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J.S. Held Strengthens Forensic Accounting Expertise for Marital and Commercial Disputes with Acquisition of Forensic Accountants & Consultants
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Victoria Wilkerson joined J.S. Held in June of 2020 as part of the VWM Analytics acquisition. Victoria now serves as an Executive Vice President within our Economic Damages & Valuations practice and is based in Newport Beach, California. She is a forensic accountant and often serves as an expert witness. Victoria and her team analyze economic damages in a wide array of litigation matters, including personal injury, employment, business litigation, and fraud cases. Victoria has testified on over 70 occasions in a deposition, arbitration, and trial. The pace of her projects, she says, is primarily determined by the court and attorney deadlines. “For our clients, we must be efficient and thorough at the same time. Those can often be conflicting goals. Fortunately, we have an incredibly talented, hardworking team of analysts and support staff that ensure we meet our clients’ needs.”
In some ways, Victoria says, she is like other accountants—she enjoys the structure and problem-solving aspects of accounting. However, she says she likes the creativity that comes with forensics work and adds, “I love that every case is unique and requires a thoughtful approach. Typically, it is not enough to do a simple analysis and send over a report to a client. A forensic accountant and expert witness must be able to present a defensible and sound analysis that is grounded in logic. There are a lot of moving parts in every engagement, and being a part of a great team makes all the difference. The aspect I was most looking forward to when I joined J.S. Held was the ability to exchange ideas and expertise across a wide range of new resources. So far, it has proven to be even better than I expected.”
“I don’t think a day has gone by in which I have not thought how grateful I am that Vicki is on our team. She is smart, kind, and driven. Her work ethic is untiring, and despite her workload, you will never find her with an excuse or without a smile.”
David Weiner
Victoria holds a Bachelor of Business Economics degree from the University of California, Los Angeles — where she played for the UCLA women’s soccer team — and a Master of Business Administration in Finance degree from the University of Southern California. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV). “I’ve always liked numbers and wanted to pursue a career in business,” she says, “I was fortunate to go straight into a job in forensic accounting and economics right after graduating.”
In 2004, Victoria started her career as an analyst. She would assist testifying experts in calculating economic losses and performing research. In 2007, she returned to business school at USC and continued working for VWM Analytics, now part of J.S. Held. “After completing my MBA, I began working toward becoming a testifying expert,” she explains. “Later, in 2016, I became a partner at the same firm I began working for back in 2004.”
Victoria says her time working as an analyst provided an excellent foundation for calculating damages, but becