construction Claims & Consulting Group at Hill International. In this role, Renny managed operations across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Prior to Hill, Renny held various positions in management consulting and project management with British Petroleum, Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), and the Walt Disney Company.

In 2017, Renny spearheaded the management buyout of the Construction Claims & Consulting Group from Hill International, which was subsequently rebranded as HKA with the support of Bridgepoint Development Capital. Additionally, Renny led the buyout from Bridgepoint Development Capital to PAI Partners, further solidifying HKA’s position in the industry and ensuring its continued growth and success.

As CEO of HKA, Renny is instrumental in driving the company’s strategic vision and growth. Under his leadership, HKA has expanded its global footprint, enhanced its service offerings, and achieved significant milestones, including high industry performance rankings. Renny’s client-centric approach has been pivotal in building strong, lasting relationships with clients, ensuring that their needs and expectations are consistently met and exceeded.

Renny’s commitment to driving a culture of collaboration, teamwork, and mutual success has been pivotal in maintaining HKA’s reputation as a leading consultancy in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, litigation support and expert witness services.

James Dowling

Partner, Global Learning, Development and Succession

James Dowling has over 30 years of experience in learning and people development, holding senior positions across a diverse range of global commercial organisations, including Royal Bank of Scotland, PA Consulting and Baker McKenzie LLP. 

James is a qualified business coach, a member of the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC) and a member of the Institute of Leadership and Management. 

James is a qualified practitioner in several psychometric tools, including Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Step I and Step II, WAVE, 360 and Leadership development, Thomas Kilmann Conflicts instrument and Test User: Occupational Ability and Personality (BPS Level A and B) qualified. 

Lydia Brown

Partner, Chief Financial Officer

Lydia has over 30 years of experience in financial planning, profit and loss management, and global operations in the services, technology and software sectors. Her expertise also includes leading multiple private equity investment transactions, as well as mergers and acquisitions diligence and post-merger integrations.

She is a member of the board and works closely with the Senior Leadership Team and the Partner Group to deliver on the firm’s growth strategy and financial targets.

Lydia started her career at Price Waterhouse (PwC) and held senior finance positions at Ness Digital Engineering, Capgemini, Aricent and Hearst Television. Lydia has extensive PE equity experience, having worked with KKR-backed portfolio companies in her last two positions.

Lydia is a Certified Public Accountant (New York), a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Michigan.

Frank Giunta

Partner, Senior Advisor, Global Construction Practice

Frank Giunta is a registered Professional Engineer with more than 35 years of experience. He has been actively involved in project management oversight, the evaluation, presentation, resolution and management of construction claims and has acted as expert witness on more than 65 occasions. 

He has provided expert testimony in various legal forums on issues including differing site conditions, defective contract documents, adequacy of design, construction defects, schedule delays, productivity evaluations, and cost analysis. He has extensive experience in various alternative dispute resolution formats. 

Frank’s expertise has been utilized in the evaluation of the adequacy of design issues, professional performance, differing site conditions, defective specifications, contract terminations, cost and financial analysis, productivity and delay analysis. He has been responsible for the evaluation of cost and time impacts resulting from construction problems. 

Frank has managed complex consulting assignments across various sectors on behalf of public and private owners, engineers, contractors, insurance and financial institutions. He has been engaged in the design of multiple projects and has also prepared engineer’s estimates and technical specifications. 

Frank lectures extensively throughout North and South America. He is a former adjunct faculty member of Drexel University and Widener University, teaching in the construction management program, and a fellow of the Project Management College of Scheduling (PMCOS).  

Josephine Guckian

Partner, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Josephine Guckian is responsible for the firm’s brand, marketing and communication strategies, enhancing HKA’s market-leading position in claims and disputes in core and new industries. She actively collaborates with senior leadership and the global business development and marketing teams to develop relevant and bespoke marketing campaigns and communications programs to promote the expertise, knowledge and insights of HKA’s experts, consultants and advisors. 

A chartered marketer and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Josephine has over 27 years of experience working in B2B professional services firms. Prior to HKA, she was UK Head of Marketing at WSP, one of the world’s leading engineering professional services firms, and before that, Group Marketing & Communications Director at Sweett Group (now Currie & Brown), an asset management and construction consultancy. 

Josephine holds a professional postgraduate diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a mini-MBA in marketing from Marketing Week. 

Josephine also leads HKA’s Environmental, Social & Governance Steering Committee, working closely with the respective ESG leads in environmental sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion, community impact, and ethics and integrity to drive the firm’s commitment to making a positive and sustainable difference within its communities, environment and industries. 

Richard Jones

Partner, Head of International Tax

Richard Jones is a Partner and Head of International Tax. He has more than 15 years of experience working in tax and corporate finance. Richard previously held positions with KPMG and Grant Thornton, where he advised a number of UK and multinational organisations, predominantly with an international focus, before joining HKA in 2017. 

Richard is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. 

Jeremy Sampson

Partner, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer

Jeremy Sampson is responsible for overseeing and managing all legal and compliance matters globally. He ensures that the firm remains in compliance with regulatory and legal requirements as well as internal policies. He is responsible for the provision of legal services to the group as well as being instrumental in developing and maintaining compliance programmes, reviewing policies and ensuring first class governance processes are in place. Jeremy will also play an integral role in any future mergers and acquisitions. 

Jeremy is a seasoned General Counsel with over 30 years of experience, having held previous roles at FTSE 250 companies, as Company Secretary and Legal Director of Carpetright plc and as Group General Counsel and deputy to the Company Secretary at Taylor Woodrow plc prior to its merger with George Wimpey. He was previously named one of the ‘Hot 100’ lawyers by The Lawyer magazine. 

Jeremy has also held a senior post at Rexel, having completed his training at both Richards Butler (now Reed Smith) and Prudential Corporation. 

Ave Tucker

Partner, Strategic Growth Advisor

Avram (Ave) Tucker is a forensic accountant with more than 40 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on hundreds of occasions. 

Ave has provided expert testimony in deposition, trial, hearings or arbitration on approximately 200 cases. He has appeared in various venues and has testified in arbitrations across the world.  

He supports clients in dispute proceedings, has consulted on compliance with contractual terms and conditions and has consulted on the proper application of generally accepted accounting principles. 

Ave has performed more than 500 forensic accounting, economic and operational studies. He has performed causation and liability analyses and has prepared or analyzed damage claims relating to increased costs, lost profits, business value, asset value, royalties and disgorgement. 

Ave is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He has also been recognized as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal. He regularly lectures and is also an officer and member of the executive committee of the George Washington University Board of Trustees.  

David Whittaker

Partner, Chief Information Officer

David Whittaker is a highly experienced technology and infrastructure professional with over 20 years of experience. He is responsible for all aspects of IT at HKA.  

David has worked for a variety of private and private equity-backed firms throughout his career. He has worked as the Head of Infrastructure and Data Security at Inspired Education, which saw him oversee over 85 schools on multiple continents with a market value of over $5bn. David was also Director of Infrastructure at Element Materials Technology, where he was responsible for all aspects of Infrastructure and IT leadership in the multi-national organisation, with over 200 locations and boasting a market value of over $7bn. 

Throughout his diverse career, David has managed and delivered many essential technology and infrastructure projects that have helped expand businesses’ capabilities, reduced costs and improved efficiency. 

Andrew Wilde

Partner, Head of Information Technology

Andrew has over 20 years of operational IT management experience. He is responsible for the firm’s IT operations, leading all aspects of operations, support, and infrastructure management, as well as vendor and program management, change management, and incident management. Andrew is also involved in the digital and IT steering committee and is actively involved in cyber planning and implementation. 

Andrew has worked in various aspects of IT across various sectors globally, including agriculture, aviation, banking, the public sector and professional services. 

He completed a four-year IT Services modern apprenticeship with Sema, an IT Facilities Management company, and is a member of the British Computer Society.

Kate Wood

Partner, Chief People Officer

Kate Wood has over 35 years of experience in human resources and people strategy for global professional services firms and is responsible for the group’s people strategy and HR delivery. She focuses on the firm’s people-centred priorities and initiatives, including HKA’s employee value proposition, equality, diversity and inclusion, talent management, recruitment, learning and development, culture and leadership, and effective people policies and procedures.

Kate is an experienced professional with a track record of developing and empowering effective global teams and strong cultures, built on an international career in human resources. She has a wealth of expertise in strategic people management initiatives and business transformation as well as equality, diversity and inclusion across professional consultancies and a variety of different business environments.

Prior to joining HKA, she was the Chief People Officer for the National Citizen Service Trust, a not-for-profit organisation, established to shape, support, champion, and lead a thriving National Citizen Service. Before, she held positions at PA Consulting Group and DTZ (now Cushman & Wakefield) as Global Human Resources Director.

She works closely with the Executive Management Team, the Regional Human Resources leads, Partners and employees to develop HKA’s people initiatives.

Naomi Daysog

Partner, Americas

With over 20 years working in various capacities of the legal consulting industry, Ms. Daysog specializes in developing and implementing strategies to enhance reputation and drive revenue growth. Using a data-driven approach, she translates high-level objectives into actionable plans with measurable outcomes, fostering collaboration and profitability. Known for aligning stakeholders, building practices, and cultivating strong client relationships, Ms. Daysog is a committed business developer, leveraging her proprietary lead generation methods to secure opportunities in complex, high-profile patent and commercial litigations.

As a Partner at HKA, she collaborates with the litigation consulting team and expert witnesses on business development and client management, serving as a key liaison with law firms and Fortune 500 companies.

A dedicated advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the legal profession, Ms. Daysog is an active member of ChIPs, a global organization dedicated to advancing and connecting women in technology, law and policy, as well as the Asian Law Alliance, and the National Pacific Asian Bar Association (NAPABA).

Outside of her professional work, Ms. Daysog is a classically trained soprano with extensive experience in opera, musical theater, and studio recordings.

Tracy Doyle

Partner, Americas

Tracy Doyle has more than 30 years of experience in business development and is responsible for growing the American client program with a focus on Canada, rail and international arbitration and investor state disputes.  

She is a key account manager for several global law firm clients. She has contributed to the development of several thought leadership pieces including HKA’s CRUX Insight Reports and is an instructor for HKA’s Expert Development Training and Management and Leadership Training Programs.   

Tracy holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and has been a member of the American Bar Association, Forum on Construction for more than 30 years.   

In addition, she is a divisional member of the International Division and the Project Delivery and Construction Technology Division; a committee member of Building for Good; a member of Arbitral Women; the International Bar Association; International Construction Projects Committee, Section on Energy and Environment; former Board Member of American Road and Transportation Road Builders, Planning and Design Division.  

Jae Ellis

Principal, Americas

With more than twenty-five years of experience, Jae Ellis creates and nurtures relationships with partners in global and regional law firms as well as general counsel and heads of litigation for major corporations. He advises and assists attorneys in identifying experienced testifying and consulting expert witnesses for quantifying commercial damages, forensic accountants, fraud examiners, and other experts who support financial investigations and provide compliance and risk management services.

Howard Gendler

Partner, EMEA

Howard Gendler is an experienced business development executive with nearly 40 years of experience leading international sales and business development organisations.    

His core focus is selling HKA’s extensive range of expert witness services to the international arbitration community across the EMEA region, targeting leading practitioners at top-ranked international law firms. He leads the firm’s global initiative to drive growth and facilitate collaboration within its international arbitration practice. Howard also acts as a relationship partner for many of HKA’s leading global law firm clients.  

Prior to joining HKA at its inception, Howard held business development leadership roles with a number of leading global professional services firms, including AlixPartners, Navigant and KPMG. Outside the professional services market, he has also held senior sales leadership roles in the information services and financial services sectors.  

Howard has an MBA in Finance from New York University and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Toby Hunt

Partner, Business Development Lead, EMEA

Toby Hunt is an experienced business leader with over 30 years of experience and a strong background in operations and business development.  He is currently responsible for the Business Development of the EMEA region, and is familiar with a broad spectrum of projects, including infrastructure and utility systems, power generation and distribution, onshore, offshore, upstream and downstream oil and gas facilities, hospitals, airports and production facilities, as well as commercial and residential developments.​

Toby is also responsible for the management and strategic business development of HKA’s claims and expert business, with a global focus. He plays an integral role in managing and developing relationships with some of HKA’s key clients worldwide.

He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and is currently chair of the UK Executive Committee of WPC Energy. He also previously served as a Non-Executive Director for the Energy Industries Council and has sat on various steering groups for the Society of Construction Law, the Chartered Institute of Building, and the International Superconference. He has authored and contributed to multiple thought leadership pieces.

Cheng-Yee Khong 鄺靜儀

Client Relations Director, APAC

Cheng-Yee is qualified to practise law in England & Wales and Malaysia, and holds a Master’s degree in international business and management. She is an international arbitration specialist with a global career who has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Paris and London.  Cheng-Yee is responsible for managing / developing client relationships and go-to-market strategy in the Asia Pacific region.

She has over 20 years’ experience in developing and growing the Asia Pacific market for the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration (ICC) and Omni Bridgeway, both global leaders in their respective businesses. 

She established and headed the first overseas branch office of the ICC in Hong Kong and was responsible for the day-to-day management of hundreds of ICC arbitrations, emergency arbitrations and other dispute resolution processes. 

Cheng-Yee subsequently joined Omni Bridgeway as an investment manager in charge of the Hong Kong office, as well as a senior client relationship manager.  She was responsible for assessing and sourcing suitable matters for dispute finance, negotiating commercial terms with clients and overseeing funded claims through to resolution. 

She is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration & ADR and is recognised as a Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal in 2022, 2023 and 2024.  She serves on several committees worldwide including the ICC Hong Kong Arbitration Subcommittee.

WeChat ID: Chengyeekhong

John Paolin

Partner, Americas

John Paolin is a versatile business development leader with over 30 years of experience in marketing, business development, and account management. His clients include business owners and outside counsel. He specializes in matching clients with the optimal expert consultant and supporting accounts through the project lifecycle. His marketing expertise helps clients gain industry exposure through seminars, industry papers, and webinars. John has produced and moderated multiple industry panels and has authored a multitude of industry articles.   

John’s clients span a variety of industries, with most clients being litigation attorneys in construction, government contracts, forensic accounting, and commercial damages.  He is also the leader of HKA’s Airport Capital Improvement initiatives for the Americas.   

John serves on the board of ACI-NA’s Operations and Technical Committee and is on the advisory board of the CMAA – Mid Atlantic chapter. He was a co-creator of the ACI-NA Airport Construction Strategy Summit. In its 18th year of production, John was the initial leader of the events planning committee and remains active as one of the leaders today. With two colleagues, he created and produced the 2020 ABA Forum on the Construction Law Covid Response webinar series. The series won an Engineering News-Record News Maker award. He was a contributing author of multiple editions of the Airport Owners Guide to Project Delivery, which serves as the industry standard for airport capital improvement project delivery. 

Christopher Paterson

Partner, EMEA

Christopher Paterson helps private practice and in-house legal teams appoint expert witnesses and consultants for complex disputes. Chris has over 20 years of experience in the legal disputes market.  

He has a detailed understanding of the capabilities and experience of HKA’s experts and is able to make recommendations based on the unique requirements of each assignment. Chris has experience across all HKA’s sectors and service lines and regularly helps deploy multidisciplinary expert teams on large projects.  

Prior to joining HKA, he worked as a Senior Practice Manager in a leading barristers’ chambers and as an Investment Manager in a leading litigation funder. 

Chris holds a professional postgraduate diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He has been recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for his contribution to the London Bar. 

David Price

Partner, EMEA

David Price has over 35 years of experience managing client relationships on large, complex engineering and construction disputes.  

He specialises in supporting European contractors in their international markets. He has worked with clients across the civil and building, oil and process, offshore marine, and shipbuilding sectors in Canada, the US, South America, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, and Australia. He is also experienced in delivering contractual and claims seminars on International Forms of Contact.  

David trained as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor before studying for a law degree and qualifying as a non-practising barrister. He also passed a Diploma in Arbitration and became a Chartered Arbitrator. David has served on an RICS Committee and organised an RICS Junior Discussion Group. 

Fiona Wilkie

Associate Director, EMEA

Fiona Wilkie works closely with private practice and in-house legal teams. She focuses on understanding their practices and needs and assisting with introductions to HKA’s experts, including for live matters and speaking engagements. She has over 8 years of experience in the construction industry, focusing on business development and project management.

Previously, Fiona served as a project manager for many Forensic Technical Services and multidisciplinary projects working closely with a wide range of HKA’s experts and clients throughout the project lifecycle.

Fiona has a master’s in French and Spanish and is a member of Arbitral Women, the Society of Construction Law (SCL), and a committee member for the Young Professionals in Construction (YPiC). She is APM Project Management accredited at SCQF Level 7, has Legal Experience Training Advanced Professional Award in Expert Witness Evidence (LETAPAEWE) accredited at Masters/BTEC Level 7 by Edexcel, and completed Expert Witness Training with The Academy of Experts.

Adam Winegard

Partner, Americas

Adam Winegard has over 30 years of experience in business development, risk assessment and analysis, management, marketing and consulting within the construction claims, construction management and insurance industries.  

He leads HKA’s oil and gas global business development team, where his responsibilities include business development and sales, strategic planning and marketing.  

Adam also has extensive experience performing risk analysis within a range of sectors for EPC and insurance policies, as well as Architectural / Engineering (A/E) errors and omissions (E&O) and specialty contingency project policies. He’s managed teams of engineers and construction specialists involved in developing specialized planning studies.  For the past 20 years, Adam has worked collaboratively with legal counsel identifying experts to avoid, mitigate, and resolve disputes in construction, energy, and financial litigation, arbitration, and mediation.  

Adam is a Co-regional Director for the Southern Central & Northern Texas Region of the Society of Construction Law. He was previously a Co-regional Director for the Southern California Region of the Society of Construction Law. He is a past Chair and Vice-chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Construction Subsection and was a Corporate Citizenship Award Nominee in 2022 by the Los Angeles Business Journal. He is on the Board of Trustees for the Dallas Torah Day School and was awarded the Shofar Award by the Boy Scouts of America.   

Paul Ficca

Partner, Regional CEO, Americas

Paul Ficca is a forensic accountant with over 36 years of experience. He has been retained as a quantum and damages expert on more than 40 occasions.

Paul has testified in jury and bench trials in multiple court jurisdictions and at various arbitration and litigation venues domestically and internationally. He has been engaged as an expert witness for disputes with values in excess of a billion dollars regarding real estate and construction, mergers and acquisitions, government enforcement actions, insurance, complex fraud investigations, and other commercial contract disputes. 

Paul’s experience ranges from project controls consulting, auditing, and in-depth project cost studies to claims analysis, dispute resolution and quantum calculations. He has worked for a broad range of clients including in the energy, transportation, manufacturing, high-tech, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, military defense, leisure and entertainment sectors.

Paul specializes in calculating economic damages and direct cost losses. He analyses matters ranging from differing site conditions, architectural defects and scope change impacts to alleged product defects, delay and damages, and losses related to labor, materials, equipment, and contract termination.

Paul is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Management Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and is Certified in Financial Forensics. He has been published on the use of forensic experts in construction litigation and on matters of change and productivity and has delivered numerous presentations.

Ed Federico

Partner, Head of Operations, US

Ed Federico is a delay and quantum expert with over 20 years of experience within the construction, civil and structural engineering industry, with clients and projects based in Europe and North America.  

He specialises in complex project monitoring, closeout and construction litigation on projects valued at over US$1 billion. 

Ed has testified in federal court, delivered sworn depositions and presented in mediation proceedings. He has been engaged as an expert on damages matters in excess of US$13 million and has experience working on government contracts. He has been involved in disputes that are more than US$500 million on projects valued at over US$9 billion.  

Ed is proficient in claims analysis, delay impact analysis and cost analysis. He has also provided project monitoring and management services for clients, as well as financial and contractual due diligence, intellectual property damages calculations and insurance claim support for policies including errors and omissions, and Subguard®. Further to this, he has worked with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) performing inspection of damaged structures and retrofit design. 

Some of the organisations that he is a member of include the American Bar Association (ABA), the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), the New York Building Congress (NYBC) and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). 

Gino Wideen

Partner, Head of Operations, US

Gino Wideen specializes in operations management and the establishment and implementation of strategic organizational practices in all areas of business. He has vast experience managing both sales and implementation of project control software, with an emphasis on construction project applications as well as large software implementation and training projects for government agencies, developers, general contractors and subcontractors. His sector experience covers buildings, industrial, power and utilities, infrastructure and oil and gas.

At HKA, and previously as Senior Vice President at Hill International, Gino manages HKA-Tech. His focus on globalization has directly resulted in HKA becoming the largest reseller and service provider of PMWeb in the world; establishing a presence in Australia, Europe, and Middle East.. 

Gino was Managing Partner of PCI Group, LLC, which was purchased by Hill in 2008. He served as Hill’s Vice President, focusing on integrating PCI’s strength in project control software within Hill’s project management and construction claims and consulting business. Prior to joining PCI Group, he spent 25 years as a small business owner.

Gino currently serves as a President of the Board of Directors for Project 150, a local organization that helps homeless, displaced, and disadvantaged high school students stay in school and graduate. 

Rick Moffat

Partner, Head of Operations, Canada

Rick Moffat has 30 years of construction industry experience, including 20 years of project advisory and dispute management work.  He has been appointed on more than 50 occasions as an expert in matters of both delay and quantum. 

Rick has testified in litigation and arbitration, including giving concurrent evidence. He has acted as an expert for disputed values of up to $300 million on projects of up to $1.3 billion. He has also presented in facilitated mediation and settlement venues. 

Rick has a background in international contracting and construction management with projects ranging from oil and gas, industrial and power to infrastructure, commercial and institutional sectors. He has experience in project management, contract risk assessment, scheduling, change processing and project close out. 

Rick specialises in project risk management, schedule delay, loss of productivity, construction costs and damages, and delay and disruption.  

Rick is a regular faculty member for the Osgoode Law School Certificate in Construction Law program and is a founding fellow and board member of the Project Management College of Scheduling. He regularly presents for industry organisations on a range of topics. 

Linda Konrath

Partner, Advisory Lead

Linda Konrath is a civil engineer with more than 20 years of experience in the engineering and construction industries. She has led or participated in engagements including contract and procurement advisory services, performance audits and process improvement studies, contract and specification development, claims avoidance and dispute resolution, and research and training. 

Linda has been responsible for the development of specifications, contract documents, and programmatic and procedural manuals, with an emphasis on risk management, performance specifications, and alternative project delivery methods. She has assisted owners of large-scale capital programs in assessing and improving their project governance and performance through the development and implementation of enhanced policies and procedures, standardization of contract documents and templates, and clarification of roles and responsibilities across functional units. 

Linda holds a bachelors’ and master’s in civil engineering and a master’s in business administration. She serves on the board of the Construction Management Association of America’s Mid-Atlantic Chapter and is a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Contract Law Committee

Maged Abdelsayed

Partner, Construction, Claims and Expert Services Lead, Americas

Maged Abdelsayed is a professional engineer with 35 years of experience in the construction industry. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 100 occasions for matters relating to delay, quantum and government contracting. 

Maged has been cross-examined in both litigation and arbitration appearing before various courts and panels. His has acted as an expert witness in North America and internationally on disputed projects ranging from transport infrastructure, power generation and utilities, buildings and industrial plants. 

He has held various project and site management positions for consulting and engineering firms and major contractors.  

Maged specialises in disputes related to project delays, labour productivity losses, the impact of changes on construction work, and damages assessment. He also provides consulting and advisory services including developing and implementing project management plans and audits, reviewing project practices and control systems, assessing costs and schedules, cost recovery, and preparing and defending construction claims. 

Maged is a member of Quebec’s Order of Engineers, the American Association of Cost Engineers International, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Bar Association. He holds a master’s in engineering project management and is a frequent speaker at industry events and has developed and delivered various training programs. 

Bob Groves

Partner, Joint Construction, Claims and Expert Services Lead, US

Bob Groves has over 35 years of experience in the construction, aerospace and shipbuilding industries. He has been retained as an expert regarding engineering, program management, scheduling, accounting and contract matters on numerous occasions. He has also been recognised by Who’s Who Legal as a Construction Global Elite Thought Leader. 

Bob has testified in state and federal civil courts, in regulatory proceedings, and in arbitrations as well as participating in mediations and settlement negotiations. His testimony has covered critical path method (CPM) scheduling, delay analysis, construction accounting and damages analysis. 

Bob’s consulting expertise includes the evaluation of schedule delays and cost overruns on construction and manufacturing programs, and the preparation and evaluation of contract claims. He has also performed fraud and false claims investigations and prepared settlement proposals related to contract terminations. 

Bob is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Project Management Institute, the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering, the Construction Financial Management Association and the American Bar Association.  

Bob is an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University’s School of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has also lectured to corporations, public agencies, law firms, and industry groups.  

Scott Hollingsworth

Partner, Joint Construction, Claims and Expert Services Lead, US

Scott Hollingsworth is a delay and quantum expert with more than 20 years of experience in the litigation consulting industry. He specialises in the investigation and resolution of business disputes within the construction industry. 

Scott has worked with clients from a range of sectors in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North America and Central America. He has testified as an expert in arbitration and court proceedings and has presented schedule delay and damage analysis during settlement negotiations.  

He has led teams analysing critical path method (CPM) schedules to determine causes and durations of project delays. He has carried out financial analysis to quantify project cost growth including those related to delay, disruption, acceleration, and productivity. He has also performed forensic investigations of construction costs incurred to verify work performed and to determine percent complete at various points in time on a project. 

Scott holds a BS Engineering and is consistently recognized in Who’s Who Legal, along with being a published thought leader. He is a member and fellow of the Project Management College of Scheduling (PMCOS) and has undertaken an Executive Education Finance course. He is a member of the Association of the Advancement of Cost Engineers (AACE), a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), and a member of the Chicago Building Congress (CBC). 

Paul Pocalyko

Partner, Joint Construction, Claims and Expert Services Lead, US

Paul Pocalyko has 35 years of experience in accounting, finance, consulting, and operations management. He has acted as an expert on more than 80 occasions in matters of delay, disruption, quantum and damages. 

Paul has served as an arbitrator in numerous disputes and has been cross-examined or deposed on more than 100 occasions, including delivering concurrent evidence.  

He has been involved in acquisition disputes, bankruptcy and troubled company issues, construction defaults and delays, economic damages, fraud investigations and healthcare fraud and abuse. He has carried out work related to intellectual property infringements, partnership disputes, products liability, professional liability, real estate disputes and wrongful termination. 

Paul spent more than half of his career working for a prestigious accounting firm, providing financial consulting and accounting services to attorneys, insurance companies, government agencies and public and private corporations. He also provided consulting and forensic services to clients in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 

Paul regularly speaks before various professional and educational groups on aspects of financial analysis, litigation consulting, fraud investigations and economic damages. He has also co-authored and authored multiple publications and articles on the same subjects. Paul is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified in Financial Forensics and a Certified Fraud Examiner. 

Paul K. Meyer

Partner, Joint Forensic Accounting & Commercial Damages Lead

Paul Meyer has 40 years of experience consulting on financial, accounting, valuation and damages matters and has been appointed on over 500 occasions.  

He has testified in over 250 depositions and 75 trials and major arbitrations in a variety of settings. He has evaluated and quantified hundreds of economic damages claims and has significant experience in class action matters including the analysis of issues related to class certification, as well as damages. 

Paul is recognized as a leading practitioner in the valuation of proprietary properties, systems and platforms. Over the past 30 years, he has provided expertise and analyses on intellectual property valuation and licensing matters in a wide range of industries. He has extensive experience in determining royalties for technology subject to FRAND requirements in various jurisdictions around the world.  

He provided successful testimony in two of the largest copyright infringement trials in US history: Oracle v. SAP (Enterprise Software) and Mattel v. MGA Bratz (Fashion Dolls). Testimony on behalf of plaintiff, Oracle, the jury awarded US$1.3B for copyright infringement, reported by Bloomberg as largest verdict in history. 

Paul is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Accredited in Business Valuation. He has held various appointments for over 25 years at Stanford University. He has also been identified as a leading testifying expert on intellectual property valuation by IAM and the Wall Street Journal. 

Ave Tucker

Partner, Joint Forensic Accounting & Commercial Damages Lead

Avram (Ave) Tucker is a forensic accountant with more than 40 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on hundreds of occasions. 

Ave has provided expert testimony in deposition, trial, hearings or arbitration on approximately 200 cases. He has appeared in various venues and has testified in arbitrations across the world.  

He supports clients in dispute proceedings, has consulted on compliance with contractual terms and conditions and has consulted on the proper application of generally accepted accounting principles. 

Ave has performed more than 500 forensic accounting, economic and operational studies. He has performed causation and liability analyses and has prepared or analyzed damage claims relating to increased costs, lost profits, business value, asset value, royalties and disgorgement. 

Ave is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He has also been recognized as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal. He regularly lectures and is also an officer and member of the executive committee of the George Washington University Board of Trustees. 

Michael Griffin

Partner, Forensic Technical Services Lead

Michael Griffin is a civil engineer with more than 45 years of construction industry experience. He has acted as an expert witness in government contracting and technical matters on eight occasions. 

Michael has testified in federal and state courts, arbitration proceedings and in mediation. His expert appointments include varied infrastructure and buildings projects with project values in excess of US$1.8 billion. 

He has worked for contractors and government clients as a project manager, construction manager and principal in charge for multi-million-dollar projects across North America.  He has assisted in the delivery of various technically complex facilities and projects and is skilled in the planning, design, and construction of major building, transportation, and heavy civil construction projects.  

Michael’s expertise includes delay analysis, evaluation of defective construction, calculation of damages, contract analysis and administration, and the assessment of contractor performance and standard of care. He has extensive experience in conducting detailed analyses of construction issues and disputes and preparing expert reports of his findings. 

Michael is a Professional Engineer and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) and hold a master’s in both business administration and civil engineering.  

Greg Bingham

Partner, Government Contracts Lead

Greg Bingham is a forensic accounting and quantum expert with over 36 years of experience in business consulting, primarily for Government and Construction Contractors. 

He has consulted with contractors to the U.S. government, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Army Corp of Engineers, Department of Veterans Affairs, Agency for International Development, the General Services Administration and National Institute of Health. This has included presenting his findings in settlement negotiations, alternate dispute resolution proceedings, depositions and trials. 

Greg is a highly experienced expert with over 100 commissions. He has testified in litigations over 40 times, twice in arbitrations, delivered 25 depositions, and has given concurrent evidence. He has acted as an expert in disputes up to US$2 billion on projects valued in excess of US$15 billion.  

Greg has worked on commissions across a variety of sectors throughout Europe, the Middle East, North and South America.  

He has assisted clients with a multitude of issues arising from disputes. He has reviewed and prepared hundreds of claims for changed work, delay and disruption, as well as over 1,000 termination settlement proposals.  

Greg is a member and chair of various prestigious advisory boards and committees, as well as a regular contributor to academic books and journals in relation to contracts, including Thomas Reuters.  

Nader Akkaoui

Partner

Nader Akkaoui is an engineer with more than 15 years of construction industry experience. He has been appointed as a delay and damages expert on eight occasions.

Nader has been cross-examined in international arbitration and has acted as expert for disputed values of up to $50 million. He has delivered numerous expert reports and provided construction litigation support for projects ranging from major infrastructure and industrial facilities to a variety of power projects and building uses.

Nader has a background working on international, multi-billion-dollar projects in North America, the Arabian Gulf, and Africa in LNG, mining and metals, and infrastructure sectors for a global engineering and construction corporation. His main roles included project and construction management, field engineering, planning, and change management.

In addition to his delay and damages expertise, Nader also specialises in performing construction cost and schedule assessments, construction cost audits, project management reporting optimization, and risk management. He is fluent in English and French and experienced in the evaluation and development of construction claims using bespoke, AIA and CCDC contracts.

Nader is a Professional Engineer in Quebec, Canada with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University, an MBA from McGill University. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute.

Whitney Alary

Partner

Whitney Alary has more than 15 years of business and litigation consulting experience and has supported Fortune 100 clients in disputes with values in excess of US$1 billion. She has been retained as an economic and damages expert and has assisted the named expert on numerous occasions. 

Whitney has determined economic damages in a variety of matters related to commercial litigation, government contracts, class actions, bankruptcy, and intellectual property. She has prepared and analyzed claims for lost profits, increased costs, loss of business value, and other financial and economic impacts. She has also investigated and analyzed fraud allegations, including under the False Claims Act. 

Whitney has assisted clients across a variety of industries such as aerospace, government contracts, energy, mortgage banking, software, construction, investment management, financial services, professional services, entertainment and sports, and telecommunications. 

Whitney specializes in complex data analysis, including building intricate and dynamic financial models and constructing, managing, and analyzing large databases. 

Whitney holds a degree in business economics with minors in accounting and Spanish from the University of California, Los Angeles.  

Julia Alcarez

Partner

Julia Alcarez is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Management Accountant. She specializes in the investigation and resolution of business disputes, primarily related to government contracts and commercial litigation, and in engagements that require extensive data analysis.

Julia has assisted in calculating and evaluating damages claims ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to over $1 billion, with clients ranging from small, locally owned businesses to defense contractors, municipalities, and Fortune 500 companies.

Julia has provided litigation support for engagements that focus on cost, schedule, and damages analyses, as well as other dispute and compliance related issues, often within the context of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) and the Defense Contract Audit Agency’s (“DCAA”) Contract Audit Manual (“CAM”). She has performed extensive data manipulation and analysis to identify potential fraud, alleged mischarging, and business trends.

Julia has assisted in preparing certified claims, Requests for Equitable Adjustment (“REAs”), and Termination Settlement Proposals (“TSPs”) for prime contractors and subcontractors, as well as analyzing and rebutting DCAA audit reports and government positions. She has also participated in many bid protests, including analyzing cost and pricing issues for intervenors and protestors, preparing affirmative declarations, and rebutting opposing experts’ declarations.

Julia has performed accounting, financial, and economic analyses in a variety of matters, including analysis of damages and lost profits resulting from breach of contract, fraud, and failure to perform; analysis of increased costs and project cost growth related to delay and disruption; accounting system reviews; and termination settlement proposals, among other matters.

Julia has assisted in the preparation of expert reports and subsequent expert testimony before the Court of Federal Claims (“CoFC”), the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), and multiple state and district courts, as well as in arbitration and mediation.

Brian Badala

Partner

Brian Badala has over fifteen years of experience in intellectual property, commercial damages, valuation and forensic accounting matters. He has analysed claims relating to lost profits, reasonable royalties, and unjust enrichment arising from intellectual property infringement, breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation and construction delays. He also has experience in analysing large complex data sets as well as building dynamic financial models.

Brian has assisted clients in matters from a variety of industries including telecommunications, consumer products, oil and gas, medical devices, aerospace, financial institutions and construction. He has consulted on litigation matters in US state court, federal court, International Trade Commission and arbitrations.

Ken Baker

Partner

Ken Baker has more than 45 years of experience in the construction and engineering industries. A registered professional engineer and a licensed general contractor, his varied, hands-on project experience provides a strong basis for over 180 expert appointments in various delay, disruption, and quantum matters. 

Ken develops expert reports and provides expert testimony in arbitration, litigation and mediation. He specializes in complex construction claims and in support of his extensive expert testimony experience, he has developed quantitative information for use as trial exhibits and in expert presentations. He has been cross-examined at arbitration and trial on more than 20 occasions, including concurrent evidence.  

Ken has worked in various leadership roles in the contracting, construction management, and claims arenas. He has been involved in design-construction programs and major infrastructure developments across North America.  

Ken’s claims-related expertise includes the identification and evaluation of construction and real estate risk. Ken also provides services to clients in the areas of project advisory risk assessments, claims avoidance and mitigation; distressed real estate asset investigations; mechanics lien claim analysis, priority and valuation; construction management, and general contracting services during pre-construction, design, construction and post-construction. 

Ken Baker has written articles and delivered numerous seminars regarding his specialist subjects.  

John Baxter

Partner

John Baxter is a Professional Engineer with 20 years of experience in the industrial, civil, and building construction industries. He is an expert in delay, quantum and technical matters and has acted as expert for disputed values of up to US$60 million. 

He has worked on matters involving the calculation of delay, productivity, and the associated damages and has testified in arbitrations as a damages and scheduling expert on mandates across a variety of construction projects.  

John’s experience includes managing the cost control for the construction of a natural gas processing facility valued at over US$1 billion. He has also prepared and managed an integrated schedule for the construction of a US$2 billion international airport terminal program.  

John has worked on various projects involving the construction of transportation infrastructure, oil and gas pipelines, processing facilities, government data centres, and healthcare facilities throughout Canada.  

His expertise includes management of structural works and all matters of concrete, as well as temporary structural design and construction. He has created detailed models to analyze large, varied data sets for expert testimony assignments. 

John Baxter is a registered engineer and holds a degree in structural and geotechnical civil engineering. He has been recognised by Who’s Who Legal as a Construction Expert Future Leader.

Kim Beech

Partner, Financial Director

Kim Beech has 15 years of experience in a finance and controller role with professional service firms. She joined HKA five years ago and led the finance part of the two US$35M acquisitions and multiple lift outs. She has built a finance team made up of twelve individuals that support both the US and Canada. 

Kim works closely with the operations and the business support team to make sure multiple facets of the finance support function are executed successfully. 

Randy Besich

Partner

Randy Besich is a Forensic Accountant and Commercial Damages expert, with 14 years of experience in financial, accounting, and economic matters across various industries, with specific expertise in the nuclear power industry. 

Randy has expanded the firm’s Power and Utilities practice and is regularly meeting with executive teams of Fortune 500 utilities.  He has also assisted clients in financial reporting, audits, strategic analysis, investigations, and resolution of complex business disputes. 

He is experienced in managing the preparation of expert reports, depositions and trial exhibits for both state and federal courts relating to lost profits analyses, business valuations, and solvency analyses.  

His litigation work has focused primarily on commercial litigation and valuation matters, including breaches of contract, breaches of fiduciary duty, fraudulent conveyance, funds tracing, and shareholder disputes. 

Randy has managed the preparation of expert reports and depositions, and trial exhibits, for both state and federal courts, and has assisted his utility clients with regulatory reporting and accounting matters in numerous public utility commission proceedings.  

David Bones

Partner

David Bones is an economic damages expert with 17 years of experience in commercial damages and construction matters. 

He has authored over 70 expert reports and provided expert testimony in disputes, including depositions, arbitrations, jury trials and mediations. He is experienced in managing large project teams, including being the lead on a solvency team on one of the largest fraudulent conveyance cases in US history, with damages in excess of US$6 billion.  

He is skilled in a wide range of services, including lost profits, lost wages, business valuations, construction disputes, fund/asset tracing, financial condition and solvency analyses for clients in Asia, North America and South America. David specializes in providing litigation consulting, valuations, forensic accounting and government contracts services. He has had the opportunity to work on several matters in excess of US$1 billion and has provided testimony on matters in excess of US$200 million. David has consulted on behalf of Fortune 500 companies and others in various industries. 

David is Certified Valuation Analyst and regularly delivers CLE (Continuing Legal Education) presentations on expert witnesses, forensic accounting and litigation. He is a member of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts and a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.  

Ron Braver

Partner

Ronald Braver is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 35 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert witness on more than 15 occasions. 

He has testified in federal and state court, arbitration and deposition. He provides expert opinion and fact-based reports, acting as the expert for disputed values of up to US$200 million.  

Ronald is a former Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, where he conducted IRS criminal investigations resulting in more than US$41 million in forfeiture and fines. 

He has broad experience in forensic accounting, investigative and dispute services, including running his own practice. He is experienced in asset forfeiture and asset tracing, which is useful in the recovery process, and has performed international investigations, working with Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) and provisional arrest warrants, and participated in overseas depositions. 

Ronald’s expertise includes fraud, money laundering, asset forfeiture, and investigations. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and licensed private detective in Illinois. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the Federal Criminal Investigators Association (FCIA), and the Association of Former Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service (FSAIRS).  

Thomas Britven

Partner

Thomas Britven has more than 30 years of experience as an economic consultant and trusted advisor. He served legal counsel and corporate clients in hundreds of financial damage, claim and business consulting matters. His extensive expertise includes complex financial damage analysis, breach of contract, business interruption, forensic accounting, and business valuation with an emphasis in intellectual property disputes. 

Thomas has provided dispute support in hundreds of cases and expert testimony in over 50 trials, arbitrations and mediations on matters of reasonable royalty damages, lost profits, patent, trademark, trade dress and copyright infringement and the misappropriation of trade secrets. 

He has applied his intellectual property damages, valuation, licensing and strategy skills in numerous complex matters for clients across a diverse range of industries. He has also served as the past President of the Licensing Executives Society Foundation. 

Thomas is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA®), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and is accredited in Business Valuation by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also been recognized by IAM Patent 1000 as one of the foremost patent damages experts in the United States.  

Geo Brown

Partner

Geo Brown is an information technology professional with more than 20 years of experience. He has acted as a digital forensic investigation expert on over 50 occasions.  

Geo specialises in safeguarding intellectual property and undertaking digital investigations. He has significant experience leading highly sensitive and complex matters ranging from misappropriation of trade secrets, internal investigations, breach of contract and business interruption to employment disputes, fraud investigations, and wage and hour class actions, among others, in a wide variety of industries.  

Geo is a member of the High Technology Crime Investigation Association. He is a Certified EnCase Computer Examiner, a Magnet Certified Forensic Examiner, and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. 

Charles Bucci

Partner

Charles Bucci is a professional engineer with almost 15 years of construction industry experience. He has been retained as a delay and quantum expert on numerous occasions.

Charles has provided independent assessment and expert reports for disputed projects in arbitration and litigation proceedings. He has acted as expert for disputed values of up $150 million and for projects with values of up to $1.5 billion, ranging from major infrastructure and power projects to a wide variety of building uses.

Charles has worked on multiple projects at two leading general contractors in Canada where he held various positions. As a project manager, he was responsible for the complete supervision and coordination of all steps of complex construction projects, including supervision of project teams, communication with stakeholders, control of costs and schedules, preparation and negotiation of subcontracts, and change management.

Charles specialises in disputes related to changes, delays, loss of productivity, and quantification of damages. He provides advisory and expert support for owners regarding program and project management services and for a variety of clients on optimizing project management processes, reviewing and implementing project controls, and preparing and defending construction claims.

Charles is a member of Quebec’s Order of Engineers (Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec) and the main author of their guide to best practises for the management of construction projects. He is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International and the Project Management Institute and is fluent in both English and French. Charles also speaks at industry conferences about construction dispute resolution, project management, and construction innovation.

Seyran Celik

Partner

Seyran Celik is a civil engineer with more than 15 years of industry experience. She has been appointed as an expert in delay, quantum and technical matters. 

Seyran has undertaken expert analysis, written expert reports and assisted the named expert for disputed projects with values of up to $1 billion. She has provided expert services for international arbitration, litigation and mediation and has delivered sworn testimony at deposition. 

Seyran has significant project management and design experience as a geotechnical engineer. She has provided services relating to preconstruction phase feasibility studies, damage studies, remediation solutions, subsurface investigations, and environmental assessments. Her international work consists of government contracts and embassy work, defense and military, transportation, infrastructure, healthcare, education, wastewater, and commercial high-rises. 

Seyran’s expertise includes analysis of shallow and deep foundations, slope stabilization, ground improvement, and roadways. She has been retained as a delay and disruption professional by local and international contractors, owners, architecture and engineering firms, and law firms. She has also assisted internationally acclaimed delay and quantum experts on multibillion dollar oil and gas, power, transportation and commercial projects across Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. 

Seyran is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineers, the Project Management Institute, the American Bar Association, Arbitral Women, and the Society of Construction Law. She currently serves as president of the AACE Greater Miami Chapter. 

Tim Chitester

Partner

Tim Chitester is a registered professional engineer with over 40 years of experience in the engineering, design and construction industry. He is highly experienced in the resolution of construction disputes, construction claims, project management and property loss and business interruption claims. Tim has been appointed as a delay, quantum or technical expert on more than 50 occasions. 

Tim is a recognized construction expert and has testified in federal court, federal mediation, state court, AAA arbitration, ICC arbitration and in other international arbitration forums. He provides expert reports and testimony, for disputes in excess of US$1 billion, across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America.  

He has provided property loss and surety support services, including the review and evaluation of more than 150 contractors, for standard of care and project implementation programs. Tim has a background as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor working on a variety of healthcare projects across North America. He also provides consultancy for clients regarding energy services. 

Tim is a licensed professional engineer and is a member of the ABA Forum on Construction Law, the ABA TIPS property law section, the Loss Executives Association (LEA) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and has been published on matters of construction disputes on numerous occasions.  

Colin Choi

Partner

Colin Choi is a forensic accountant with almost 20 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert and has assisted the named expert on more than 60 occasions. 

Colin has testified in deposition and arbitration regarding damages and economic issues. He has supported clients and prepared experts and other witnesses for testimony across a range of disputed matters including intellectual property, construction, and government contracts. 

He has worked across a wide variety of industries, where his experience includes the development and assessment of claims including lost profits, lost wages, disgorgement of profits, reasonable royalty, and increased costs. 

Colin’s expertise spans financial, accounting and damages matters ranging from intellectual property infringement related to consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices to antitrust violations, contract breaches and False Claims Act violations related to government contracts and construction disputes.  He has studied numerous accounting, economic and contractual issues in connection with “profit participation” matters. He also performs funds tracing analysis and other forensic accounting analysis related to financial fraud investigations. 

Colin holds degrees in both engineering and economics. He has also acted as a guest lecturer regarding the management of complex business transactions.  

Jeff Colditz

Partner

Jeff Colditz has over 35 years of experience providing consulting and testimony services for various clients. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 20 occasions.

Jeff has testified in state court, arbitration proceedings, and other alternative dispute forums. His testimony has covered cost accounting, financial, and schedule-related issues pertaining to commercial construction and damages issues on commercial contract disputes in areas including residential buildings and power plants.

Jeff’s experience has focused on construction and government contract engagements. He has provided cost, schedule, and economic damage analysis on numerous matters for clients including contractors, owners, sureties, and other parties involved in the construction and government contracting process. He has analyzed and prepared numerous claims for delay, disruption, and changed work as well as performing cost reasonableness studies and detailed analysis of incurred costs.

Jeff has considerable experience assisting contractors in the defense of False Claims Act allegations, defective pricing matters, internal investigations, and other cost or regulatory issues specific to public contracts. He undertakes detailed cost growth and claim analysis as well as critical path method (CPM) schedule analysis for troubled on-going and completed construction projects. He also assists in fraud and other special purpose investigations.

Jeff is a certified fraud examiner, certified management accountant, and certified internal auditor. He is also a certified project management professional and certified construction auditor and a member of the Public Contracts Section of the American Bar Association.

Steven Coleman

Partner, People Business Partnering

Steven Coleman is a People and human resources leader with experience designing, implementing, and scaling people programs that drive sustainable growth. He has worked primarily in the professional services industry and has previously worked at FTI Consulting, Accenture, and Avanade. His People and HR functional expertise is broad and spans the employee life cycle from people hiring and onboarding to employee learning and development, engagement, total reward, retention, and offboarding.

Steven is a passionate advocate of diversity and of creating a culture of respect and belonging. Outside of work, you can find Steven raising puppies for the visually impaired, spending time with his family, trying out a new recipe, playing strategy board games, or singing in a cappella chorus.  

Bill Cook

Partner

William Cook (Bill) is a registered civil engineer with over 40 years of program, project, construction and operations management experience. He uses his skills to forensically analyse claims and resolve disputes and has prepared or provided expert analyses on hundreds of appointments. 

Bill’s expertise spans a broad variety of project types across multiple sectors. His experience includes programme, project, construction and operations management and post-construction claims resolution, with hands-on project experience including a US$850 million waste-water facility programme and a US$700 million rail line. He was also a construction management specialist to FEMA’s Public Assistance group in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

He has testified in a variety of dispute resolution forums including jury trials, arbitrations and mediations, his case size has ranged from less than US$1 million to more than US$100 million. 

Bill is a professional engineer and is a past member of the board of directors of the Construction Management Association of America, as well as a past Los Angeles chapter president. He has presented seminars to the LA County Bar Association and to many other trade associations and conferences on a variety of subjects from reading plans and structural engineering to scheduling and claims analysis. 

Michael Cuevas

Partner

Michael Cuevas is a registered Professional Engineer with more than 25 years of experience. He has been retained as a technical expert on more than 30 occasions. 

He has been cross-examined in arbitration and at deposition for projects with disputed values of up to US$800 million.  

Michael is highly experienced in complex civil and structural engineering issues, this includes evaluating buildings and structures, reviewing and preparing structural repair drawings, conducting site condition assessments, recertifying buildings, and performing due diligence studies. He has also evaluated exterior and interior building envelope systems for defective construction, weather related damage, and impact damage. These systems include roof coverings, exterior wall claddings and interior ceiling, floor, and wall finishes. 

Michael specialises in expert forensic structural analysis of buildings and structures damaged by fire, wind, floods, storm surges, explosions, tree impacts, vehicle impacts, freezing temperatures, hail, moisture intrusion, and construction defects, including catastrophe responses. He has worked on projects in the Caribbean, South America, and the United States. 

Michael is a member of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the National Council for Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).  

Troy Dahlberg

Partner

Troy Dahlberg is a forensic accountant with more than 35 years of experience across multiple industries. He has been retained as an expert witness on more than 50 occasions. 

Troy has testified in state and federal courts, and in various complex arbitrations.  He has been retained on several complex commercial disputes to provide consulting and expert witness forensic accounting services, including the Chevron/Ecuador litigation. He has served over 30 times as a neutral accountant, arbitrator and independent expert in disputes, including serving on an international arbitration panel.  

He specialises in post-acquisition dispute resolution and consulting for both buyers and sellers, as well as his appointments as a neutral accountant and arbitrator. He has provided expert witness testimony for complex forensic accounting matters, such as alter-ego and civil RICO. His other testimony experience includes matters pertaining to commercial quantum and damages. Troy also serves as a consultant and expert witness in representation and warranty disputes, including a variety of insurance claims for interruption claims and out of pocket expenses. 

Troy is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is also American Institute of Certified Public Accountants certified in financial forensics and accredited in business valuation. He has been published on matters of disputes regarding mergers and acquisitions and representation and warranties insurance.  

Kelly Darroch

Partner

Kelly Darroch has more than 20 years of economic damages experience. She has assisted the named expert on more than 150 occasions. 

Kelly has been involved in expert hearings in state court, federal court, international arbitration, before the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the High Court of Justice (England and Wales). She has provided analysis and support for the named expert in matters regarding commercial damages, business valuation and intellectual property. 

Kelly has a background in general business consulting and disputes across a variety of sectors including computer hardware and software, financial services, electronics, consumer products, and accounting. She has been engaged on a variety of projects that required advanced knowledge in accounting, economics, finance, and statistics. 

Her expertise includes analysis related to lost profits, unjust enrichment, and reasonable royalties resulting from intellectual property infringement, trade secret misappropriation, antitrust violations, and breach of contract. She has also analysed solvency and capital adequacy issues in connection with investigations of potential fraudulent conveyances related to bankruptcy disputes. 

Kelly holds a degree in business administration (finance).  

Naomi Daysog

Partner, Americas

With over 20 years working in various capacities of the legal consulting industry, Ms. Daysog specializes in developing and implementing strategies to enhance reputation and drive revenue growth. Using a data-driven approach, she translates high-level objectives into actionable plans with measurable outcomes, fostering collaboration and profitability. Known for aligning stakeholders, building practices, and cultivating strong client relationships, Ms. Daysog is a committed business developer, leveraging her proprietary lead generation methods to secure opportunities in complex, high-profile patent and commercial litigations.

As a Partner at HKA, she collaborates with the litigation consulting team and expert witnesses on business development and client management, serving as a key liaison with law firms and Fortune 500 companies.

A dedicated advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the legal profession, Ms. Daysog is an active member of ChIPs, a global organization dedicated to advancing and connecting women in technology, law and policy, as well as the Asian Law Alliance, and the National Pacific Asian Bar Association (NAPABA).

Outside of her professional work, Ms. Daysog is a classically trained soprano with extensive experience in opera, musical theater, and studio recordings.

Ramon de Legorburu

Partner

With over 20 years of experience in forensic accounting, dispute resolution, and financial investigations, Ramon “Ray” de Legorburu brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the firm.

Throughout his distinguished career, Ray has provided invaluable services to a diverse range of clients across various industries, including construction, manufacturing, financial services, transportation, healthcare, and consumer goods. His expertise encompasses damages and lost profit calculations, forensic investigations, and investigations into financial statement misrepresentation.

Ray has a proven track record of investigating complex allegations, such as Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations, management fraud, and elaborate money laundering schemes. He has also assisted in the defense of public accounting firms in accounting malpractice suits and presented to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on financial statement restatements.

Ray is fluent in both English and Spanish and has conversational proficiency in Portuguese, further enhancing his ability to serve HKA’s diverse client base.

Wayne DeFlaminis

Partner

Wayne DeFlaminis is a mechanical engineer with over 25 years of construction industry experience. He has been appointed as an expert in matters of delay, quantum and disruption on more than 35 occasions. 

Wayne is a recognized construction industry expert and has been cross-examined in litigation and arbitration. He has provided expert testimony on topics involving critical path method (CPM) scheduling, delay analysis, loss of productivity and disruption, cost impacts, construction finance and construction management principles. He has been appointed as expert in litigation and arbitration matters addressing disputes valued at more than US$50 million. 

Wayne has worked for clients across a variety of sectors in the Bahamas, Canada, Chile, Qatar, and across the USA. He has advised and supported in matters ranging from critical delays and performance to change order cost impacts and disruption.  

Wayne has presented seminars, written published articles, and given presentations on a variety of topics. He is a member of the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers and Maryland State Board of Professional Engineers, the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering, the American Bar Association, Washington Building Congress and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.  

Wayne is also an officer of the board of directors of the ACE Mentoring Program of Greater Washington, DC.  

Jenny Dominguez

Partner

Jenny Dominguez has supported clients in financial fraud investigations across state and local government and the higher education, construction, real estate, nonprofit, and healthcare sectors. Her experience includes investigating employee embezzlement, conflicts of interest, vendor and procurement fraud, fraudulent financial statements, and other accounting irregularities.  

Jenny specializes in comprehensive analyses of financial data, utilizing organizational data and publicly available information in conjunction with advanced data analysis tools and techniques to conduct thorough comparisons with bank activities, disbursements, and other financial outflows to identify potential fraud that warrants further investigation. She has conducted internal control assessments and fraud risk evaluations and has led numerous forensic accounting and investigation engagements for two prominent national accounting firms.  

Paul Donato

Partner

Paul Donato has over 20 years of experience in forensic accounting and commercial damages. He has been appointed as an expert on forensic accounting matters on 17 occasions and has been ranked as a Future Leader by Who’s Who Legal.  

Paul has been an expert in actions before the American Arbitration Association and United Nations Commission on International Trade Law arbitration, State Courts, and other regulatory bodies such as the SEC, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). He has conducted financial investigations in excess of US$10 billion and acted as expert on projects with disputed values of up to US$150 million. 

Paul has supported clients in a variety of sectors and has provided various investigative and accounting services in matters including commercial and bankruptcy litigation and shareholder disputes.  

His expertise includes forensic accounting matters involving large data sets and complex accounting analysis. His expert services include asset tracing, fraud investigations, employee malfeasance, executive breaches of fiduciary duties, shareholder disputes, construction damages, and complex commercial damages calculations and analyses. 

Paul is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified in Financial Forensics. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA).  

Tracy Doyle

Partner, Americas

Tracy Doyle has more than 30 years of experience in business development and is responsible for growing the American client program with a focus on Canada, rail and international arbitration and investor state disputes.  

She is a key account manager for several global law firm clients. She has contributed to the development of several thought leadership pieces including HKA’s CRUX Insight Reports and is an instructor for HKA’s Expert Development Training and Management and Leadership Training Programs.   

Tracy holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and has been a member of the American Bar Association, Forum on Construction for more than 30 years.   

In addition, she is a divisional member of the International Division and the Project Delivery and Construction Technology Division; a committee member of Building for Good; a member of Arbitral Women; the International Bar Association; International Construction Projects Committee, Section on Energy and Environment; former Board Member of American Road and Transportation Road Builders, Planning and Design Division.  

Nicole Drescher

Partner

Nicole Drescher is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with more than 10 years of business and litigation consulting experience.  She has assisted the named expert in forensic accounting and economics damages issues on numerous occasions. 

She has assisted counsel representing both plaintiffs and defendants in legal disputes in US state and federal courts, as well as in arbitrations in the United States and internationally. She is experienced in managing large project teams and has consulted on several matters with claimed damages in excess of US$500 million. 

Nicole has provided consulting services on a variety of financial, economic, and accounting issues arising out of investigations, business disputes, and civil litigation.  She has consulted on behalf of Fortune 100 companies and others across multiple industries. 

Nicole has extensive experience involving lost revenue, lost profits, increased costs, delay and disruption, business valuation, financial condition analysis, and other economic damages issues.  She has conducted funds tracing and other forensic accounting analyses, including the investigation and analysis of fraud allegations and reconstruction of accounting records. 

Nicole is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA).  She graduated with a degree in mathematics and a minor in economics.  

David Duffus

Partner

David Duffus is a forensic accountant with more than 25 years of experience across multiple industries, acting as an expert on more than 100 appointments. 

David has testified on more than 90 occasions as an expert at deposition and trial, for disputed values of up to US$275 million on project values in excess of US$300 million. He has also served as an arbitrator or neutral accountant in post-acquisition and valuation-related disputes. 

David specializes in working on complex litigation services, forensic accounting and valuation services assignments for businesses ranging from start-up entities to Fortune 100 companies. He has worked extensively with counsel through the litigation process and has provided expert witness and deposition testimony on matters in state and federal court.  

David has developed significant experience working with clients to quantify damages in complex commercial disputes. He is also frequently called upon to value businesses and related ownership interests in stakeholder disputes, post-acquisition disputes and bankruptcy matters.  

David is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Turnaround Management Association. He acts as an instructor for the AICPA expert witness training programme and is certified in financial forensics (CFF), a certified fraud examiner (CFE), and accredited in business valuation (ABV).  

Jeff DuVal

Partner

Jeff DuVal is a certified fraud examiner with over 25 years of experience. He is a U.S. government contract expert focused on the calculation of damages, investigations and compliance with U.S. federal regulations. 

Jeff has authored expert reports, presented at arbitrations and mediations, and provided expert testimony at a variety of venues. He has provided expert support on matters with values in dispute of over US$32 billion. 

Jeff supports government contractors with regulatory consulting on compliance issues arising from the Cost Principles found in FAR Part 31 and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and OMB Uniform Guidance. He has also undertaken analysis of damages and costs incurred on more than 500 different government contracts, technology, construction, transportation, manufacturing, investigations, and lost profit engagements. In addition, he has also assisted government contractors with preparation of Requests for Equitable Adjustment (REAs).  

Jeff is a regular presenter at lectures and seminars, and contributor to industry publications. He is also a specialist in training employees on updated government contracting policies and procedures. He is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the National Contracts Management Association (NCMA), the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the Association of General Contractors (AGC), and the Washington Building Congress (WBC).  

Doug Ellis

Partner

Doug Ellis is a forensic accounting and commercial valuations expert with more than ten years of experience as a business advisor and financial consultant. He specializes in strategy, valuation, complex financial analysis, damages, and licensing of intellectual property rights. He has provided dispute support in over 100 cases and has testified in Federal and State Court. 

Doug’s industry experience includes aviation, biotechnology, construction, consumer goods, energy, financial services, manufacturing, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, retail, semiconductors, software telecommunications and transportation. 

Doug has a Masters in Business Administration, a Juris Doctor and a Bachelors in Finance. His professional affiliations include the Illinois and D.C. Bar Associations, Houston Intellectual Property Law Association, The American Bar Association and the Licensing Executives Society.  

Dan Feinblum

Partner

Dan Feinblum has more than 20 years of experience in design and construction projects and has been engaged as an expert in the areas of delay and quantum on more than 15 expert appointments. His experience covers various sectors throughout North and South America, and he has led teams evaluating delay and damages claims on multiple US$1 billion projects, including claims of up to US$600 million. 

Dan has been cross-examined in litigation, arbitration and mediation and has delivered sworn depositions. He evaluates and develops claims, determines merit and quantum for disputed change orders, and provides litigation support services. He has developed detailed CPM schedule analyses, quantification of extended performance costs and calculating loss of labor productivity.  

Dan’s project control and risk management experience includes conducting probabilistic schedule analysis utilizing Monte Carlo simulation, developing baseline schedules, establishing risk registers and associated mitigation plans, maintaining project schedules, identifying cost drivers on over-budget projects prior to contract award and establishing web-based document and project control systems. 

Dan is a Professional Engineer, a certified PMP, a LEED accredited professional and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Project Management Institute and the Construction Management Association of America. He has presented on the topics of construction best practices and risk assessment to a variety of construction bodies.  

Jennifer Flickinger

Partner

Jennifer Flickinger is a forensic accountant with 30 years of experience. She has been appointed as an expert on government contracting matters.

Jen has been cross-examined in arbitration at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) and taken part in several pre-hearing negotiations. Her engagements include government contract compliance, litigation, investigations, and external restructurings. She has acted as an expert for disputed projects with values of up to $1 billion and has a strong record of negotiations with the government agencies including the Departments of Defense, State, Labor, and Energy.

Jen designs cost accounting structures for emerging contractors and analyzes existing models for compliance and effectiveness. She prepares cost impacts, disclosure statements, incurred cost proposals, and requests for equitable adjustments). She also supports contractor negotiations related to audit findings by with their responses to the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), and General Services Administration (GSA).

Jen specializes in cost and pricing matters including government audit issues, defective pricing, labor charging and compliance, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), cost allowability and allocability, Federal Supply Schedule contracts, claims, requests for equitable adjustment (REA), terminations and prime and subcontractor disputes. Her focus is on compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), CAS, the Uniform Guidance as well as FAR supplements (e.g. Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)). She is a recognized expert in prevailing wage compliance, including the Service Contract Act and the Davis Bacon Act.

Jen is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association, the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law, and the Professional Service Counsel. She has published articles regarding the Service Contract Act and has undertaken numerous speaking engagements on matters related to accounting, cost and pricing.

Caryn Fuller

Partner

Caryn Fuller is a civil engineer with over 20 years of experience. She has been cross-examined in arbitration, including giving concurrent evidence, and has assisted on disputes for projects with values of up to US$20 billion. Her expert work covers delay, quantum and technical disciplines for sectors ranging from buildings and infrastructure to industrial, power and utilities, mining and minerals, and oil and gas. 

Her professional experience includes mechanical and process engineering, construction, project management, project controls management, and construction claims analysis. She has a proven track record in leading high-profile, large-scale global construction initiatives, with a focus on cost control, scheduling and reporting. 

Caryn’s expertise includes standard of care, scheduling issues, productivity issues, procurement delays, forensic document investigations, and cost analysis and damages. She has supported clients in arbitration and mediation, delivering expert analysis, reports and rebuttals. Caryn is a wargaming and challenge session facilitator, as well as being HKA’s Americas CRUX champion. 

Caryn holds a master’s in civil engineering and is a certified professional with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. She is a LEED accredited professional and has completed the American Bar Association Construction Law Trial Academy Program. She was also a 2020 Honoree of Houston Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award in Professional Services. 

Mark Gentry

Partner

Mark Gentry is a professional engineer and project manager with 20 years of experience in the construction and engineering industry.  He is widely experienced in the investigation and resolution of business disputes, primarily relating to quantum and delay matters. 

Mark has analyzed manufacturing and termination issues for government contracts and has led teams analyzing critical path method schedules, productivity, cost increases and contract issues. 

He has testified as an expert in arbitration and court proceedings and has presented damage and schedule delay analysis during settlement negotiations. He has also consulted with, and presented to, companies on scheduling methods and procedures, costs tracking and means to track the impact of project issues. 

Mark has experience working with clients across a range of sectors working in North America and the Middle East. His previous project management experience has included condominiums, retail facilities, office buildings, parking lots and casinos. In addition, Mark has provided pre-construction services for hotels and recreational facilities. 

Mark received a BS in Civil Engineering, is LEED accredited professional,  a member American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).   

William Gladden

Partner

William Gladden is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 25 years of experience. He has been an expert and assisted other experts on over a hundred matters. 

William has testified as an expert on damages related issues in both trial and at deposition. He has also presented accounting and damages analysis for mediations and settlement negotiations. 

He has consulted on a wide range of issues across numerous industries, related to commercial damages, claim preparation, and investigations.  

William’s expertise in commercial damages includes causation, lost profits, purchase price disputes, settlement calculations and distributions, and other economic damages.  His expertise in contract claims includes claim preparation and review within the government contracting and construction industries, including disputes involving the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS).  His expertise in investigations includes government contracting investigations (false claim/qui tam lawsuits and self-disclosures) and commercial investigations (Securities and Exchange Commission investigations, accounting reviews, class action and other shareholder lawsuits).    

William is Certified in Financial Forensics, a Charted Global Management Accountant (CGMA®), and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). He holds an MBA in accounting and finance and has lectured to public agencies and universities.  

William Guernier

Partner

William Guernier is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 40 years of experience, including 10 years as a financial officer in the real estate and construction industry and 30 years as a consultant. 

William has provided expert consulting services on financial, accounting, economic and damages matters in many areas, most notably, construction, government contracts, real estate and commercial bankruptcies. He has extensive experience in assessing the cause of cost growth and budget overruns and linking the cost impacts to individual events or changes, delays, and other impacts. He has testified on damages issues in various courts and in arbitrations, and has assisted counsel and clients in numerous settlement negotiations, as well as in mediation. 

William has experience of working in Europe, the Middle East and North America. He has worked with clients from sectors including aerospace, buildings, defence, infrastructure and industrial. 

William holds a BBA in Accounting, an MBA in Finance and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), a member of the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), Construction Law Forum. He has also authored numerous publications and presents at lectures and seminars.  

Brian Hammer

Partner

Brian Hammer has more than 35 years of economic, accounting, financial and damages experience. He has been appointed as an expert on numerous occasions. 

Brian has testified in state and federal courts, the United States Court of Federal Claims, arbitrations, and depositions. He has participated in mediations, settlement negotiations and other proceedings presenting expert analysis and developing alternative methods to resolve disputes. 

Brian is a widely experienced consultant, supporting clients regarding finance, accounting, economics, damages, and data management and analysis issues in disputes and general business consulting matters. He has prepared or critiqued damages claims for lost profits, increased costs, business value, and royalties. 

Brian has extensive experience in government contracts including claims, REA’s, terminations, overhead rate reviews, cost impact proposals, false claims, and regulatory compliance. His construction expertise ranges from analysis of delay and disruption costs to change orders, contract issues, reimbursability of costs and increased cost claims. 

Brian holds a master’s in business administration and a degree in economics and business.  

John Hansen

Partner

John Hansen is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 30 years of experience and has been appointed as an expert on more than 200 occasions. 

John has testified as an expert on damages and economic issues in trial and arbitration, state courts, federal courts and before the International Trade Commission (ITC). He has presented declarations and deposition testimony before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and participated in settlement negotiations and mediations for disputed values in excess of over US$250 million. 

John is an experienced consultant, supporting companies on economic, accounting and damages matters in a wide variety of industries. His experience spans intellectual property, commercial damages, class action, forensic accounting, and valuation matters. 

John specialises in evaluation of the financial impact of alleged intellectual property infringement and misappropriation including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.  He has assisted clients with Section 337 investigations before the United States International Trade Commission, addressing domestic industry and remedy issues.  

John is a Certified Licensing Professional, a Chartered Global Management Accountant, and is Certified in Financial Forensics by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also presented to university and industry groups on various topics and has been recognised as a leading testifying expert on intellectual property by Intellectual Asset Management Magazine (IAM). 

Timothy H. Hart

Partner

Tim Hart is a Forensic Accountant with 40 years of experience and has served as an expert witness in over 60 hearings for more than 30 years.  He has been a successful damages and financial expert in over 100 domestic and international disputes, including more than 65 international arbitrations with claim values totalling over US$40 billion.  

Tim’s expert testimony is particularly concentrated in investor-state cases with allegations such as expropriation and fair and equitable treatment and international arbitrations and domestic disputes involving breach of contract. His testimony often covers topics important to determine jurisdiction, liability, causation in addition to damages. Many of his domestic cases have involved claims like breach of fiduciary duty which involved complex financial frauds including Ponzi schemes. 

He has led numerous well known insolvency engagements and financial fraud investigations and specialises in matters of damages, valuation, accounting, fraud, and bribery and corruption. His expert work has been concentrated in high-stakes disputes spanning across a range of industries.  

Tim is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He co-authored the most comprehensive study of damages in investor-state cases, with two editions published in 2014 and 2021. He is also consistently highly ranked by Who’s Who Legal including numerous Global Elite Thought Leader rankings. 

Patrick Jensen

Partner

Patrick Jensen is an economic damages, forensic accounting and quantum expert with 14 years of experience in the government contracts, utilities, defense, and construction industries. 

Patrick has consulted on financial, cost, economic, and damages analyses for matters in dispute, including providing expert witness testimony. He has also consulted on financial and accounting compliance matters related to cost issues that were not in dispute. He has worked for both plaintiffs and defendants on domestic and international matters in various venues.  

Patrick has worked on projects throughout North America for a variety of client sectors, his experience includes disputes and issues between owners and prime contractors, between prime contractors and subcontractors, as well as between tenants and a property owner. 

He also consults on matters involving compliance with U.S. federal regulations and provides assistance in various matters, including government contracts, forensic investigations, claims, breach of contract, commercial damages, lost profits, construction, manufacturing, timekeeping, and billing issues. 

Patrick holds a BBA Finance and Business Economics and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), and a Master Analyst in Financial Forensics. He is also a member of various institutional bodies and is a Co-treasurer of the Board of Contract Appeals Board Association.  

Julie Knox

Partner

Julie Knox is a forensic accountant and commercial damages consultant with more than 25 years of experience. She has been appointed as an expert on numerous occasions. 

Julie has testified in cases before the United States Federal Court, California Superior Court and in domestic and international arbitrations. She has acted as an expert for disputes regarding commercial damages and valuation, intellectual property, and forensic accounting and investigations across various sectors. 

She has consulted on financial reporting matters and business operations and has conducted financial statement audits of companies and government agencies. She has performed forensic accounting analysis, funds tracing, and financial reporting analysis on behalf of companies, boards of directors, and special committees.  

Julie provides analysis and expert opinion regarding lost profits, unjust enrichment, reasonable royalties, and restitution resulting from breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, anti-trust, unfair competition, intellectual property infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and other allegations. 

Julie is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is Certified in Financial Forensics. She has presented to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), California Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA), various university groups and law firms addressing accounting and economic damages issues, intellectual property valuation and damages, and ITC section 337 investigations.  

Kenneth J. Kratovil

Partner

Kenneth Kratovil has over 20 years of experience in valuation and forensic accounting. He has been appointed as a testifying expert and assisted the named expert on over 40 occasions. 

Kenneth has provided expert testimony in matters of economic damages, business valuations, and forensic accounting for ICSID, LCIA, ICDR, AAA and FINRA arbitration. He has testified as an expert with disputed values of up to US$644 million. 

He has specialized in valuation, damage quantification and complex financial modelling after first gaining professional experience working at an investment bank in New York and in various corporate finance and regulatory positions. 

Kenneth’s experience is global and covers a variety of industries across investor-state disputes, commercial disputes, post-acquisition disputes and fraud investigations. 

Kenneth holds a master’s in business administration and is an Accredited Senior Appraiser, a Certified Valuation Analyst, and a Certified Fraud Examiner. He is a member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).  

Daniel Kwon

Partner

Daniel Kwon is a Professional Engineer with more than 20 years of construction industry experience. His civil engineering and on-site experience, coupled with both claims and management consultancy experience, provides a strong basis for his roles as both an expert in delay and technical disciplines, as well as his service providing strategic advice to the construction industry. 

Daniel has acted as an expert witness and expert assistant and has testified in deposition, mediation and arbitration, along with completing various expert witness training programmes with the American Bar Association (ABA) and SEAK. 

Daniel has identified, prepared and defended claims across a wide range of industries, focused on schedule delay, lost productivity, contractor performance and standard of care, acceleration, and assessment of claims recoverability.  

Daniel’s project experience includes serving as an on-site scheduler, project management of a US$10 million presidential library addition, and estimating duties on bids in excess of US$100 million. He has provided technical support and consulting assistance on mega-projects valued at more than US$20 billion in various industries. 

Daniel is a LEED accredited professional and holds both a bachelors and master’s degree in civil engineering. He has presented to the Los Angeles Bar Association and has written for the ABA Construction Accounting publication.  

Mike LaCorte

Partner

Mike LaCorte is a forensic accountant with more than 15 years of experience. He has led numerous government contracting, accounting, and auditing matters. 

Mike has rebutted and presented findings to government oversight bodies, such as the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and government contracting officers on numerous occasions and has participated in negotiations with the government on behalf of clients. He has also provided expert deposition testimony on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and government contracting issues.  

Mike has assisted government contractors and their counsel in a variety of different matters, including regulatory compliance evaluations, business system implementations, complex accounting interpretations, investigation and litigation support, cost and damage analyses, organizational restructurings, bid protests, due diligence related to mergers and acquisitions, and management consulting.   

Mike’s areas of expertise include the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), FAR Supplements, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards and GAAP.  

Mike is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and has a Master of Science in taxation and bachelor’s degree in accounting. He is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the American Bar Association (ABA), the Professional Services Council (PSC), and the National Contract Management Association (NCMA).  

Ryan LaMotta

Partner

Ryan LaMotta has over eight years of financial consulting and advisory services experience with a focus on intellectual property and other complex litigation matters.  

Ryan’s experience includes the determination of reasonable royalties and lost profits, as well as other forms of damages and business valuation. He has consulted on numerous high profile patent infringement matters, managed and led engagement teams and has extensive experience with the creation of expert reports, along with the development of trial demonstratives and trial strategy. 

Ryan is a member of the Houston chapter of the Licensing Executives Society (LES), as well as the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association (HIPLA). He holds an MBA and BBA and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP).  

Al Lee

Partner

Al Lee is a forensic accountant and economic damages expert with over 30 years of experience and has been appointed as an expert in over 30 matters. 

Al has provided testimony in state court, federal court and in arbitration proceedings across a variety of industries and business disputes. He has also assisted expert and other witnesses on hundreds of disputes in litigation and arbitration. 

Al has experience in analyzing the financial condition and financial performance of businesses and also investigated liability and damages issues on matters involving allegations of fraud.  He has prepared or analyzed hundreds of construction claims for cost and schedule impacts on a variety of construction projects.  

He specialises in the analysis of claims for increased costs, lost profits, loss of business value, unjust enrichment, and reasonable royalties on a variety of disputes resulting from breach of contract, business interruption, patent infringement, and other allegations. He has also supported clients on matters involving cost accounting, cost estimating, defective pricing, false claims, and regulatory compliance issues. 

Al holds a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and accounting and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science.  He is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).  

Cheryl LeeVan

Partner

Cheryl LeeVan is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 30 years of experience. She has been appointed as an expert on over 50 occasions and has assisted other experts on more than 100 matters. 

Cheryl has presented analysis and expert opinions in federal court, state court, international arbitration, and American Arbitration Association proceedings as well as in deposition, mediation, and other alternative dispute resolution venues. 

Cheryl has a consulting background across a broad range of sectors in commercial damages, construction and government contract projects, fraud investigations, and accounting reviews.  

Her expertise in commercial damages includes causation, lost profits, reasonable royalty, purchase price disputes, business interruption and other economic damages. She has extensive experience preparing claims and REAs for changed work, acceleration and delay and disruption on construction and government contract projects. She has prepared termination claims and assisted contractors in responding to assertions of disallowance of costs and cost accounting challenges on government contract projects, including disputes involving the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS).  

Cheryl is also Certified in Financial Forensics, a Chartered Global Management Accountant and holds a BBA in finance and economics. She has also presented to universities, companies, outside counsel and industry groups.  

John Levitske

Partner

John Levitske has over 35 years of professional experience. He has been retained as an expert regarding business valuation, forensic accounting, and commercial damages matters on numerous occasions. 

John’s expert witness work includes jury and bench trials, mediations, and arbitrations in the US and internationally. He has acted as an expert for multi-billion-dollar disputes and has also served as a neutral arbitrator and as an independent advisor to the mediator. 

He has extensive experience in advising when disagreements or uncertainty arise regarding quantifications of value, price or economic damages of a business or a stakeholder interest in a business. He works across all industries for both private and public companies. 

John’s expertise includes business valuation, forensic accounting, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), international financial reporting standards (IFRS), and economic damages issues in complex commercial situations. These include shareholder disputes, bankruptcy disputes, M&A transaction disputes, corporate alter-ego disputes, and other business disputes. 

John is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Financial Analyst, and Accredited Senior Appraiser in Business Valuation who holds several additional professional certifications in valuation, forensics, and insolvency analysis. He is an adjunct faculty member at Benedictine University, regular contributor to American Bar Association (ABA) publications and delivers lectures regarding his areas of expertise to various professional groups.  

Gary Liddicoat

Partner

Gary Liddicoat is an expert in economic damages with over 13 years of experience consulting on complex financial disputes. He is experienced on matters relating to commercial litigation, business valuation, forensic accounting, intellectual property, and bankruptcy. 

Gary authors expert reports related to economic damage claims, including lost profits, lost earnings, business valuations, and solvency analyses, related to breach of contract, breach of representation and warranty, infringement, unjust enrichment, fraudulent conveyance, preference, and other shareholder or acquisition disputes. 

Gary also consults on non-litigation matters providing business valuation, intangible asset valuation, financial advisory, and forensic accounting services. 

Gary has consulted for small closely held businesses and Fortune 500 companies from a broad range of sectors.   

Gary Liddicoat holds a BS Finance, a BS Economics, and a certificate in Accounting. He is a certified Public Accountant, accredited in Business Valuation, and a Chartered Financial Analyst.  Gary is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA Institute), the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Phoenix, the American Institute of Public Accountants (AICPA), and the Arizona Society of Chartered Public Accountants.  

Jeff Lounsberry

Partner

Jeff Lounsberry has 25 years of experience in the construction industry. He has been retained as an expert on numerous occasions. 

Jeff has advised clients as they progress through settlement negotiations, provided arbitration and trial testimony, and presented and otherwise participated in numerous mediations. He prioritizes client service and responsiveness.  

Jeff is widely experienced in commercial and contractual matters, from job cost reports and bid analysis to cost overruns regarding labor and equipment matters. He has worked on projects ranging from transport infrastructure and buildings to wastewater treatment plants and manufacturing facilities.   

Jeff specialises in the analysis of lost labor productivity, delay and disruption, extended job site and home office overhead, and equipment standby. He has performed project audits of cost-plus contracts with a guaranteed maximum price, as well as fixed-price, contracts. 

Jeff is a Certified Management Accountant and Certified Construction Auditor and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants and the National Association of Construction Auditors.  

Vince Manuele

Partner, General Counsel

Vince Manuele is a business and legal executive with over 40 years of experience as a corporate officer and general counsel, a practicing construction and public contract attorney, a construction management executive, a “Big 4” global business advisor, a judicial clerk on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., an elected public office holder in Pennsylvania, a degreed civil engineer, and an arbitrator of commercial contract disputes.  He has extensive international experience providing professional consulting services in Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia. 

In his role as General Counsel and Secretary for several HKA entities, Vince serves as a strategic business partner to senior management for operations in North, Central, and South America providing legal advice (business risk and mitigation strategies, governance protocols and compliance, contract drafting & negotiation, labor & employment law, office leases and service agreements, M&A strategy and integration), managing in house and outside counsel, and handling all aspects of dispute resolution (negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation).

Vince holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the College of William & Mary and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and Florida Bars and is admitted to practice in multiple federal courts. He has litigated matters in federal and state courts and administrative forums, and he has significant experience with mediation and arbitration.

Vince has been a featured speaker before numerous industry organizations, and his writings have been widely published, including by The National Law Journal, the National Center for State Courts, and Wiley Law Publications.  He served on the Advisory Committee of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for more than 10 years by appointment of the Chief Judge, and in this role, he spearheaded the development of the court’s inaugural alternative dispute resolution program.

Jeff Matthews

Partner

Jeffrey Matthews is a forensic accountant nearly 30 years of experience. He has served as a financial expert on numerous occasions.

Jeff has testified in multiple civil and criminal matters at both state and federal levels for cases with awards of over $100 million. He has acted as a court appointed accountant in federal bankruptcy court and led the investigations on the largest domestic public corruption case in history. His clients include the USA’s top law firms, Fortune 100 legal departments, and government investigative agencies.

Jeff is a Certified Public Accountant (Texas) and Certified Fraud Examiner. He teaches at the University of Texas at Arlington and has authored an accounting textbook, published by Wiley in 2019, entitled “Holding Accountants Accountable”.

John McTyre

Partner

John McTyre is a widely experienced civil engineer with more than 35 years of construction industry experience. He provides claims analysis and expert witness services and has given expert testimony within various venues in English and Spanish, for disputes of up to US$700M.  

John is recognized as an expert in judicial proceedings and has testified in both federal and state courts, as well as in arbitral proceedings. He has delivered numerous depositions and has been cross-examined in matters of delay analysis and damages, schedule analysis and loss of productivity. John is also widely experienced in mediation and served the Department of Labor in the analysis of major claims for 20 years. 

He provides dispute resolution services ranging from analysis and preparation of delay claims and related cost impacts to inefficiency studies and construction change entitlement issues. He has led teams in analyzing complex international and domestic disputes including airports, detention facilities, light rail, LNG plants, office buildings, power plants, pipelines, refineries, schools, sewer treatment facilities and stadiums across the USA and South America. 

John’s extensive construction background spans 10 years of full time, onsite management assignments on a wide range of projects across multiple sectors. His construction expertise also includes scheduling, critical path method and cost engineering. 

Alex Menenberg

Partner

Alex Menenberg has almost 15 years of experience in forensic accounting and commercial damages.  He has been designated as an expert on multiple occasions. 

Alex has consulted on a variety of financial, economic, and accounting related issues arising out of business disputes and civil litigation. He has submitted expert reports in Federal Court and for matters outside of litigation, including confidential investigations and pre-litigation disputes. 

He has experience conducting funds tracing and performing analyses related to financial fraud allegations. He has also worked with Fortune 100 corporations across a variety of industries. 

Alex has assessed damages related to breach of contract, lost profits, lost wages, intellectual property infringement, increased costs, and theft of trade secrets.  He also has broad experience working with large datasets and is adept at designing, constructing, and analyzing large databases to create complex and dynamic financial models. 

Alex is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner with a degree in economics.  He has undertaken various speaking engagements regarding economic consulting, managing complex transactions, and insolvency damages. He serves on the board of directors of Bet Tzedek Legal Services.  

Ken Metcalfe

Partner

Ken Metcalfe has 40 years of experience as an expert consultant and witness, specializing in economic damages and forensic investigations. 

He has provided testimony at trial or arbitration in litigations on over 40 occasions, delivered depositions on over 50 occasions and has given concurrent expert witness testimony on two occasions. He has helped resolve disputes in excess of US$7.5 billion on projects valued at over US$20 billion. He has testified on damages issues in federal and state courts and in arbitrations, and also assisted counsel and clients in numerous extensive settlement negotiations, as well as in mediation.  

Ken has worked on client projects in Asia, Europe, North America and South America. He has analyzed accounting and economic damages-related issues in various types of disputes. His economic damages work has addressed increased costs, lost profits, price erosion, cost of capital, and lost value, including the valuation of lost royalties. Ken has also performed detailed forensic analyses and historical cost and financial statement reconstructions and has advised clients on evaluating the economics related to significant alternative investments. 

Ken holds a BS in Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), and an Associate Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He is also a member of a variety of certified bodies.   

Debbie Ombrello

Partner, Head of Business Support

Debbie Ombrello has more than 30 years of experience supporting professional service firms. Having worked as a consultant before transitioning to a career in administration, she brings a unique perspective and understanding of the support needs of the practice, with an eye on process improvement and customer service, and minimizing the administrative burden on practitioners.

Prior to joining HKA, Debbie was the Chief Administrative Officer of TM Financial Forensics, where she was responsible for all operational and administrative responsibilities of the firm, including finance and human resources.  In addition, she was the Director of Office Operations for Navigant Consulting as well as the Vice President of Administration for Tucker Alan Inc.

Debbie received a bachelor’s in business administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Terry L. Orr

Partner

Terry Orr is a highly respected forensic accountant with over 40 years of experience and has been retained as an expert on dozens of engagements. 

Terry has delivered expert testimony in commercial litigation and arbitration regarding accounting, financial, economic, valuation, and damage quantification issues. He has led complex global and domestic engagements for clients across a diverse range of industries.  

Terry has over 25 years of experience as an auditor and audit partner in international public accounting firms.  

Terry’s expertise and insight have proved essential in resolving a wide range of matters, including fraud detection, investigation, remediation and prevention, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations, and litigated disputes. He regularly works with private equity firms, public company boards, management, and outside counsel and has provided consulting services in both auditor defense and plaintiff matters; as well as acting as a neutral accounting arbitrator. 

Terry is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant, a Certified Internal Controls Auditor (CICA), and a Certified Construction Auditor (CCA). He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as well as their forensic and valuations services section and certified fraud examiners.  

Tim Overman

Partner

Tim Overman is a Professional Engineer and Certified Management Accountant with over 30 years of experience. He has specialized in the investigation of financial, causation and project scheduling issues, primarily related to government contracts and construction businesses. 

Tim has presented his findings and opinions in settlement negotiations, mediations, administrative hearings, arbitrations, depositions, and at trial. 

Tim’s industry experience encompasses aerospace and defense, casinos and resorts, electrical and electronics, equipment leasing, healthcare, manufacturing, oil and gas, industrial, power generation, professional services, software development, telecommunications, and transportation. 

Tim has assisted architect, engineers, contractors, government agencies, owners, subcontractors, and their counsel with the avoidance, investigation, and resolution of complex business disputes. Tim has also worked as an engineer focusing in the areas of construction, evaluation of structures, field and laboratory testing, and structural engineering. 

John Paolin

Partner, Americas

John Paolin is a versatile business development leader with over 30 years of experience in marketing, business development, and account management. His clients include business owners and outside counsel. He specializes in matching clients with the optimal expert consultant and supporting accounts through the project lifecycle. His marketing expertise helps clients gain industry exposure through seminars, industry papers, and webinars. John has produced and moderated multiple industry panels and has authored a multitude of industry articles.   

John’s clients span a variety of industries, with most clients being litigation attorneys in construction, government contracts, forensic accounting, and commercial damages.  He is also the leader of HKA’s Airport Capital Improvement initiatives for the Americas.   

John serves on the board of ACI-NA’s Operations and Technical Committee and is on the advisory board of the CMAA – Mid Atlantic chapter. He was a co-creator of the ACI-NA Airport Construction Strategy Summit. In its 18th year of production, John was the initial leader of the events planning committee and remains active as one of the leaders today. With two colleagues, he created and produced the 2020 ABA Forum on the Construction Law Covid Response webinar series. The series won an Engineering News-Record News Maker award. He was a contributing author of multiple editions of the Airport Owners Guide to Project Delivery, which serves as the industry standard for airport capital improvement project delivery. 

Charles Parekh

Partner

Charles Parekh is an expert witness with over 20 years of experience, specializing in economic and statistical analysis for finance, healthcare, and public policy issues. His extensive background in dispute consulting and litigation support includes work in class actions, healthcare, education, statistical sampling, and structured finance. 

Dr. Parekh specializes in leading projects that use financial, statistical, and economic modeling to calculate damages and losses. His expertise encompasses the analysis of extensive transactional data to calculate damages in litigation related to financial markets, mortgage transactions, and healthcare billing and coding. He has led statistical and economic modeling teams in various repurchase litigations and bankruptcies, using statistical sampling and analysis to estimate repurchase liabilities. Additionally, his experience includes sampling transactions to detect price fixing, conducting event studies to assess investor damages, applying statistical techniques in internal investigations, and using surveys and regressions to value intellectual property. 

Douglas Rapp

Partner

Douglas Rapp is a forensic accountant with more than 35 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 40 occasions. 

Douglas has testified in state court and in arbitration hearings regarding accounting and damages issues. He has also made presentations and consulted with clients in various alternative dispute resolution forums, including mediation and non-binding arbitration. 

Douglas has provided consulting services for owners, contractors, architects, engineers, sureties, financial institutions, and counsel on many commercial and public contract matters.  

His expertise includes the analysis and assessment of the cost and pricing aspects of formal and constructive changes, lost productivity, delay damages, contract terminations, and differing site conditions on construction projects. He has also assisted counsel and client companies with fact-finding and damages analysis on a wide range of other engagements including dealer and distributor terminations, partnership accounting disputes, professional liability investigations, public utility matters, product liability actions, and troubled loan workouts. 

Douglas is a certified public accountant and is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Construction Financial Management Association. He has delivered lectures on claims pricing and damages analysis to attorneys, owners, engineers, and contractors.  

Kim Reome

Partner

Kimberly Reome is a forensic accounting and quantum expert with over 28 years of experience in economic damages analysis. 

Kimberly has provided trial testimony, expert reports or deposition testimony in federal and state courts and domestic and international arbitrations.  She has served as a damages expert on matters in excess of US$450 million. 

Kim has experience on projects across a variety of sectors throughout Asia, Europe and North America. She has specialized experience in electric utilities, construction, government contracts and commercial damages. She has analyzed accounting and economic issues in various types of disputes, including analysis of increased costs, critical path schedule analysis, productivity analysis, and lost profits. 

Kimberly holds a BA Finance and an MBA. She is a Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE) and various other industry bodies.   

Kim has presented on numerous occasions on the topics of accounting, nuclear power and construction damages, delay, fraud and contractual issues for the ABA, Construction SuperConference, Construction Financial Management Association (CMFA), National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), Construction Owners Association of America (COAA), Northwestern University School of Engineering and other organizations.  

Tom Reynolds

Partner

Tom Reynolds is a forensic accountant with 20 years of experience across multiple industries. He has acted as an assistant to the named expert on five occasions. 

Tom has assisted in the preparation of expert reports for matters in litigation, recently in connection with a US$385 million Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) 405 and 406 deferred cost dispute. He has led or assisted in several investigations including in relation to alleged False Claims Act violations, assessing compliance with regulations and statutes, quantifying damages and assessing the appropriateness of business system practices. 

Tom has conducted financial statement audits for government contactor clients and evaluated compliance with applicable GAAP requirements. He worked across various industries focused on revenue recognition practices, inventory valuations, and the evaluation of complex business transactions. 

Tom has extensive knowledge of critical government contracting regulations and requirements, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and CAS. He has presented contractors’ positions and facilitated negotiations with various regulatory bodies. He is also widely experienced in due diligence and considerations regarding the acquisition process. 

Tom is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and has been published as a contributing author regarding matters of government contract cost accounting, contract audits and compliance. He has presented on these matters to various seminars and forums.  

Chad Salsbery

Partner

Chad Salsbery is a Certified Valuations Analyst with over 25 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on over 50 occasions.  

Chad has testified in arbitration (including delivering concurrent evidence), litigation, and at deposition for disputed matters with values of up to $500 million. He has undertaken expert analysis and opined for cases in district and county courts, domestic and international arbitral proceedings, and presented damages analysis to members of the Department of Justice in mediations and other settlement negotiations. 

Chad’s background ranges from forensic accounting, business consulting and valuation services to litigation consulting and assistance on causation and damage issues in a wide variety of industries. He has also led multiple financial due diligence reviews to assist both buyers and sellers in assessing the value of target companies. Early in Chad’s career, he worked for a large publicly traded medical supply company, Baxter International, in various financial roles, including reporting and planning, treasury, and internal audit. 

Chad specialises in commercial damages and forensic accounting, bankruptcy and financial valuations, and construction, insurance and government contracting disputes. He analyses and addresses issues regarding lost profits, price erosion, business interruptions, lost earnings, reasonable royalties, unjust enrichment, increased costs, and diminution of business value.  

Chad is a member of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts and the American Bar Association. He has spoken on a variety of subjects including economic and financial issues.  

Kevin Salvagni

Partner

Kevin Salvagni is a licensed general contractor with over 35 years of construction industry experience. He has acted as an expert on more than 50 occasions in both quantum and technical matters with disputed values of up to US$100 million. 

Kevin has provided expert testimony in both Federal and State courts, as well as in multiple depositions, arbitrations and mediations. He has supported clients in disputes across a range of building envelope related issues. 

His background in general contracting includes project management, program management, both detailed and conceptual estimating, quality control, and property loss assessment. He has managed the complexity of construction projects ranging from pre-project planning, estimating and schedule development, to cost control and multi prime contractor or subcontractor management. 

Kevin’s expertise includes specialized interiors and exterior envelope systems. He has experience in managing general contracting firms with those specialities and regularly supports clients with disputes, ranging from construction claims and property loss to project management matters. 

Kevin is licensed as a Certified General Contractor, Inspector and Speciality Contractor. He is an honoured chartered member of the American Institute of Constructors (AIC) and a member of the Construction Management Institute of America (CMI) and the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE).  

Sid Scott

Partner

Sidney Scott is a professional engineer with more than 35 years of construction and engineering industry experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 15 occasions. 

Sidney is a qualified expert witness and has given evidence to courts, mediators, arbitrators, and disputes boards in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Panama. He has acted as an expert for disputed values of up to US$1 billion involving delay, inefficiency, acceleration, technical issues, contracts, and standard of care. 

Sidney was a civil and structural engineering designer in the power industry before transitioning to construction consulting, claims, and expert services. His expertise includes evaluating delay, inefficiency, acceleration, and design defect claims for a wide range of projects, with an emphasis on transportation projects. He is recognized as a national expert regarding procurement and contracting methods for the construction industry and has provided advice and consulting services for major infrastructure projects, utilizing alternative delivery. 

Sidney is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Transportation Research Board. He is a certified National Highway Institute instructor and regularly presents and is published on a wide variety of construction and dispute matters.  

Rob Shull

Partner

Rob Shull is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Certified Forensic Investigator with over 25 years of experience. He has been appointed as a forensic accounting expert or assisted the named expert on numerous occasions.

Rob specializes in the areas of contract compliance, investigations, litigation support, and damage and lost profit calculations. He has conducted numerous assignments related to allegations of management and employee fraud.  

Rob is a member of the Association of Certified Forensic Investigators (Canada), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario. He has delivered numerous speaking opportunities and sits of the advisory committee of the Rotman School of Management’s Diploma in Investigative and Forensic Accounting program.

Josh Simpson

Partner

Josh Simpson is a qualified Accountant with over 10 years of experience across more than 100 disputes. He specializes in the investigation and resolution of business disputes, primarily related to commercial damages, government contracts, and utilities practice areas. 

Josh has assisted in the preparation of expert reports and subsequent expert testimony in federal court, arbitration, and mediation proceedings. He has consulted on behalf of Fortune 500 companies and others, including government contractors, business owners, consumer product companies, and electric and water utilities. 

Josh has experience in performing damages analyses and providing business and litigation support in various types of disputes. He has provided analysis related to accounting, financial, and economic damages issues, including construction disputes, commercial damages investigations, government contracts disputes, breaches of contract, patent infringements, lost profits disputes, accounting investigations, false claim/qui tam lawsuits, requests for equitable adjustment, business interruption disputes, and others. 

Josh holds a Bs Commerce; Concentrations in Finance and Information Technology, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He is a member of ta variety of institutional bodies and is an Associate Member of the American Bar Association (ABA). Josh has spoken in various venues on the topic of cost and pricing issues in government contracts.  

Laura Connor Smith

Partner

Laura Connor Smith has over 20 years of experience in commercial damages and valuations. She has been retained as an expert and supported the named expert on numerous occasions. 

She has testified and submitted expert testimony relating to damages, economics and financial issues. She is frequently involved in large litigations or international arbitrations, including investor-state cases in allegations of Breach of Contract and Expropriation and Fair and Equitable Treatment. She has testified on matters with disputed values of up to US$639 million. 

Laura has provided accounting and financial advisory services for clients in a wide range of industries. She also has extensive experience in assisting with internal and external investigations of financial institutions. 

Laura specializes in damages analyses involving complex contract disputes, intellectual property, valuations, investigations and bankruptcies both domestically and internationally. Her in-depth experience supplements her depth of experience in large international arbitrations involving both contract and treaty claims. She is frequently involved in large litigation or international arbitration matters exceeding US$100 million in claimed damages. 

Laura is a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) with a master’s in business administration. She is a member of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).  

Henry Spieker

Partner

Henry Speiker is a construction professional with over 30 years of industry experience. He has been appointed as an expert in matters of delay and disruption on more than 25 occasions. 

Henry has provided expert testimony in litigation, arbitration and deposition for disputed projects with values in excess of US$2 billion. His expertise includes construction management, scheduling and delay analysis, cost impact and disruption analysis, labor productivity, calculation of damages, and contract termination. 

Henry has a background in general contracting and has been involved with hundreds of projects across various sectors in America.  

Henry specializes in the analysis of projects involving complex delay and disruption. He also experienced in insurance matters and provides project level advice and support to assist clients to recognize and resolve potential claim issues to mitigate and avoid disputes. 

Henry is a fellow of the Project Management College of Scheduling (PMCOS) and co-author of the Scheduling and Delay, Suspension of Work and Acceleration chapter of the 2019 Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Construction Law Deskbook. He has appeared as a guest speaker and panellist for the American Public Works Association (APWA) and as a guest lecturer for the University of Washington’s master’s in construction management program, CM 500 Design and Construction Law.  

Joseph Spinelli

Partner

Joseph Spinelli is a Certified Fraud Examiner with over 35 years of experience in forensic accounting and investigations.

​​Joseph specializes in FCPA matters, investigations, and compliance. He has served as integrity monitor on 12 occasions, including on all construction companies involved in the cleanup at Ground Zero following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, designed and implemented anti-bribery and corruption compliance programs for Fortune 500 companies, and conducted FCPA investigations in China, Korea, the Philippines, South America, and Vietnam.

Joseph is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Association of Inspectors General.

Steven F. Stanton

Partner

Steven Stanton is a forensic accountant with more than 40 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 30 occasions. 

Steven has provided expert witness testimony in various locations and has served as an arbitrator in post transaction accounting disputes. He has been the lead accounting expert in a US$1.4 billion post-sale dispute in the pharmaceutical industry and as a consultant in a US$2 billion post-acquisition dispute involving electric power plant construction. In addition, he has been an expert witness for the nation’s largest hospital company in a US$650 million dispute and led a team in defending a large hospital system in a landmark litigation.  

His work has often involved performing agreed-upon procedures testing, and testing compliance, with contracts and agreements. He has served as a fraud specialist and has also been engaged in complex high-profile dispute and investigative issues for SEC and the US Department of Justice. He has also assisted several well-known companies with SEC investigations into revenue recognition practices and related disclosures. 

Steven is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He has frequently spoken on accounting, dispute consulting, and forensic investigations at conferences, law firms, and the DC Bar Association.  

Sean Steward

Partner, Head of IT Infrastructure and Operations

Jamie Sybert

Partner

Jamie Sybert has more than 25 years of experience in government contract cost accounting, pricing, business system compliance, and administration.  

She has participated in investigations and mandatory disclosures with internal and external counsel. These have involved forensic accounting, employee interviews, research of alleged fraud or mischarging, and presentation of findings to company senior management and government officials. 

Jamie has a broad background of advisory experience regarding compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and alleged non-compliance, and other government acquisition regulations. She has firsthand experience negotiating cost accounting practice changes, external restructuring proposals, termination settlement proposals (TSPs), and indirect cost rate agreements. 

Jamie’s expertise includes strategic planning, risk mitigation, internal controls development, business process audits, government regulatory compliance frameworks, ERP implementations, program finance transformation, and contract life cycle support. She advises clients regarding matters ranging from design and development of cost allocation structures and disputing allocations of defective pricing to solicitations, change notices, and contract price adjustments. 

Jamie is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association and vice chair of their procurement division. She is also a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Professional Services Council and the Public Contracts Section of the American Bar Association. 

Lorna Tardif

Partner

Lorna Tardif is a registered professional engineer with over 35 years of experience in claims consultancy, dispute resolution and project advisory services. She has been appointed as an expert on more than 200 occasions as both a delay and quantum expert, relating to disputes in excess of US$100 million. 

Lorna has been retained as an independent expert by owners, contractors, design professionals, and financial institutions. She has given expert witness testimony before courts and arbitration panels across Canada and America. She has also sat as an arbitrator and has mediated the resolution of construction disputes. 

Lorna has a strong focus on effective project controls and has made innovative use of analytics in her work. Her expertise lies in delay analysis, analysis of labour productivity and quantification of damages and she has experience on many large, complex and high-risk projects. 

Lorna has held general contractor, on-site positions on major construction projects across Canada and was the project manager on a complex tunnel boring machine (TBM) project.  

Lorna holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, a master’s in business administration and is a member of the Institute of Mediation and Arbitration – Quebec. She is a frequent speaker, has published papers, and has developed and delivered training programs in both English and French.  

Jim Thomas

Partner

Jim Thomas is a forensic accountant with 35 years of experience providing consulting and dispute resolution services to government contractors. He has been retained as an expert on more than 50 occasions, for disputed matters with values in excess of US$100 million. 

Jim has testified as an expert in proceedings before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, General Services Board of Contract Appeals, District Court and in arbitration. He has served as a neutral accountant in purchase price disputes involving government contract accounting issues. 

In addition to his expertise in aerospace and defense, Jim serves many industries including technology, engineering and professional services, industrial products, construction, retail products and healthcare.  

Jim specializes in cost and pricing matters including government audit issues, False Claims Act damages, defective pricing, labor charging, Cost Accounting Standards, cost allowability, record keeping requirements, Federal Supply Schedule contracts, claims, requests for equitable adjustment, terminations and prime/subcontractor disputes. 

He has a BS in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and associate member of the American Bar Association (ABA). He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has published many articles on government contract cost and pricing matters. 

Chris Tierney

Partner

Christopher Tierney is a forensic accountant with over 32 years of experience in business consulting. His work has focused on financial, accounting, economic, and damages matters across various sectors.  

He has analyzed accounting and economic issues in various types of disputes, including alleged breach of contract, misappropriation of intellectual property, fraud investigations, and bankruptcy. Economic damages he has assessed include increased costs, schedule delays, lost profits, and lost business value.  

Christopher has extensive experience investigating and quantifying the impacts of design defects, performance deficiencies, changed conditions, schedule delay, and other issues arising on large, complex projects, several of which have exceeded one billion dollars.  

He has provided deposition and trial testimony and presented in mediation on damages as well as assisted counsel and clients in settlement negotiations. 

Christopher has experience working in North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia for various clients. He has been consulting with Fortune 500 companies, law firms, government entities, and other organizations. He also has experience as a Project Engineer on a multi-million dollar offshore oil and gas drilling and production facilities. 

Christopher holds a BS Civil Engineering and an MBA. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Institute of Management Accountants. 

Konstantine Tonas

Partner

Konstantine Tonas works for HKA Tech, a dynamic division within the HKA global organisation. With origins dating back to 1996, HKA Tech has a foundation of expertise in construction, engineering, technology, and software applications.

With 20 years of experience and extensive knowledge in project control and cost management software, Konstantine has worked with over 200 organisations and is recognised as an industry authority in leading-edge technologies and strategic problem-solving.

Scott Van Meter

Partner

Scott Van Meter joins as Partner based in Houston, TX. He has over 35 years of experience in litigation consulting, bankruptcy and restructuring, valuation, and forensic accounting. Scott provides financial advisory and litigation support to clients, including plaintiffs, defendants, corporations, debtors, and creditors. He has been designated as an expert witness in more than 100 complex disputes involving commercial, intellectual property, accounting/auditing malpractice, valuation, and economic damages throughout North America and Europe. Additionally, his expertise has extended to providing testimony in bankruptcy-related disputes, including avoidance matters, solvency, and claims litigation.

Before joining HKA, Scott was a managing director at B. Riley Financial. He received his Juris Doctorate (JD) from Stetson University College of Law and his Bachelor of Business Administration and Accounting from Washington and Lee University. Scott is a certified public accountant (CPA) licensed in Texas and Florida and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA). He is also Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF).

Rebecca Vélez

Partner

Rebecca Vélez has over 20 years of experience calculating damages. She has testified or submitted expert testimony relating to commercial damages, valuations and financial matters on more than 10 occasions. 

Rebecca has provided and assisted with testimony under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNITRAL), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), and Stockholm Chamber of Commerce rules. She has testified on damages, valuations and quantum matters with disputed values up to US$2.8 billion. 

Rebecca has supported clients such as sovereign nations and corporations in the energy, oil and gas, mining, real estate, entertainment, and transportation infrastructure industries, among others. She has also submitted reports used for negotiation and settlement purposes in investor-state matters. 

Rebecca specializes in complex damage calculations and analyses. She has provided various accounting and financial consulting services, including commercial damages disputes, valuations and quantum disputes. Her experience is primarily focused on international arbitrations including both investor-state and contract dispute matters. 

Rebecca holds a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in finance and strategic accounting. She is on the Global Steering Committee of Equal Representation for Expert Witnesses (ERE). She is fluent and has testified in both Spanish and English.  

Peter Vosbikian

Partner

Peter Vosbikian has more than 20 years of experience in engineering, construction, project controls, claims analysis and litigation support services. He has been appointed as an expert witness on ten occasions in both quantum and delay matters.

Peter has testified in litigation and has had extensive involvement with arbitrations, mediations and negotiations. His delay and disruption expert work has included disputed sums in excess of $170 million and he is known for preparing and presenting logical and easy-to-understand expert reports.

Peter has a background in land development engineering, project advisory and consulting services across a wide range of projects including large, complex infrastructure projects, oil and gas pipelines, chemical and fuel refineries, water treatment facilities, resort facilities, sports arenas, mining and government buildings. He also provides guidance and support for managing construction risk and dispute avoidance for clients ranging from owners, developers and insurers to contractors and architects.

Peter specialises in schedule delay analysis and quantifying the effects of delay, disruptions and productivity loss as well as performing technical issues analysis.  He has prepared expert reports addressing the various delay analysis and loss of productivity methodologies, having lectured on those topics as well.

Peter is certified by the American Association of Cost Engineers as both a cost professional (CCP) and forensic claims consultant (CFCC). He is an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association and has been published regarding causation analysis by the American Bar Association.

Michael J. Wallace

Partner

Michael Wallace has more than 35 years of financial, economic, accounting and damages experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than a hundred cases. 

Michael has testified as an expert in more than 25 trials and arbitrations and over 65 depositions on finance, accounting, and economic damages matters in US federal and state courts as well as international and domestic arbitrations. He has prepared and analysed hundreds of economic damages claims across a wide variety of industries and practice areas. 

He has extensive consulting experience including analyzing the financial condition and performance of businesses through review of financial statements, public disclosures, accounting information, operational reports, and other business records.  

Michael’s expertise includes lost profits, disgorgement, business valuation, false claims, breach of contract, intellectual property, contingent compensation, cost allocation, and statistical analyses. This includes providing formal and informal presentations to Department of Justice, Defense Contract Audit Agency, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service for defective pricing and false claims issues.  

Michael holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting and a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has delivered various seminars. He is a non-lawyer member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and the State Bar of California.  

Peter Wallace

Partner

Peter Wallace is a construction professional with over 35 years of industry experience. His background focuses on process review and improvement, performance audits, cost assessments, risk reviews, litigation and expert witness services, lender advisory and due diligence reviews, and project management oversight services. He has provided arbitration and litigation support services on projects of up to US$5 billion in value and disputes of up to US$2 billion. 

Peter has provided management consulting, claims management and expert services on some of the largest public infrastructure projects in the world. These include the Channel Tunnel, Central Artery Tunnel “Big Dig”, Oakland Bay Bridge replacement, Tacoma Narrows Bridge replacement, and Sound Transit light rail system. 

He specialises in project risk and complex transactions. He has conducted due diligence and risk reviews on numerous multi-billion-dollar oil and gas projects; acted as the independent monitor on large nuclear retro fit projects; advised the bankruptcy trustee on billion-dollar troubled project liquidations; and conducted financial analysis of construction companies as part of post closure adjustments and acquisition disputes. 

Peter has worked with clients at the federal, state and local levels of government across the USA, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. 

Patrick Westerhaus

Partner

Patrick Westerhaus has over 23 years of experience in advisory, investigative, financial services, and entrepreneurship with a distinguished career in federal law enforcement and the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Patrick is a recognized expert and thought leader in fraud prevention, white-collar criminal investigations, cybercrime prevention, and national security. His impressive background includes a 12-year tenure with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Cyber Division. While at the FBI, Patrick developed innovative techniques to combat cyber threats and led significant investigations into corporate fraud, government fraud, money laundering, and public corruption.

Before joining HKA, Patrick established a Digital Crimes Prevention Practice within a global consulting firm, creating new service offerings to prevent fraud, theft, and human digital exploitation. He also founded a company that combined traditional investigative approaches with innovative cybercrime prevention software solutions, scaling the business to serve Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 clients across various industries.

Patrick holds an International Security Graduate Certificate from Stanford University, a Master of Forensic Sciences degree from George Washington University, and a BBA from Gonzaga University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). His professional memberships include the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), and the Cybercrime Investigation Body of Knowledge (CIBOK) Editorial Committee.

Adam Winegard

Partner, Americas

Adam Winegard has over 30 years of experience in business development, risk assessment and analysis, management, marketing and consulting within the construction claims, construction management and insurance industries.  

He leads HKA’s oil and gas global business development team, where his responsibilities include business development and sales, strategic planning and marketing.  

Adam also has extensive experience performing risk analysis within a range of sectors for EPC and insurance policies, as well as Architectural / Engineering (A/E) errors and omissions (E&O) and specialty contingency project policies. He’s managed teams of engineers and construction specialists involved in developing specialized planning studies.  For the past 20 years, Adam has worked collaboratively with legal counsel identifying experts to avoid, mitigate, and resolve disputes in construction, energy, and financial litigation, arbitration, and mediation.  

Adam is a Co-regional Director for the Southern Central & Northern Texas Region of the Society of Construction Law. He was previously a Co-regional Director for the Southern California Region of the Society of Construction Law. He is a past Chair and Vice-chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Construction Subsection and was a Corporate Citizenship Award Nominee in 2022 by the Los Angeles Business Journal. He is on the Board of Trustees for the Dallas Torah Day School and was awarded the Shofar Award by the Boy Scouts of America.   

Scott Wright

Partner

Scott Wright has over 35 years of experience in security, risk and intelligence matters.

Scott specializes in geopolitical risk mitigation, business intelligence collection, investigative due diligence, counterterrorism, facilities and executive physical and technical security countermeasures, insider risk reduction, and digital threats. He is a proven contingency crisis planner and manager, and skilled at negotiating complex issues with senior foreign government officials and adversaries.

Scott is a member of Business Executives for National Security and has received numerous CIA commendations and exceptional performance awards for mission execution. He is fluent in English and has a strong working proficiency in Arabic.

Kandace Zimmerman

Partner

Kandace Zimmerman has over 17 years of experience in contract and claims management. She offers project-level advice and support to clients, helping them recognize and resolve potential claims issues, analyze schedule challenges, and mitigate disputes. Kandace specializes in reviewing construction contracts and contract language, including changes and claims clauses and delay analysis.

She has reviewed contractors’ bids and change orders, ensuring that requested changes align with the contractor’s base scope. Kandace has also prepared change order recommendations, updated change order logs, and written detailed response letters to contractors, addressing both time and cost implications. Her additional expertise includes cost impact and disruption analysis, labor productivity, damage calculation, and contract termination.

Throughout her career, Kandace has contributed to hundreds of projects across the United States, including educational institutions, hotels, casinos, high-rise buildings, commercial properties, highways, bridges, roadways, utilities, prisons, airports, power plants, wastewater treatment facilities, and industrial and heavy civil works. She has been involved in all phases of project development, from planning and design to construction, dispute resolution, and litigation support. Kandace also provides construction consulting services to a diverse range of clients, including owners, contractors, construction managers, design professionals, and attorneys.

Kandace holds a BS in Mathematics from Seattle University, USA, and is a certified Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP). Kandace is a member of the American Bar Association, Forum on Construction Law, and AACE International.

Mike Zollman

Partner

Mike Zollman is a construction and project management professional with over 30 years of industry experience. He acts as an expert in matters of both delay and quantum and has been appointed on more than 50 occasions. He has acted as expert for disputes with project values of up to US$200 million. 

Mike has regularly provided expert testimony in both litigation and deposition. Based on his investigative and analytical work and his knowledge of contract law, he delivers expert reports and compelling presentations to address issues for settlement negotiations, mediation, arbitration and litigation. 

Mike has provided management consulting, project assessments, project audits and claims services on a wide variety of projects across numerous sectors. He effectively evaluates liability, establish causation, quantify time and cost impacts, and determine the resulting damages. 

Mike has significant expertise in completing project assessments involving fact-based, cause and effect claims analyses of delay, disruption and changes. He specializes in determining the proper factual and contractual basis for entitlement and the actual damages resulting from specific issues. 

Mike is dual qualified in both accounting and law with a construction career that ranges from resolving construction claims and advising clients on dispute resolution matters to providing project management oversight.  

Benjamin Highfield

Partner, Regional CEO, Asia Pacific

Benjamin Highfield, Partner and Regional CEO of Asia Pacific at HKA, is a pivotal figure in the firm’s growth across the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. His extensive experience in representing clients in the resolution of complex disputes is backed by over 20 years in the construction industry, where he has managed disputes on a wide range of projects from infrastructure to energy sectors.

As a trusted advisor, Benjamin specialises in commercial, delay and engineering matters, with a focus on claims management and dispute resolution. His leadership has been crucial in navigating complex projects and disputes, particularly in oil, gas, water, and power sectors. A chartered civil engineer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, his expertise in delay and quantum analysis is evident in his successful track record of preparing claims and resolving high-stakes contractual issues.

Mike Pitt

Partner, Advisory Co-Lead

Mike Pitt leads a team of project professionals, including Project and Program Managers, Development Managers, Health and Safety representatives, Environmental representatives, Design Managers, Construction Compliance, and Quality and Assurance Managers. 

Mike is qualified in Project and Enterprise Management with a breadth of practical experience in project delivery and project performance. He is highly skilled in stakeholder engagement and prioritising and leading multidisciplinary teams in major construction and infrastructure environments. His detailed project performance analysis has enabled him to establish, sustain and streamline teams and contracts on large scale projects, including Crossrail in the UK and Sydney Metro in Australia. 

Mike oversees HKA’s numerous roles on Integrated Delivery teams, where his team manages all contract variations on behalf of clients. Mike and his team work side-by-side with stakeholders to successfully deliver projects in line with contract requirements. They address economic, environmental and social challenges whilst meeting community expectations through working on the ground directly with client teams. 

Mike is the contract and relationship manager for some of HKA’s largest delivery contracts. He is responsible for ensuring that delivery solutions employed across all engagements utilise proven project management philosophies while remaining responsive to each unique situation. He also sits on Supervisory boards, Senior Leadership Groups, Gateway and Assurance Review Panels. 

Mike is a Certified Practising Project Director and has a MSc in Project and Enterprise Management. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Project Management, the Association for Project Management and the Permanent Way Institution.  

Philip Kienstra

Partner, Advisory Co-Lead

Phil Kienstra has 20 years of experience working on large-scale infrastructure projects in Australia and the UK. He can quickly understand and execute successful project outcomes in a fast-changing environment. Due to his stakeholder management expertise working with the British Government, he was personally named in the House of Commons for making an impossible situation work. 

Phil has worked in and led multiple project management teams across varying sectors, most notably in the transportation infrastructure and construction sectors. As a Project Controls subject matter expert and recognised leader, he can mobilise, develop and manage large teams effectively on complex infrastructure projects in short timescales, integrating seamlessly into client teams. His passion is understanding multifaceted project cultures and the development of people to ensure his team is high-performing and effective. He works with clients to provide them with up-to-date data on the potential impacts of their decisions, including time, cost, and risk implications. 

Phil leads a team of project professionals across all project controls disciplines, working with clients and providing them with up-to-date data on the potential impacts of their decisions, including time, cost, and risk implications. 

Prior to HKA, Phil was the Head of PMO and Head of Programme Governance at High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd one of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK. He is also a veteran of the British Army where he served for five and a half years in the Royal Corps of Signals. 

Shamila Neelakandan

Partner, Head of Construction Claims

Shamila Neelakandan is a dual-qualified lawyer (Malaysia and UK) with over 28 years of legal, contracts and commercial experience in the construction industry. She is an expert in managing complex claims, is a specialist in power and utilities (water desalination) and has become a go-to person in the power sector. 

As a claims and contracts expert, Shamila advises on both contentious and non-contentious areas of construction in the consultancy sector. She specialises in tender negotiations, procurement, contracts management and dispute resolution. She also focuses on the determination of contractual and commercial liability, and is skilled in performing risk analysis, developing commercial strategies and in a disputes context, advising clients on claims management and case presentation. The added advantage she brings is her legal training and experience in both civil and common law jurisdictions aside from her commercial experience. 

Shamila also provides advice in strategic project implementation, risk evaluation and risk management and has advised and assisted the boards of directors of multi-national organisations around the world on project turnaround and financial recovery assignments. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and has a personal interest in outreach and youth engagement programmes focusing on nation-building. 

Shamila commenced her career in 1996 as a lawyer focusing on dispute resolution in Malaysia before developing her career as a solicitor in the UK (Osborne Clarke). In 2007, Shamila moved to project consulting and has over the last 17 years successfully acted for clients in the power generation and water desalination, oil & gas, and rail & infrastructure sectors throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia 

Shamila was a judge for the Energy Industry Council (EIC)APAC Regional Awards 2023. She currently sits as a non executive board member of EIC at corporate level. She also sits on the British Malaysia Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) Energy Committee. She is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, an empanelled arbitrator with the AIAC, and a member of the Society of Construction Law. Shamila was a recipient of the prestigious Chevening Scholarship Awards in 2003 when she undertook her Master of Laws at King’s College, London. 

Stephen Rae

Partner, Construction, Claims and Expert Services Lead

Stephen Rae, a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over 40 years of experience in the construction and engineering industries, will take on the role of Construction Claims and Expert Services lead at HKA.

Throughout his career, Stephen has specialised in cost management, change valuation, and forensic quantum and delay analysis services. He provides valuable support to owners, contractors, and legal advisors across a wide range of projects, including commercial developments, hospitals, roads, railways, airports, tunnels, oil and gas projects, and more. Stephen’s expertise has been recognised in the Lexology Insights (Who’s Who Legal) Guide as a leading expert in the field of Construction Quantum and Delay.

Jonathan Humphrey

Partner, Forensic Accounting & Commercial Damages Lead

Jonathan Humphrey is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of experience in forensic accounting. He has been appointed as an expert more than 60 times in commercial and investment treaty cases, dealing with matters of damages and quantum. 

Jonathan has acted as an expert witness in multiple forums, including international arbitration under ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, SIAC, DIAC and HKIAC rules, court litigation and mediation. He has given oral evidence in commercial and investment treaty cases with disputed values of up to US$1.5 billion and has also delivered concurrent evidence (hot-tubbing). 

Jonathan began his career at one of the big four accounting firms where he worked in their forensic accounting group for eight years before working for expert services firms for 12 years. He has experience in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia, working in a myriad of sectors, including construction, financial services, IT and telecoms, media, natural resources, oil and gas, power and utilities, pharmaceutical and retail.  

Jonathan’s expert commissions cover a range of issues including the quantification of lost profits, business valuations and the assessment of damages relating to class actions, professional negligence, insurance claims, business interruption and post-acquisition disputes. His forensic accounting expertise includes fraud, forensic, intellectual property and regulatory investigations. 

Jonathan holds a degree in economics and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is regularly recognised as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal for his experience in the quantum of damages, arbitration, litigation, construction and insurance matters.  

Kourosh Kayvani

Partner, Forensic Technical Services Lead

Kourosh is a Chartered Professional Engineer with over 30 years of experience. He has been appointed as a technical expert, and supported the named expert, on numerous occasions. 

Kourosh has been cross-examined in litigation and has delivered expert reports for disputed projects and structural failures in steel structures, long-span roofs, industrial processes and infrastructure. 

Kourosh’s experience spans academia, expert advisory, expert witness roles, and engineering practise. He has played leading roles in the design and delivery of many innovative, complex, and award-winning projects across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the UK, the Middle East, and Africa. His project portfolio includes Wembley Stadium in London, West Kowloon Terminus in Hong Kong, 5 Martin Place commercial tower and CommBank Stadium in Sydney, ANSTO OPAL nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights near Sydney, and Melbourne Star Observation Wheel, amongst many others. 

Kourosh’s expertise involves structural analysis, design and construction engineering of sports stadia, tall buildings, cable-supported structures and bridges, long-span roofs, telecommunication towers, and impact-resistant and vibration sensitive facilities.  He has specialised experience in finite element analysis (FEA), wind engineering, aseismic design, fatigue assessment, and development of design codes and standards. 

Kourosh is a Fellow, and board director, of Engineers Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and a board director at the Australian Steel Institute. He has received numerous awards for his contribution to long-span structures worldwide. Kourosh has also served as member of Standards Australia’s code committees for concrete structures (AS3600) and wind loads (AS1170.2) for many years.  

Arnold An Ho Koh

Partner

Arnold An Ho Koh has over 29 years of experience in contract management, cost analysis, project scheduling and progress management, preparation of claims, arbitration and litigation.

Arnold has held various construction and contract management positions with contractors in Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. He is a specialist in preparing contractual claims seeking entitlement for both time and cost. He is well-versed in progress management, construction management, contract management and claim management. Arnold’s project experience includes large-scale express highways, buildings, oil and gas, power plants, wastewater treatment plants, desalination plants, submersible drilling rigs, and offshore platforms.

Arnold has acted as an Arbitrator of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) and is Director of The Korean Arbitrations Association. He is a member of the Korea Institution of CM and the Korea Overseas Construction Forum.

Geoff Bell

Partner

Geoff Bell is a mechanical engineer with over 35 years of engineering and construction industry experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 80 occasions in the fields of delay, disruption, delay costs and project management. 

Geoff has been cross-examined in both litigation and arbitration proceedings on numerous occasions including giving concurrent evidence. He has acted as an expert in matters with disputed values of hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Geoff’s project experience ranges from conception and design through to construction and commissioning. He has worked in principal and contractor environments across a variety of contractual delivery methods. 

Geoff’s broad project experience and deep understanding of technical projects provide him with a unique insight into disputes and an ability to simplify what are often complex matters. He has provided expert services on disputes relating to the industrial, mining, oil and gas, energy, transport, utilities, defence, and buildings sectors. He also regularly provides independent advice on live projects on matters relating to programming, project controls and pro-active management of time and cost related issues. 

Geoff is a member of the Institution of Engineers Australia (IEA) and the Society of Construction Law – Australia (SoCLA).  

Chris Clark

Partner

Chris Clark is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 30 years of experience in construction contracting and consulting. Chris has gained experience with major contractors on large engineering and infrastructure projects including energy, airport, road and rail.

As a consultant, Chris has provided expert witness and advisory services on a wide range of complex construction and engineering projects including public buildings, high-rise/mixed-use developments, energy (thermal and renewables), transport infrastructure (road, rail, and airport), mining infrastructure, process plant, utilities, and oil and gas. Chris’ field of expertise is in project planning and the analysis of delay and dealing with issues of prolongation costs, disruption, EOT entitlement, and concurrent delay. Chris’ expertise has also been recognised by Lexology Index (Who’s Who Legal) as a leading expert in the field of construction delay.

Amri Denton

Partner

Amri Denton has extensive and varied public and private sector contracts and procurement experience at a senior leadership level. A result-oriented executive, he is skilled in developing complex commercial strategies and contracts in often challenging stakeholder environments. Experienced and qualified in engineering and procurement, he has proficiency across the entire infrastructure project lifecycle and in operational and maintenance environments.

Amri is a procurement leader involved in multiple contractual requirements up to multi-billion GBP/AUD in value and ranging in scope from engineering design, construction, asset maintenance, M&E systems, event management, service operations and a broad range of professional services. He is particularly proficient in establishing and managing NEC contracts, with working knowledge and detailed reviews of multiple other forms of contract. He is experienced in public and private sector procurement and has sound knowledge of construction contract law and probity, industry engagement, tendering procedures, contract establishment and contract management.

Jonathan Ellis

Partner

Jonathan Ellis is a forensic accountant with nearly two decades of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 25 occasions. 

Jonathan has acted as expert on matters before the UK and Singapore High Courts. He has provided oral testimony on numerous occasions, in both court and arbitration, and has been engaged as a tribunal appointed expert. 

Jonathan has advised and supported clients in mergers and acquisitions transactions, corporate restructuring, financial reporting, and expert determination. He is experienced across multiple sectors including energy, power, pharmaceutical, mining, and manufacturing. His consulting experience also includes advising two utility suppliers in the Middle East, in respect of both water and power. 

Jonathan specialises in the assessment of complex damages and contentious valuations, with an emphasis in the context of disputes, for litigation, arbitration, and expert determination purposes. He is also experienced in conducting independent accounting investigations and reviews. 

Jonathan holds a master’s in accounting and management science and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Asia Pacific Institute of Experts. He is a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators and the thought leadership group of the Singapore ICC Arbitration Group. He is also ranked as a Global Elite Thought Leader in Arbitration by Who’s Who Legal. 

Kelly Whitehead

Partner, People Business Partnering

Kelly Whitehead is a People Business Partner for our Asia Pacific and EMEA regions, responsible for the delivery and oversight of the regional and global People strategy that supports the delivery of regional business performance. 

Kelly has over 20 years of experience as a people and human resources professional operating across various industries from Financial Services, Public Services to Professional Consulting firms. Prior to joining HKA in December 2014, she served as Human Resources Business Partner for MWH Global, now Stantec. She has a wealth of experience working across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.  

Kelly is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and is a qualified business coach.  

Baoqiang Zheng

Partner

Baoqiang Zheng is a professional consultant with over 20 years of experience in construction dispute management. He has been involved in claims for major infrastructure schemes around the world.  

Baoqiang has assisted the named expert in matters of delay on several occasions. This has included the production of expert reports in arbitration proceedings for industrial and infrastructure projects. He has also acted as named delay expert for a combined cycle power plant project in Europe and a coal fired power plant project in South East Asia. 

He specialises in project planning and forensic delay analysis. He has been directly involved in a variety of major international projects across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East for the preparation and defence of claims, disputes and arbitrations on behalf of contractors, subcontractors, clients and legal counsels. 

Baoqiang has extensive experience in buildings, infrastructure, oil and gas, power and transportation projects. He has provided services including contract administration, contractual and commercial management, due-diligence, procurement, contract negotiations, disruption analysis, and estimating and cost management. 

Baoqiang is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyor (RICS). He also holds a Project Management Professional certificate from PMI of the USA.  

Amanda Clack

Partner, Regional CEO, EMEA

Amanda Clack has more than 35 years of experience and is an industry-renowned figure whereby she is listed in Who’s Who as a senior property professional in real estate, infrastructure & construction, aligning with her early qualifications in quantity surveying, programme management and real estate.

As a business strategy and transformation specialist, she has vast experience in both private and public sectors, with her expertise in professional services seeing her appointed to numerous boards, including Chair of Trustees at the University College of Estate Management (UCEM), Chair of the RICS Infrastructure and Construction Market Forum, Member of the Mayor of London’s Infrastructure Advisory Panel (IAP), and as a former Senior Adviser to the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) & Building Safety Challenge Panel.

Amanda’s exceptional reputation in her field saw her become the longest-serving President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 123 years. In 2018, she was named ‘Most Influential Surveyor’ at the RICS 150^th Anniversary ‘Pride in the Profession’ awards in the category of Top Surveyors of All Time. She is a Fellow of six institutions, including RICS, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Association of Project Management and the Royal Society of Arts. She holds two honorary Doctorates and is a Companion, Fellow, and Certified Management Consultant of the Institute of Management.

Amanda is a passionate advocate for causes surrounding equality, diversity, and inclusion in both her professional and personal life. She has co-authored two books on the subject, including Managing Diversity and Inclusion in Real Estate (Routledge, 2019) and has been the Executive Vice President for The Story of Christmas charity and appeal since 2021.

Stuart Ells

Partner, Regional Growth and Operations Officer, EMEA

Stuart Ells has more than 30 years of corporate experience in the professional services, media and entertainment sectors. His focus at HKA is to accelerate and support the growth agenda for the EMEA region working with the EMEA Leadership Team in identifying and sourcing growth opportunities for the region, including securing individual senior talent, and team lift outs, as well as M&A opportunities that help the firm on its growth journey.

Most recently, Stuart served as Chief Executive Officer at Forensic Risk Alliance (FRA), where he was responsible for all operational planning, running and reporting of the business globally. During his time with FRA, Stuart successfully recruited a number of senior fee earning individuals, grew the Partner base by over 25% and opened international offices in the Middle East and Asia.

Prior to FRA, Stuart was Managing Director & Chief Administrative Officer for Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) Europe & Middle East, where he was responsible for the management, effectiveness and efficiency of the corporate support functions in the EMEA region. His role included future proofing the support structure to make it scalable to support the very significant growth of A&M in the EMEA region in recent years.

Stuart has also served as Managing Director, CFO, COO and CEO in a range of companies involved in filmed entertainment, TV production, recorded music, music publishing, theatre production and theatre management during which time he has led or advised on multiple mergers and acquisitions.

Stuart started his career at Ernst & Young and he is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Toby Hunt

Partner, Business Development Lead, EMEA

Toby Hunt is an experienced business leader with over 30 years of experience and a strong background in operations and business development.  He is currently responsible for the Business Development of the EMEA region, and is familiar with a broad spectrum of projects, including infrastructure and utility systems, power generation and distribution, onshore, offshore, upstream and downstream oil and gas facilities, hospitals, airports and production facilities, as well as commercial and residential developments.​

Toby is also responsible for the management and strategic business development of HKA’s claims and expert business, with a global focus. He plays an integral role in managing and developing relationships with some of HKA’s key clients worldwide.

He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and is currently chair of the UK Executive Committee of WPC Energy. He also previously served as a Non-Executive Director for the Energy Industries Council and has sat on various steering groups for the Society of Construction Law, the Chartered Institute of Building, and the International Superconference. He has authored and contributed to multiple thought leadership pieces.

Jad Chouman

Partner, Head of Middle East

Jad Chouman has over 20 years of experience in construction claims and disputes. He is responsible for managing the overall business in the Middle East and takes a lead role in business development as well as managing the technical deliverables.  

Jad is a qualified civil engineer and has extensive experience in the preparation and assessment of delay and disruption claims, forensic investigation and litigation support services. He has analysed and evaluated complex delay and disruption claims and has performed financial damage assessments, cost audits, programme assessments, and prepared construction claims reports for negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation processes. 

Over the course of his career, Jad has successfully managed large teams of consultants working to provide planning, commercial, contractual, claims management and arbitration support services for several different clients, including employers, contractors and subcontractors. He has provided claims consulting services for prestigious projects in the United States, Middle East and North Africa. Some of the projects that he has been involved in include a multi-billion tunnel project, international airports, shopping malls, hotel complexes, roads, railways power plants and oil and gas projects.   

Jad holds a master’s degree in Infrastructure Engineering and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has also been named one of the top 100 most influential construction leaders in the Middle East by Construction Week. 

John Hughes

Partner, Head of Africa

John Hughes has over 34 years of experience in the construction and engineering industries, providing comprehensive services such as project management, forensic delay analysis, and claims management across the UK and internationally. He has a notable track record of managing major claims in regions including the UK, Middle East, and Africa. John oversees the strategic management of business operations throughout Africa, ensuring the delivery of quality and efficiency in every commission.

In his role, John offers expert services throughout the construction process, from tender documentation to dispute resolution, and has developed a reputation for delivering strategic advice and expert opinions for adjudication and arbitration proceedings. His experience encompasses a wide range of projects, from residential and industrial facilities to infrastructure and community developments in the UK, UAE, and South Africa. John’s responsibilities extend to serving as a consultant in contracts, quantum, delay, and planning across various sectors and countries.

John holds a master’s degree in construction law and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Claudia O’Brien

Partner, Head of Africa Operations

Claudia O’Brien is responsible for the firm’s operations in Africa, spearheading growth strategies and broadening the spectrum of services offered in the region. With a robust legal background spanning over two decades, she is a distinguished figure, proficient in navigating relationships with key players in national and international law enforcement, State-Owned Enterprises, and governmental bodies. Her collaborative approach has earned her a network of high-level contacts.

 Before her tenure at HKA, Claudia played pivotal roles in various organisations, notably in the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), where she honed her expertise in orchestrating sophisticated, multi-faceted forensic investigations that spanned multiple agencies. Her leadership capabilities were further demonstrated during her two-year tenure as the Regional Head for the SIU’s East London Office. Her career also includes significant stints at the Auditor-General’s office and KMMT Forensic Accounting and Investigations, further cementing her status as a seasoned professional in her field.

Dafydd Wyn Owen

Partner, Advisory Lead

Dafydd Wyn Owen has over 25 years of international experience providing strategic advice on the development, procurement and delivery of major infrastructure programmes and managing the implementation of complex change.  

Dafydd has experience in the government, transport, infrastructure, water, energy and entertainment sectors. He has worked in the public and private sectors as a client, a consultant and a contractor. He also has particular experience in advising senior executives in Government. 

Dafydd has been at the forefront of driving industry change, particularly around increasing industry productivity, collaborative contracting and innovative procurement. He has supported Sydney Water to embed the principles of Project 13 into its market-leading Partnering 4 Success initiative. This has led the creation of innovative delivery models for numerous major asset owners globally, and to the development of the landmark Delivering Outcomes report for Infrastructure Australia, which sets out a roadmap to increase the productivity of the infrastructure sector over the next 15 years. 

He has also undertaken strategic reviews of some of the world’s largest and most complex projects and been Partner in Charge for the delivery of numerous projects. 

Dafydd is a member of the Association for Project Management and the Australian Institute for Project Management.  

Haroon Niazi

Partner, Construction, Claims and Expert Services Lead, EMEA

Haroon Niazi is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with more than 10 years of experience. He has provided expert testimony in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on two occasions and has been appointed as a quantum expert, for disputes of more than $300 million. 

Haroon has worked as both a quantity surveyor and a barrister, regularly appearing before tribunals in the UK. He has been instructed on matters ranging from domestic construction disputes, adjudications and lower value commercial claims through to acting as part of arbitration teams in multi-million-dollar arbitration proceedings. 

Haroon has experience in all forms of dispute resolution and has a good knowledge of the JCT, NEC, FIDIC, MPW contracts in Kuwait, Saudi Public Works Contract and the Saudi Aramco standard form contracts, as well as various ad hoc contracts. 

Haroon specialises in the quantification of construction cost claims. He supports clients across various market sectors from power, oil and gas to major buildings and infrastructure projects. 

Haroon holds a masters in both law and quantity surveying and is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. He is also a non-executive board member for the RICS Working Group in Saudi Arabia. Haroon is fluent in both English and Urdu and uniquely placed to support clients across Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East region. 

Daniel Jackson

Partner, Construction, Claims and Expert Services Lead, Africa

Daniel Jackson is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and RICS Accredited Expert Witness with over 20 years of experience. He has been appointed as a quantum expert on numerous occasions in arbitrations and adjudications. 

Daniel has acted for disputed sums of up to US$700 million, and for projects valued up to US$15 billion. He has been cross-examined in international arbitration and has acted in several high-profile matters. He has been involved in over 50 disputes within the buildings, oil and gas, power and infrastructure sectors. His recent appointments include a US$12 billion disputed rail project, a US$15 billion coal-fired power plant and a large nuclear power plant.  He has also provided quantum expert opinion, dispute resolution services and independent expert determinations of contractual and quantum disputes. 

Daniel has experience of delivering a full range of pre- and post-contract quantity surveying services for leading main contractors.  As a consultant, he has led teams on a number of technically challenging appointments, involving complex engineering disputes, on some of the world’s largest airports, oil refineries and power projects.  Daniel has worked for and on behalf of clients in over 14 countries across five continents. 

Daniel’s expertise includes matters of quantity surveying, valuation of damages ensuing termination, cost-based claims and disruption, assessment of variations – including MEP, and establishing quantum principles. He has become an expert in the attribution of prolongation costs pertaining to large, complex engineering projects. 

Daniel holds a degree in quantity surveying and construction cost management, an LLM in construction law and arbitration and an LLB honours law degree. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of RICS.  

Julia Humpidge

Partner, Forensic Technical Services Lead

Julia Humpidge is an engineer and project manager with more than 30 years of construction and energy industry experience. She has acted as a technical expert on multiple occasions. 

Julia has delivered independent technical expert opinion on engineering, design and project management matters for offshore wind and multipurpose buildings projects. Her expert appointments have had disputed values of up to £65 million. 

Julia has a broad background in EPC contracting, from working as a process engineer in her early career to roles including project engineer, project manager, head of engineering department and vice president of project execution. She has extensive experience of delivering projects through the design, procurement, construction and commissioning phases; including developing and leading multi-disciplinary teams and carrying out project reviews, and the successful implementation of stage-gate processes. 

Julia specialises in forensic investigation of engineering and design issues across a range of industries. She supports clients on projects ranging from onshore, offshore, upstream and downstream oil and gas to energy and industrial plants. 

Julia holds a degree in chemical engineering and has completed an advanced professional award in expert witness evidence (LETAPAEWE).  

Gerry Brannigan

Partner, Forensic Technical Services Growth Development Lead

Gerry Brannigan is a Chartered Engineer with over 20 years of experience.  Since 2012, he has been appointed as a technical expert witness or expert advisor on more than 50 occasions. 

Gerry is an expert witness in building services engineering, multi-disciplinary design management and has acted as the lead expert in multi-disciplinary complex construction disputes. He is part of the leadership of HKA’s group of engineering, architecture, scientific, and technical specialists. He is also responsible for the development of new areas of expertise for HKA, and currently oversees the new Aviation & Space team, and the Environmental and Climate Change team. 

With a background in design engineering and design management, Gerry has experience in almost all types of buildings and has detailed knowledge of building physics, energy efficiency and sustainability, building regulations and the interaction of users on the performance of buildings. He also has significant experience in project and design management, problem-solving, design quality, client briefing, and scope development, site inspection, project financial management, project programming, and the coordination between disciplines on complex construction projects. 

Gerry has experience of managing and coordinating multi-disciplinary expert teams on complex construction disputes. He has opined on liability, design responsibility, client scope, performance issues, risk, professional responsibility, design duties, contractor duties, systems failures and contributed to the assessment of delay factors. 

Gerry is a fellow of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers and a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air Conditioning Engineers, the Society of Public Health Engineers, the Society of Construction Law and the International Bar Association. He is a practising member of the Academy of Experts and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.  

David Atkinson

Partner

David Atkinson is a civil engineer with over 25 years of experience of large scale and complex construction projects. His experience has been gained whilst working for both leading design consultants and construction contractors. 

David regularly advises on planning and programming issues on major projects with values of up to $4bn, throughout the Middle East and Africa. He has been appointed as a planning expert and has assisted in the production of expert reports in the capacity of lead delay analyst. He has also provided expert witness testimony in arbitration. 

David has worked within the construction industry designing, planning and supervising the construction of major civil engineering works. He has worked across Europe, Middle East, and Africa and has worked on a number of high profile oil and gas, infrastructure and building disputes. 

David has a thorough knowledge of the construction process having worked on traditional, design and build and partnering contracts and having represented both the employer and the contractor. He has over ten years of experience in performing cause and effect analyses of major delay and disruption claims. 

David has a degree in civil engineering, a master’s in construction law and arbitration, a master’s in maritime civil engineering, and an advanced professional award in expert witness evidence. He is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of the Society of Construction Law and a member of the Chartered Institute of Building.  

Karen Best

Partner

Karen Best is a Chartered Civil Engineer with nearly 30 years of experience in the construction and engineering industries. She worked as a site agent and senior engineer for almost a decade before moving into construction consultancy.  

Karen has been appointed as delay expert on more than 15 occasions regarding building and power-related project disputes. She has also assisted the named expert on 15 occasions on various projects across the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Karen has been cross-examined in arbitration and has a wide range of expert witness training from various institutions, including the Academy of Experts, Bond Solon, the Expert Witness Institute and Pearson Education. 

Karen is experienced in construction management, project planning and critical path methods of retrospective delay analysis. She has worked on expert appointments related to delay and disruption claims regarding civil engineering and building contracts from power plants in Qatar and industrial facilities in Australia to numerous buildings and infrastructure projects across Europe, the UK and Africa. 

Karen is widely experienced as a site engineer and has worked on various civil engineering projects across the UK. These range from marine, bridges and heavy civils projects, including work on the construction of the London Eye. As a site agent, Karen was responsible for various projects, planning and organising works on site, and liaising with clients and subcontractors. 

Karen has a master’s in construction law and Arbitration and is a regular presenter at joint CIOB masterclasses. She presents on the subjects of delay analysis and developing the master programme and has presented at the RICS autumn seminar series on the same topic.  

Geoff Bewsey

Partner

Geoff Bewsey is a civil engineer with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry, working in design, contracting and consulting. He has been appointed as delay expert for project planning and disruption matters, on more than 35 occasions. 

Geoff is a widely-experienced expert witness in the fields of disruption and delay. Geoff has been cross-examined at arbitration in six hearings and has given concurrent evidence (hot-tubbing) during two of these disputes. He has also acted as expert assistant on numerous international disputes. 

As a consultant, Geoff draws on his management and commercial experience to advise clients on project management, dispute avoidance and bid management. He has assisted clients in establishing record and control systems that enable responsive project monitoring and management. From oil and gas projects across the Middle East to buildings, infrastructure and power projects across Africa, Asia and Europe, Geoff is able to draw on his live project experience and planning background to advise, support and aid the resolution of client disputes. 

Geoff started his career as a site engineer and progressed through site management, project management and contracts management before his appointment as a commercial director. He specialised in reinforced concrete construction and has worked on projects across the UK ranging from water works and bridges to shopping centres and car parks. 

Geoff is a regular speaker at industry conferences around the world on the topics of disruption analysis and valuation, management of project records and methods of delay analysis. He frequently delivers training to a range of international clients regarding Time Risk Management and is recognised for his thorough and accessible approach to complex topics. 

Bob Breeze

Partner

Bob Breeze is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Chartered Arbitrator with over 40 years of experience. He has been appointed as a delay and quantum expert on more than 100 occasions. 

Bob has acted as an advocate and expert witness in litigation and arbitration proceedings for major international projects with disputed values of up to $900 million. He is experienced across all forms of alternative dispute resolution and has varied experience as an arbitrator. 

Bob has worked across construction and its associated industries, principally on projects within the energy sector. These include oil and gas, fabrication of offshore structures, petrochemical, shipbuilding, and power generation. He has been employed by owners, consultants, contractors and builders, and subcontractors and vendors throughout the world delivering all aspects of quantity surveying and delay analysis. 

Bob specialises in the appraisal, forensic investigation and analysis of both extension of time and monetary claims. His experience ranges from pre-contract tendering, procurement, contract award, and cost control and management to post-contract administration, including extension of time and cost, damages, and delay assessment. 

Bob is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the London Court of International Arbitration.  

Stefan Brill

Partner

Stefan Brill is a legal professional with a career spanning over 20 years, commanding a wealth of experience within the international construction and engineering domains. His proficiency encompasses an array of disciplines including claims and contract management, dispute resolution, and strategic advisory consultancy. His niche lies in power generation, and he has been instrumental throughout the lifecycle of projects—spanning pre-construction, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and final handover phases.

Stefan’s portfolio spans numerous continents, encompassing notable mega-projects across the globe. His counsel is sought-after by project owners, contractors, and contract administrators alike, underpinned by practical insight. Marrying his deep comprehension of quantum and delay-related intricacies with his legal background, he is able to illuminate the intricate nexus of cost, time, and contractual facets of construction projects and claims.

Stefan holds a ‘Licenciado en Derecho’ (BSc MSc Law) degree from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, and is a member of the BarcelonaBar Association (Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Barcelona).

Trevor Butler

Partner

Trevor Butler is an engineer and a compliance and risk management specialist with over 35 years of oil and gas industry experience. He has been appointed as a technical expert on seven occasions. 

Trevor been cross-examined in arbitration and has provided expert opinion on various oil and gas and energy projects across Europe, Asia and Australia. His expert appointments include matters involving failure investigations and construction and technical compliance related disputes on projects with disputed values of up to $800m. Most recently, he has been engaged to provide expert opinion on several matters relating to global ‘Oilfield Best Practices’. 

Trevor’s expertise is built from decades of oil and gas design, construction and operations experience. He received multiple industry awards for his work in engineering, maintenance and modifications activity on North Sea producing platforms. His roles have ranged from construction and commission planner, hook-up coordinator and platform manager to principal consultant in quality and risk management, and project control across a variety of major fixed platforms, field wide drilling campaigns, and subsea developments. 

Trevor is a recognised expert in drill rig quality assurance, rig-intake, well planning, well equipment and platform to rig system interfaces, with a particular focus on the effective management of supplier, technical, contractual, and regulatory compliance. He is also a skilled and experienced project auditor and incident investigation lead and has devised and implemented formal audit programmes covering all aspects of supplier processes, from design and manufacture to test, installation and operation. 

Trevor acted as audit leader to the Statoil (Equinor) Artificial Lift Advisory Group which qualifies new drill rig and well related technologies. He is a certified lead auditor and has completed the Legal Experience Training advanced professional award in expert witness evidence.  

Paul Cacchioli

Partner

Paul Cacchioli is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with more than 35 years of construction industry experience. He has been appointed as a quantum expert on numerous occasions.  

Paul has acted as the quantum expert for disputed projects including transport infrastructure and residential, mixed-use and healthcare buildings, with values of up to £250 million. His experience includes arbitration hearings, pleadings for arbitration (domestic and international), referral notices and responses for adjudication process, statements of claim, counterclaim and defence submissions, and resolution via negotiation. 

Paul has worked as a commercial manager and a quantity surveyor, providing commercial stewardship, on major projects in the UK, Europe and the Far East. He also has significant experience of working with distressed and insolvent companies within the construction sector. 

Paul has particular expertise in mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineering services across various sectors and is involved in the preparation, analysis and submission of quantum expert witness reports and in the preparation and defence of contractual claims. He has strong commercial and contractual knowledge having worked with a range of both standard forms and bespoke forms of contract. 

Paul is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is a Bond Solon accredited expert witness. He has a master’s in construction law and dispute resolution and a degree in cost management of building engineering services and has been published by Practical Law on a variety of construction dispute matters.  

Peter Caillard

Partner

Peter Caillard is a Chartered Civil Engineer with nearly 40 years of experience in the construction industry.  He is widely experienced in the design and construction of highways, transport and infrastructure projects. 

Peter has managed projects through all stages of construction from preliminary design through to final account using a variety of forms of contract.   He has been engaged with projects throughout the world including the UK and Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America, and his experience covers all aspects of design and construction including highway geometry, road pavement construction, drainage, earthworks, highway structures, public utilities, and materials testing. He is also experienced in transport planning, both for public infrastructure projects and private developments. 

Peter has also undertaken research projects on behalf of the Department of Transport and has developed draft technical standards both in the UK and overseas.  He has also executed safety audits for a wide range of projects and led investigations into road traffic accidents in the UK, followed by preparation of reports for litigation.  

Peter has undertaken forensic investigations relating to engineering disputes on many occasions and testified at dispute hearings and planning inquiries, including planning appeals, arbitrations, and mediations. He gave evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee during the passage of the enabling legislation for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.  

Nicola Caley

Partner

Nicola Caley has more than 24 years of experience in construction, with more than 13 years focused on strategic claims management, claims determination, contractual claims preparation, defence, and dispute resolution. She is a legal professional with an LLM in Construction Law and Arbitration, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an RICS-accredited mediator.  

Nicola has led teams on many complex and technically demanding claims assignments, and she regularly advises on claims and commercial matters on major projects within challenging environments. She has a wealth of commercial, contractual and management experience gained from working on complex infrastructure, buildings, and oil and gas projects throughout the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India. Other experience includes retail, housing developments, commercial, and mixed-use buildings. 

She is well versed in the most current standard forms of contract and has an excellent working knowledge of the NEC, JCT, and FIDIC suites of contracts. She has a particularly strong background in claims, bespoke contracts, and the use of interim dispute resolution techniques on distressed projects.

Mark Castell

Partner

Mark Castell is a quantity surveyor with nearly 40 years of construction industry experience. He has acted as an expert on more than 35 occasions in matters of both delay and quantum and undertaken five expert determinations.  

Mark has given written and oral evidence to tribunals and courts and has experience in witness conferencing (hot-tubbing). He has been cross-examined in international arbitration proceedings, undertaken binding expert determinations in the Middle East and Europe, and acted as a court-appointed expert in the Netherlands. 

Mark moved to contract and commercial consultancy following 15 years of live project experience in the UK and across mainland Europe. His project experience ranges from energy, marine and offshore to buildings, infrastructure, process and industrial sectors in Europe (including Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the UK), Africa (including Egypt, Gambia, Libya, Kenya and Nigeria) the Far East, the Middle East (Iraq, UAE and Oman), Australia, the United States and the Caribbean. 

Mark’s varied expert analysis includes the effects of re-measurement, variations or changes to work scope, disruption, delays and extensions to completion dates, acceleration, and claims related to defects and incomplete work. He has acted as an expert for disputed values of up to US$135 million. 

Mark is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and an associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.  

Matthias Cazier-Darmois

Partner

Matthias Cazier-Darmois is a damages expert with 20 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 25 occasions. 

Matthias has testified on more than 20 occasions in several investor-state and commercial arbitration proceedings (under CIRDI, UNCITRAL, CCI, LCIA, SCC, CEPANI rules, or in ad-hoc arbitrations). He has acted as an expert witness in many high-stake investment and commercial arbitrations, in a wide range of industries, including mining, energy, power, and telecoms. 

Matthias has worked in London and Paris in various dispute and forensic teams. His non-contentious engagements include acquisition due diligence, valuations in the context of fairness opinions or transactions, and corporate fraud investigations. 

Matthias’ expertise includes damages assessment, as may arise from breaches of contracts or international treaties. He supports clients in complex commercial disputes and international arbitrations, providing expert evidence and valuation advice. 

Matthias delivers lectures on damages-related issues in several French Universities and regularly speaks at conferences on damages-related topics. He is recognized as thought leader in arbitration by Who’s Who Legal and as a global leader in quantum of damages since 2016. 

Anthony Charlton

Partner

Anthony Charlton is a Chartered Accountant with close to 30 years of professional experience. He has been appointed as an expert in matters of forensic accounting and the assessment of economic loss on over 50 occasions. 

Anthony has testified in both English and French for matters before the French and Belgian domestic courts and for numerous investment and commercial arbitration matters. He has acted in disputes ranging from $3 million to over $25 billion. 

Anthony has specialised in dispute-type work since 1996, after first gaining professional experience in many auditing and insolvency related assignments. His experience is global and covers a variety of industries including technology media and telecoms, oil and gas, energy, resources, construction, real estate, mining, aviation, infrastructure, hotel & leisure, banking, media, materials. 

Anthony’s expertise ranges from the quantification of damages claims in international commercial and investment treaty disputes, contentious valuations and expert determinations to shareholder and joint-venture disputes, financial and fraud investigations, and other types of forensic accounting assignments. He is also frequently instructed to prepare preliminary assessments of loss by claimants and law firms in contemplation of launching formal dispute proceedings. 

Anthony is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of their specialist valuation group. He is widely recognised by WWL as a Global Elite Thought Leader and Thought Leader in their quantum of damages, arbitration and investigations – forensic experts’ research.  

Hamish Clark

Partner

Hamish Clark is a Chartered Architect with more than 35 years of experience.  He has acted as an expert architect on 29 occasions and has been a member of a team of experts on two further occasions. 

Hamish has given evidence and been cross-examined in the International Court of Arbitration in Singapore, the London Court of International Arbitration, and the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He has provided concurrent evidence in international arbitration and remote evidence in a virtual hearing. His expert appointments have included disputes with values in excess of $250 million. 

Hamish provides expert opinion on architectural matters to clients across multiple sectors in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Oceania. His expert appointments include matters associated with resource infrastructure projects, transport infrastructure projects, light industrial, commercial, hospitality projects, social housing projects. 

Hamish has acted as lead consultant and contract administrator throughout his career and is well acquainted with a variety of procurement routes. He has broad-ranging experience that includes the drafting of architectural and consultant appointments and the preparation of feasibility studies, scheme designs, production information, detailed and performance specifications, and condition surveys and reports. 

Hamish is a fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and accredited to their expert witness panel, a registered expert and member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a member of the Australian Institute of Architects, and a member of the Architects Registration Board. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a practising member of the Academy of Experts. He has lectured at the University of Strathclyde for a number of years. Whilst in practice, Hamish held an accreditation in building conservation from the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

Helen Collie

Partner

Helen Collie is a structural engineer with 15 years of construction industry experience. She has been appointed as a technical expert on more than ten occasions and has assisted the named expert numerous times. 

Helen has produced, or supported the production of, expert reports for claims regarding property insurance payments for earthquake and fire damage, issues of design liability and professional negligence for large sports and infrastructure projects, alleged poor workmanship, materials and specifications defects, and construction defects. She has been cross-examined in arbitration and is experienced in litigation support. 

Helen has a background in the design and coordination of arts, education, healthcare and commercial structures. Her experience spans the commercial building design arena, from high-rise concrete structures in the Middle East, to adaptive reuse of existing London building stock, to complex steelwork arrangements. 

Helen is a specialist in forensic engineering work. She covers subject matter ranging from structural steelwork (including connection design responsibility and workmanship), reinforced concrete design and defects, water leakages, seismic assessments (including for remediation works), and design liability issues. 

Helen is a Chartered Engineer with a master’s in construction law and dispute resolution. She is a member of the Institution of Structural Engineers and a practising member of the Academy of Experts and has completed the Legal Experience Training advanced professional award in expert witness evidence (LETAPAEWE) and Bond Solon’s witness familiarisation training. Clients refer to Helen as “knowledgeable, accurate, reasonable and helpful” and a “very credible witness”. 

Mark Dixon

Partner

Mark Dixon is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Chartered Arbitrator with over 35 years of experience in the construction and engineering industries. He is an experienced and respected quantum expert witness. 

Mark has given oral testimony in the English courts and in various international arbitration proceedings, by traditional cross-examination and concurrent expert conferencing. His expert commissions have included disputes up to US$1.2 billion on contracts up to US$2.5 billion, within wider projects up to US$17 billion in value. 

Mark specialises in major oil and gas, marine, industrial, power and utilities sector projects and has been appointed as expert on offshore and onshore oil and gas facilities in Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East; shipbuilding contracts in Europe and Asia; and power, utilities and process plant projects in Europe. He has also been appointed on various infrastructure and building construction projects in Europe. 

Mark is also an experienced third-party neutral. He has been appointed as adjudicator or arbitrator on over 500 cases. He holds the CIArb’s Arbitration and Adjudication Panel Practice Certificates and is on adjudication panels of the RICS, ICE, CIArb, TeCSA, RIBA, AICA, CIC and CLG, and arbitration panels or lists of the RICS, CIArb, ICC, LCIA, HKIAC, AIAC, CIETAC, SHIAC, SCIA, LMAA (Supporting Member) and PIAC. 

Mark’s expert and dispute resolution practice is underpinned by experience in estimating, tendering, project surveying, contract administration, commercial project and contract management, delay analysis, and claims consultancy.  He has been involved in contracts up to US$11 billion on projects valued up to US$30 billion. 

Who’s Who Legal ranks him as either a Thought Leader or Recommended Global Leader across four expert research categories. 

Richard Edwin

Partner

Richard Edwin is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 40 years’ experience as a programme and construction professional. He has been appointed on over 60 occasions to provide independent programming and delay advice and expert witness services to clients, assisting them to resolve their complex construction, process, rail, oil and gas and offshore disputes. 

Richard is adept at providing independent expert witness opinion in formal proceedings, presenting both written and oral evidence. He has also participated as a witness in international arbitration and Dispute Arbitration Board (DAB) hearings. His renowned meticulous approach to producing detailed, fact-based, and insightful analysis and opinion ensures disputes are concluded in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective way.

With over 25 years working in dispute resolution, risk management, design and engineering, procurement and construction management, Richard is highly regarded by clients for his comprehensive, accessible and incredibly thorough reports, and for securing successful project outcomes. He has worked across a wide range of sectors, including but not limited to, major road, rail, and airport infrastructure, energy and natural resources, and residential and commercial builds. 

Emyr Evans

Partner

Emyr Evans is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and barrister (non-practising) with over 30 years of construction industry experience. He is an internationally experienced quantum expert witness and has acted on many high-value disputes up to US$1 billion. He has been instructed on more than 40 occasions. 

Emyr is involved in the preparation, analysis and submission of expert witness reports and in the preparation and defence of contractual claims. He has given oral testimony on eight occasions globally and has experience of delivering concurrent evidence (‘hot tubbing’) and giving expert evidence online. 

Emyr has strong commercial and contractual knowledge, having worked with a range of standard forms of contract as well as various bespoke forms of contracts. He has experience of dispute resolution including international arbitration hearings, pleadings for arbitration (domestic and international), referral notices and responses in adjudication, statements of claim, counterclaim and defence submissions and resolution via negotiation. 

Emyr has been appointed as a quantum expert in construction and engineering disputes across a variety of sectors in the UK, Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He has experience and expertise across a variety of sectors ranging from aerospace, buildings, industrial and infrastructure to oil and gas, offshore platforms, rail, roads and tunnelling, power and renewables, and technology. 

Emyr is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Chartered Institute of Building and the Academy of Experts, and a member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. He is an Academy of Experts qualified expert determiner and has completed an advanced professional award in expert witness evidence.  

Andrew Flower

Partner

Husam Gawish

Partner

Husam Gawish is Head of Operations for Saudi Arabia and has more than 25 years of diverse engineering, claims, project management, business development and marketing experience. He is responsible for driving HKA’s strategic growth plan in the Kingdom and takes the lead in securing new appointments as well as ensuring that the technical, strategic, and quality standards and targets of all deliverables are consistently met. 

Husam has worked on a wide range of global projects across several industry sectors, including infrastructure, power generation, buildings and oil and gas. He also has a strong technical background and extensive commercial and contractual experience. His previous and notable experience includes working on the claims team of the Dubai Metro project and leading a team responsible for the management, preparation and submission of a US$5bn bid for the Saudi Landbridge railway project.  

As a Chartered Engineer, Husam also has extensive experience in the design and assessment of steel, concrete and composite bridges in accordance with internationally recognised codes of practice. His broad experience also includes the management of construction projects.  

He is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK. He has spoken at a variety of seminars and also speaks Arabic.  

Howard Gendler

Partner, EMEA

Howard Gendler is an experienced business development executive with nearly 40 years of experience leading international sales and business development organisations.    

His core focus is selling HKA’s extensive range of expert witness services to the international arbitration community across the EMEA region, targeting leading practitioners at top-ranked international law firms. He leads the firm’s global initiative to drive growth and facilitate collaboration within its international arbitration practice. Howard also acts as a relationship partner for many of HKA’s leading global law firm clients.  

Prior to joining HKA at its inception, Howard held business development leadership roles with a number of leading global professional services firms, including AlixPartners, Navigant and KPMG. Outside the professional services market, he has also held senior sales leadership roles in the information services and financial services sectors.  

Howard has an MBA in Finance from New York University and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Maxime Girard

Partner

Maxime Girard is a damages expert with close to 25 years of professional experience in damage quantification, business valuation, fraud investigation, accounting, and auditing.

Maxime’s expertise ranges from the quantification of damages claims in international commercial and investment treaty disputes, contentious valuations and expert determinations to shareholder, joint-venture and post-transaction disputes, financial and fraud investigations, and other types of forensic accounting assignments. His extensive background spans a variety of sectors, including oil and gas, manufacturing, telecommunications, real estate, hospitality, retail, and services sector. 

Maxime’s comprehensive experience and proven track record have earned him multiple selections as an Expert in Arbitration and Courts. Additionally, he has substantial experience in conducting complex, high-profile financial investigations.

Alastair Gray

Partner

Alastair Gray is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with more than 25 years of experience. He has acted as a quantum expert on numerous occasions. 

Alastair has been cross-examined in litigation, arbitration and adjudication on disputes with values in excess of US$2 billion. He has also been appointed to provide independent expert determinations across a variety of industries. 

Alastair has a broad range of buildings, civil engineering and oil and gas project experience. He has worked for developers, contractors, subcontractors and consultants across the Middle East, Far East, Australia, and the UK including 15 years based in the United Arab Emirates. 

Alastair specialises in productivity and disruption analysis.  His expertise encompasses contractual, commercial, and claims related matters across all sectors of the construction industry. 

Alastair is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIA) and a member of the Royal Institution of Charted Surveyors (RICS). He holds a degree in management and design for building and a post-graduate diploma in construction law and arbitration.  

Bill Haggart

Partner

Bill Haggart is a Chartered Engineer with 30 years of experience in the field of building services engineering (MEP). He has been appointed as a technical expert witness on several occasions. 

Bill has acted as technical expert, assistant to the named expert and as part of multi-disciplinary expert teams for disputes across Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. He has given evidence in arbitrations, written technical expert reports and participated in expert meetings for projects with values in excess of US$500 million and for disputed sums in excess of US$50million. 

Bill has extensive experience in the design, specification, monitoring and inspection of MEP systems for buildings and infrastructure projects across various sectors. He has a thorough understanding of the interfaces and interdependences between the different MEP disciplines and systems involved in the design and construction of buildings and infrastructure projects.  

Bill has held senior positions in large, multi-disciplinary, international design and consulting engineering practices working on local, national and international projects, including successfully managing long-term frameworks for local authorities. He has worked with a variety of forms of contract and procurement routes ranging from PPP and PFI to NEC3, design and build, and prime contracting. 

Bill is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, Academy of Experts and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.  

Tim Harwin

Partner

Tim Harwin is a civil engineer with 20 years of construction industry experience. He has acted as a delay expert witness on 20 occasions. 

Tim has testified and been cross-examined as an expert witness in arbitration proceedings, including giving concurrent evidence. He has acted as an independent expert in adjudication disputes in Australia and has extensive experience in the preparation of expert witness reports for adjudication, arbitration and litigation. 

Tim has a strong technical and engineering background in the delivery of large building, civil and infrastructure projects, enabling him to provide his clients with sound and reliable advice. He has provided expert services on a range of building and infrastructure disputes across Asia, Africa, Australia and the Middle East for disputes arising on building, road, rail, bridge, power stations, oil pipelines, water treatment facilities, LNG facilities, mining infrastructure and solar projects. 

Tim specialises in the analysis of delay, disruption and programming on construction projects. He has supported clients for projects with values up to US$1.5 billion and disputed values in excess of US$200 million. 

Tim holds degrees in civil engineering, business and construction law. He is a member of the Academy of Experts, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Chartered Institute of Building and the Society of Construction Law in Australia.  

Patrick Hébréard

Partner

Patrick Hébréard has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry. He has been appointed as an expert regarding quantum of damages and industry-standard issues on more than 20 occasions. 

Patrick specialises in international arbitrations and has been cross-examined on numerous occasions, including giving concurrent evidence. He has acted as expert in many energy contract and energy infrastructure-related cases for clients across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America where damages claimed exceeded $1 billion. 

Patrick has significant experience of the gas, LNG, and power markets. He has negotiated multiple long-term supply and purchase, transportation, and tolling agreements. Having acted as buyer, seller, producer, shipper, regasification capacity holder, pipeline operator and shareholder, he enjoys a broad and unique perspective on the commercial, contractual, regulatory, and financial issues to be considered.  In addition, Patrick advises companies on economic, commercial, regulatory, and strategic issues along the gas, LNG, and power value chain (upstream, midstream, and downstream shareholders’ disputes). 

Patrick is a commercial damages expert. He also acts as energy industry expert providing opinion on industry practice and market standards regarding contracts and project development, notably in relation to supply contracts, transportation matters, market dynamics and infrastructure development.   

Patrick is a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators, Comité Français de l’Arbitrage, Club Español del Arbitraje, and the Energy Arbitration Club. He is a trained engineer with a Master of Science, and holds master’s degrees in arbitration law and marketing. Patrick is fluent in English, French and Spanish.  

John Jones

Partner

John Jones is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over 20 years of construction and engineering industry experience. He has a background of working for both subcontractors and main contractors and has acted as an independent quantum expert on more than 35 occasions. 

John has significant experience in the preparation of expert reports and has been engaged as single and joint-party appointed expert by instructing solicitors to produce expert witness reports on quantum matters in UK litigation, arbitration and adjudication.  

John specialises in final account preparation, claims management, dispute avoidance and dispute resolution. He is regularly appointed to prepare or independently assess claims for disruption and prolongation. 

John’s industry experience includes major civil engineering and highway works, rail infrastructure projects, oil and gas, industrial and process plants, health facilities and power generation projects. He has managed commercial teams on large-scale projects and has a wide breadth of contractual experience ranging from FIDIC, GC/Works, ICE, IChemE, JCT and NEC3/4 to various bespoke PFI and PPP forms. 

John is a practising member of the Academy of Experts, a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He holds a master’s degree in construction law and an Edexcel Advanced Professional Award in Expert Witness Evidence (LETAPAEWE). 

Tom Kapapa

Partner

Tom Kapapa is a surveyor with over 20 years of construction industry experience. He acts as both a delay and quantum expert and has been appointed on eight occasions. 

Tom has acted as expert for disputed sums up to US$600 million and for projects values in excess of US$5 billion. He has been cross-examined in international arbitration twice, including giving concurrent evidence. Tom also acts as both an arbitrator and mediator and has taken the lead on a dispute adjudication board (DAB), as well as leading numerous claims negotiations. 

Tom specialises in delay and quantum issues for civil and building infrastructure and industrial works. He quickly unravels complex situations, by simplifying the key elements necessary to solve issues, before reaching a formal dispute process. 

Tom has a broad construction background, working as both a site manager and surveyor on a variety of projects across the Africa, the Middle East and the UK. His diverse sectoral experience ranges from major city developments (including high-rise tower buildings and leisure developments), road and motorway construction, rail and station construction, and major structural steelwork to water, wastewater and infrastructure drainage, power station construction, oil and gas development, LNG complex development, and mechanical and electrical infrastructure. 

Tom is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of RICS and an Academy of Experts certified quantum expert. He acts as an assessor for RICS in the Middle East and provides training and mentoring for quantity surveyors and contract administrators in Qatar.  

Ekrem Kaya

Partner

Ekrem Kaya is a widely experienced civil engineer with over 25 years of construction industry experience. He has acted as expert witness in matters of delay and quantum. 

Ekrem has been appointed as an expert witness on numerous occasions and has been cross-examined twice, including giving concurrent evidence (‘hot tubbing’). He has experience in complex international construction disputes, including two major investment treaty (ICSID) arbitrations, and has been appointed as a dispute adjudication board (DAB) chairman. 

Ekrem also has comprehensive practical knowledge of all forms of delay analysis, specialising in the ‘Windows’ and ‘Time Impact Analysis’ methods; predominantly in circumstances where previous submissions based on other forms of analysis were not persuasive or successful. He is adept with all forms of planning software and has experience with a wide range of programmes used to effectively manage construction projects.  

Ekrem’s broad experience includes project management, project controls, contract management, claims management, forensic delay analysis and various forms of dispute resolution. He has worked on projects in Turkey and across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, including high-profile oil and gas, civil engineering, building and transportation projects. 

Ekrem is fluent in both Turkish and English. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Chamber of Civil Engineers in Istanbul, a practising member of the Academy of Experts and is dual-qualified with an LLM in construction law and arbitration. He conducts various seminars on issues ranging from delay analysis, risk allocation under domestic and international forms of contract, and the assessment of entitlement to additional payment in the context of delay and changed circumstances. 

Tjeerd Krol

Partner

Tjeerd Krol is leading the Financial Dispute Consulting practice in the Amsterdam office. His practice is focused on (commercial) disputes, both in litigation and in arbitration, as well as forensic accounting, and financial reporting disputes.

Tjeerd has over 25 years of experience in various types of disputes, both in litigation and international arbitration, such as post-merger disputes, shareholder disputes, minority interest valuations, follow on claims, securities litigation, lost profits-calculations, as well as various types of accounting irregularities and reconstructions.

His experience includes consulting to clients facing accounting irregularities, financial statement restatements, and SEC or other regulatory inquiries / investigations. Prior to HKA, Tjeerd was Managing Director in the Expert Services practice at Kroll Expert Services, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal Disputes and Investigations, and an Audit Partner at Deloitte.

Mark Larkin

Partner

Mark brings a wealth of experience as a seasoned specialist in dispute resolution, providing strategic guidance in conflict avoidance and claims including the commercial management of distressed projects in the construction, infrastructure and energy sectors.

With 16 years of extensive experience in the MENA region, his expertise spans all levels of the supply chain, including leading international contractors, engineering consultancies, special-purpose investment vehicles, and various government departments. Mark advises on a wide range of assignments, including large-scale mega and giga construction projects, power, renewable energy, and oil and gas projects, and large-scale infrastructure and capital projects.

Mark also leads in technical due diligence roles, frequently providing analytical risk assessments to support third-party funder investment strategies as well as lenders supervision and project monitoring services. Investment banks have also appointed Mark to collaborate with financial and legal due diligence experts on mergers and acquisitions within the construction sector.

Clare Lavin

Partner

Clare Lavin is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience. She has been appointed as a forensic accounting expert and has assisted the named expert on numerous occasions. 

Clare has testified in litigation and has supported clients and experts in matters before the Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts; the high courts of England and Wales, and New Zealand; and the commercial court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her arbitration experience includes matters before the DIAC, ICC, and DIFC-LCIA for disputes across the Middle East. 

Clare has a background in transaction services including financial due diligence and acquisition advisory services. She has worked across Europe and the Middle East and has experience across multiple sectors, but most notably hospitality and leisure, real estate, oil and gas, construction, shipping, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and distribution. 

Clare specialises in commercial disputes and corporate investigations. She has been engaged across a wide variety of disputed matters ranging from shareholder disputes, contract breaches, SPA disputes and earn-out arrangements to professional negligence, post-acquisition disputes, joint venture disputes and contract termination. She has also been involved in complex financial fraud investigations and other forensic accounting engagements. 

Clare is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and holds an advanced professional award in expert witness evidence.  She is a highly recognised and well-regarded accounting expert witness in Dubai.  

Paul Mansell

Partner

Paul Mansell is a qualified engineer with over 25 years of engineering and construction industry experience. He has acted as technical expert, supervising expert and expert advisor. 

Paul is an accredited expert witness, delivering across project management, engineering management, quantum and technical matters. He has been appointed for disputes at litigation, arbitration and adjudication and has given evidence at international arbitration, including concurrent evidence (hot-tubbing). 

Paul provides services at both project and strategic levels including expert witness, expert advisory, project assurance and audit, contractual advisory services, strategic and project risk management, dispute resolution, insurance PI claims, development of claim submissions, settlement negotiation, commercial management, project management, delay and schedule management and training services. 

Paul is an experienced commercial manager and project manager with extensive hands-on project experience. He has delivered projects and advised clients across Europe in a range of sectors including oil and gas, power, infrastructure, industrial and buildings. 

Paul is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of the Association of Project Managers, the Association for Advancement of Cost Engineering and the Institution of Chemical Engineers, as well as a practising member of the Academy of Experts. He also regularly presents at seminars and training sessions on project controls, claims and contractual matters. 

Franco Mastrandrea

Partner

Franco Mastrandrea is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Chartered Arbitrator with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry. He has acted as expert on more than 50 international project management, delay and quantum-related disputes. 

From London to Australia and Canada to Antarctica, Franco has extensive and diverse dispute resolution expertise. With an established record in drafting, interpreting and applying commercial terms in contracts, he successfully combines both knowledge and experience under traditional cross-examination and hot-tubbing. 

Franco is widely regarded as an expert who is both well-qualified and highly experienced in complex construction issues. He is able to identify the key issues of principle in construction appraisal disputes and provide clients with greater clarity as to project performance. Franco combines management, construction and legal knowledge, enabling him to deliver balanced opinions on the performance of those involved in projects, and objective appraisals of the appropriate or likely outcomes. 

Franco’s expert commissions cover a wide range of industries including oil and gas in Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, North Africa and South East Asia; transport infrastructure in the Caribbean and the UK; power generation, from CCGT to windfarms, in the UK; and numerous building and infrastructure projects around the world.  

Franco holds a doctorate that addresses the law, practice and quantification of construction claims. He is a CEDR-accredited mediator, on the RICS register of Dispute Board Members and the FIDIC President’s list of adjudicators, a Chartered Arbitrator, and on arbitrator lists maintained by RICS and international arbitration centres in Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Franco has written extensively on the evaluation of construction claims and is listed in Who’s Who Legal as a “highly respected expert” who is “a really extraordinary witness”. 

John McKevitt

Partner

John has over 20 years of experience in the construction industry, providing traditional quantity surveying, contract administration, and claims management services to clients both locally and internationally. He has a wealth of commercial, contractual, and management experience gained from working on complex buildings, infrastructure, oil and gas, and power generation projects throughout the UK, Middle East, and Africa regions. 

John leads commissions on HKA’s most complex and technically demanding claims assignments, regularly advising on claims and commercial matters on major projects within challenging environments. His extensive portfolio includes high-profile utilities and infrastructure projects, oil and gas megaprojects, iconic sports and cultural venues, and 5-star hotels.  

A chartered quantity surveyor, John holds a BSc (Hons) in Quantity Surveying from the University of Ulster and an LLM in Construction Law and Arbitration from Robert Gordon University. 

Michelle Metz

Partner

Michelle Metz is experienced in planning complex projects and related delay issues and has over 30 years of experience in the construction industry. She has worked on a wide range of projects, acted as delay expert and expert assistant on multiple occasions. 

Michelle has acted as expert, or assistant expert, on complex disputes for projects with values in excess of US$250 million. She has experience as a party-appointed delay expert and has given oral evidence to an arbitral tribunal in Hong Kong. 

Michelle is able to draw on her strong planning background to both assist and advise clients on matters of delay to construction and engineering projects. She also provides advice on the preparation of time-related claims, master programmes, associated updates and reviews, the management of time risks and extension of time assessments. 

Michelle’s site planning experience includes major highways, complex rail and high-rise tower block projects and commercial fit-outs across Asia, Europe and the UK. 

Michelle has presented at various seminars, on scheduling, delay analysis methodologies and programming challenges across the Europe, Asia and Australia.  

Murray Michell

Partner

Murray Michell has over 27 years of experience in the advisory field, most recently providing wide-ranging support and guidance to the South African Minister of Public Enterprises in his efforts to stabilise State-Owned Companies (SOCs) such as Eskom (energy) and Transnet (freight logistics and ports). He has also developed approaches to dealing with crime and corruption, which severely eroded the capacity of these entities during the period of state capture in the country.

During Murray’s diverse career, he established South Africa’s anti-money laundering framework and served as Director of the Financial Intelligence Centre. He participated in a wide range of senior government committees, led the country’s participation in the Financial Action Task Force, the Egmont Group of financial intelligence units, which he also chaired, and served on expert panels of the United Nations.

Recently, Murray provided management support to the work of the Presidential State-owned Enterprises Council (PSEC), during which he delivered a report and proposal to the President of South Africa for the establishment of a State-Owned Holding Company.  

Darren Mullins

Partner

Darren has over 18 years of experience and is a distinguished expert in forensic and cyber investigations. Specialising in financial crime, digital evidence recovery, electronic discovery, and data analytics, he has worked across a large spectrum of industries. Darren has garnered recognition for his expertise, having assisted many major, prolific companies in various regions around the world.  

Darren has enormous experience leading diverse teams in delivering forensic investigations services tackling fraud, financial crime, cyber breaches, and intellectual property theft from previous posts at Accuracy, KPMG, Deloitte, and EY. In addition to his experience, Darren acts as an expert witness and has provided invaluable insight on a range of complex litigation matters.  

Juan Francisco Nasser

Partner

Juan Francisco Nasser is a forensic accountant with more than 20 years of experience. He regularly acts as a quantum and contentious valuations expert in commercial disputes.

Juan has given expert testimony over 60 times, both in arbitration proceedings (under ICC, CAM, TAB, TAS/CAS, and ad hoc proceedings) and in judicial proceedings. He has testified in both English and Spanish for disputes with values in excess of €600 million. He also prepares expert determinations in mergers and acquisition disputes.

Juan is a corporate development professional and has wide ranging experience in corporate transactions, commercial disputes and investigations. He has been engaged in numerous transactions in Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Juan’s expertise includes damages analysis, commercial disputes and inquiries involving complex economics, financial, and accounting issues. He has supported corporate clients and their advisors across a variety of sectors from renewable energy and real estate to sports promotion and the media.

Juan holds a master’s in financial management and is an accredited evaluation expert by the Spanish Accounting and Business Administration Association. He has lectured on business valuation and mergers and acquisitions in several editions of a master’s degree at a Spanish university.

Derek Nelson

Partner

Derek Nelson is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Chartered Engineering Surveyor, with over 40 years of construction and engineering experience. He has acted as expert on over 70 occasions in delay, disruption and quantum matters. 

Derek is both an accredited and certified expert witness, fellow and current chairman of The Academy of Experts and has acted as a delay and quantum expert witness in arbitration, conciliation, litigation and mediation and as an expert determiner. He has been cross-examined on over 20 occasions and has delivered concurrent evidence in disputes. He also undertakes the role of ‘project neutral’, independently reviewing international projects in preventative, on-the-job dispute resolution. 

In addition to his expert commissions, Derek continues to provide clients with contractual advice, claims preparation and contract administration services on major contracts worldwide. He specialises in the preparation, negotiation and settlement of claims, whether disruption, acceleration or prolongation. Derek delivers advice and procedures to rapidly resolve or avoid disputes in a cost-effective and timely manner. 

Derek’s expertise includes matters of quantity surveying practice, valuation, damages, contract administration, contract management, commercial management and cost management, which he combines with his tested planning and delay analysis capabilities. 

Derek is often called upon to deliver training and seminars on contractual problems, claims preparation, negotiation and dispute resolution. is a contributing author to Delay and Disruption in Construction Contracts, 5th Edition First Supplement, Chapter 17, Disruption to Progress and Lost Productivity. In October 2018, he was welcomed as a Freeman in the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators. He is consistently ranked as an acclaimed construction expert and Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal. 

Carsten Orlowski

Partner

Carsten Orlowski is a civil engineer and has been acting for 25 years in the fields of turnkey and fossil fuel and nuclear energy. Over the course of his national and international career, he concentrates on claims and project management strategy and claims negotiations.

Working as a consultant, Carsten is experienced with project management, contract and claims management in all its facets, and is accustomed to working in large multicultural and interdisciplinary project teams.

 Carsten is the branch manager of HKA’s Dusseldorf office.

Nick Panes

Partner

Nick Panes has over 20 years of experience in the investigations and risk management industry. He has worked alongside the testifying expert on numerous occasions providing forensic analysis and investigative support. 

Nick’s work has focused on investigative assignments, political risk, business intelligence and regulatory compliance, with postings in Mexico City, New Delhi, Sydney and London. He has been involved in arbitral tribunals and court proceedings providing expert witness support and in FCPA-related investigations and alter ego assessments. 

Nick’s career has been split between investigations, post-event problem solving and ongoing risk management consultancy across a wide range of sectors and geographies. He has worked across the full spectrum of projects from strategic advisory work through to tactical support. 

Nick’s expertise includes fraud and money laundering investigations, anti-corruption risk assessments and consultancy, regulatory compliance system design and audits, business intelligence assignments, pre-transaction due diligence, asset tracing and recovery and digital forensics. He has specialised in complex, cross-border investigations on matters ranging from strategic market entry work and due diligence to sensitive employee misconduct investigations in multiple jurisdictions. 

Nick is a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists and the Association of International Energy Negotiators. He is a recognised Latin America political risk expert and is also fluent in Spanish.  

Christopher Paterson

Partner, EMEA

Christopher Paterson helps private practice and in-house legal teams appoint expert witnesses and consultants for complex disputes. Chris has over 20 years of experience in the legal disputes market.  

He has a detailed understanding of the capabilities and experience of HKA’s experts and is able to make recommendations based on the unique requirements of each assignment. Chris has experience across all HKA’s sectors and service lines and regularly helps deploy multidisciplinary expert teams on large projects.  

Prior to joining HKA, he worked as a Senior Practice Manager in a leading barristers’ chambers and as an Investment Manager in a leading litigation funder. 

Chris holds a professional postgraduate diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He has been recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for his contribution to the London Bar. 

Chris Pedersen

Partner

Chris Pedersen is an experienced commercial, contracts, and claims manager with over 45 years of experience in strategic contracting, commercial,  claims, and legal procedures.

Chris has notable experience in proposals, contract formulation, negotiation, and administration on major projects in the oil and gas, civil engineering, and heavy process engineering industries. He has extensive experience in change management and resolution of contentious issues with the responsibility for developing strategies and for driving completion of work to an agreed  schedule and budget. His  strong background in contract law, contract analysis, and change management of high-value complex projects is used by the major oil & gas operators and contractors to achieve optimal commercial success. This experience is augmented by a strong positive approach to project and contract management together with an advanced understanding of risk, liability, and performance issues.

Chris has extensive experience in managing globally mobile teams and business units with responsibility for developing resources, improving commercial outturn, and net profit, together with formulation and implementation of management procedures.  

Chris holds an MA in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution practice and is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institution of Arbitrators (CIArb). He has also acted as a peer reviewer and interviewer for RICS and CIArb Fellowship applications.

Colin Russell

Partner

Colin Russell is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over 25 years of experience in the construction industry. He has extensive experience in quantum and delay analysis and has been appointed as an expert witness on four occasions.

Colin has acted a quantum expert regarding infrastructure and buildings disputes in the Middle East, on projects valued up to US$150 million. He has also acted as assistant to the party appointed quantum and delay expert for a claimant in an ICC arbitration.

Colin has worked on a variety of projects, including building construction, wastewater treatment, oil and gas fired power stations, airports and highways throughout the Middle East and Europe. His experience as a quantity surveyor and commercial director informs his dependable quantum and delay analysis.

Colin is experienced in leading teams in the preparation of delay, disruption and variation claims for clients. He works efficiently with legal teams, providing clear and concise analyses for even the most complex issues.

Colin was recognised as a Thought Leader – Construction by Who’s Who Legal in 2023, is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Association of Project Management. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Quantity Surveying, an MSc in Construction Law & Dispute Resolution, and has completed the Pearson SRF BTEC Level 7 Professional Award in Expert Witness Evidence.

Michael Tonkin

Partner

Michael Tonkin is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Chartered Arbitrator, RICS Accredited Expert Witness and CEDR Accredited Mediator with over 30 years of experience. He has acted as a quantum expert on more than 40 occasions. 

Michael has been a party-appointed expert witness, a single joint expert witness and a third-party expert evaluator. He has given oral testimony in traditional cross-examination as well as concurrent evidence in international arbitrations, and often acts as ‘coordinating expert’ across several disciplines of expert. 

Michael regularly provides commercial advice on formal dispute resolution, dispute avoidance and procurement. He is adept in many of the major standard forms of contract and has been employed by government bodies, large private companies, contractors and subcontractors to advise on commercial matters and procurement. 

Michael has extensive experience of commercial negotiations in major projects, particularly where bespoke contracts and innovative methods of procurement have been used. With a background in cost management, he specialises in commercial management, contract management, negotiation, risk management, third-party financial reporting and strategic advice. His global project experience includes major infrastructure, buildings, power and water and oil and gas projects. 

Michael has been appointed as arbitrator on more than 60 occasions (as sole arbitrator, chairman of a tribunal of three, and co-arbitrator) under the auspices of ICC, LCIA, DIAC, ADCCAC and the TAI. He regularly participates in other alternative dispute resolution processes such as adjudication and dispute adjudication boards (DABs). Michael is a trustee and honorary treasurer of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a past chairman and past vice chairman of the UAE branch.  

Dimitrios Tousiakis

Partner

Dimitrios Tousiakis is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 15 years of construction industry experience. He has acted as a delay expert more than 10 times and has provided independent advice on programming matters to clients on numerous occasions. 

He is a RICS-accredited expert witness and has been cross-examined by KC during international arbitrations. He has been appointed as an independent delay expert for ICC, INCITRAL, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, and ADCCAC arbitrations with project values of up to USD$1.4B. He also has provided independent expert opinion to contractors and employers on multiple occasions. 

Dimitrios has worked as an engineer for contractors and consultants in both on-site and back-office environments. He is experienced across all stage of the project life cycle from tendering, design, construction and supervision through to certification and dispute resolution for construction and structural projects across the Middle East, UK and Greece. 

Dimitrios has led complex delay and disruption forensic analysis for both live projects and throughout the dispute resolution process. His expertise includes the design and construction of steel structures and the simplification of complex matters utilising intuitive visual representation to support his clear methodology. He has also acted as a conciliator, drafted expert reports and assisted the named delay expert on a range of projects including high-rise buildings, airports, healthcare, rail and oil and gas. 

Dimitrios holds a master’s in both civil engineering and structural steel design and business management. He is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Academy of Experts and is fluent in English and Greek.  

Daniel Turner

Partner

Daniel Turner is a forensic accountant with over 20 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert in both litigation and international arbitration on numerous occasions and has managed cross border investigations.

Daniel has given oral evidence in international arbitration and proceedings before the UK Technology and Construction Court. He has been the appointed expert in determinations, prepared expert reports under various court and arbitral proceedings (ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, DIAC and JCAA), and supported mediations and negotiations.

Daniel’s experience includes regional and cross border investigations (both corporate and financial) regarding insolvency and administration matters, pre-deal SPA review and advice, and post-deal SPA and completion accounts disputes. He has provided forensic services across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia in industries ranging from construction, hospitality, and sports and entertainment to oil and gas, infrastructure, and energy.

Daniel specialises in breach of contract, transactional disputes, valuations, commercial transactions, professional negligence, and loss of profit. He is highly adept in the use of digital forensics and business and corporate intelligence to identify and secure the evidence necessary to improve investigations’ outcomes.

Daniel is a Chartered Accountant and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He presents frequently at international arbitration and forensic accounting events and has been recognised by the Lexology Client Choice Awards in the Financial Advisory and Valuation – Quantum of Damages category.

Timothy Whealy

Partner

Tim Whealy is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over 30 years of experience in the construction industry. He supports clients on commercial and claims matters, provides lender’s advisory services and has acted as quantum expert on five occasions (including cross-examination in court). 

Tim has given evidence in both court and adjudications as quantum expert in the UK. He has fulfilled numerous expert support roles for complex international construction and engineering disputes and undertaken expert roles for banks regarding the conduct of bank-appointed advisors. 

Tim regularly advises on construction-related issues and disputes for major projects throughout Saudi Arabia, from oil and gas, power and utilities to buildings and infrastructure. He has led many complex and technically demanding claims assignments across the Middle East region. Tim also has extensive experience in advising contractors, banks and equity funds regarding the identification and mitigation of construction risk. 

Tim started his career in contracting before moving to private practice, where he was responsible for a wide variety of new-build and refurbishment schemes across the UK. During this time, he represented clients on a range of quantum-based disputes and progressed to the preparation, analysis and submissions of expert witness reports and the defence of contractual claims. 

Tim has presented to various forums on the subjects of construction risk management and common contractual problems, including those relating to FIDIC, JCT and the Saudi Aramco standard form of contract.  

Kelly Whitehead

Partner, People Business Partnering

Kelly Whitehead is a People Business Partner for our Asia Pacific and EMEA regions, responsible for the delivery and oversight of the regional and global People strategy that supports the delivery of regional business performance. 

Kelly has over 20 years of experience as a people and human resources professional operating across various industries from Financial Services, Public Services to Professional Consulting firms. Prior to joining HKA in December 2014, she served as Human Resources Business Partner for MWH Global, now Stantec. She has a wealth of experience working across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.  

Kelly is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and is a qualified business coach.  

Chris Williams

Partner

Chris Williams is an economist with over 30 years of experience. He has been appointed as an expert on more than 75 occasions.  

Chris has provided expert evidence and testimony on more than 30 occasions to international arbitration tribunals (investor state and commercial) as well as high courts, competition courts, and judicial and parliamentary review proceedings across multiple jurisdictions. He has been engaged in major disputed matters, with projects where the disputed value is in excess of $10 billion. 

Prior to joining HKA, Chris has spent 20 years as a partner leading the economics function at leading financial consultancy firms within both the UK and globally.  As part of these roles he had management responsibility for major industry sector teams globally and across Europe, including technology, media and telecoms (TMT) and financial services, as well as leading the creation and operation of a major analytics practice. 

Chris specialises in the use of economic theory and analysis to provide expert testimony across a range of competition, valuation, and market analysis related projects.   He is known for taking a quantitative evidence led approach.  Chris also has extensive commercial experience and has led cross functional teams on assignments with fees ranging up to $50 million, and providing more than 100 commercial valuations. 

Chris holds a doctorate in economics and before consulting lectured at the University of Warwick. 

Charles Wilsoncroft

Partner

Charles Wilsoncroft is a Chartered Civil Engineer with more than 20 years of construction industry experience. He has been appointed as an expert in both quantum and delay matters. 

Charles has acted as expert numerous times and assisted the named expert in various major disputes in litigation, arbitration, adjudication, and regarding mediation, conciliation, and negotiated settlements in the UK and overseas. He has managed complex adjudications representing both referring and responding parties and assists counsel in the handling of lay witness evidence and preparation of cross-examination questions. 

Charles’ background includes main contractor and public sector client experience. He has been involved in procurement, contract training, project management, contract and claims management, dispute resolution, and final account settlement. He has predominantly worked on civil and marine engineering including maritime works, dredging and structures including offshore wind (fixed and floating), marine transport infrastructure, subsea cables, FPSO mooring & hook up, platform decommissioning and salvage. He has also amassed significant experience in heavy engineering, infrastructure (highways, rail, pipelines, bridges, water treatment) and buildings (steel framed, RC frame). 

Charles specialises in disputed matters regarding liability, delay and disruption, and contract valuation. He has in-depth knowledge of risks related to ground conditions, numerous interacting contractors, complex design changes, major supply issues, and weather affects alongside practical knowledge of numerous standard forms of contract (including NEC, ICC, FIDIC, ICE, LOGIC and BIMCO). 

Charles is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He holds a master’s degree in construction law and arbitration and has been a member of various international industry sector bodies, including committees in the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Central Dredging Association. He has also written a variety of articles and papers and regularly presents training, both publicly and in-house.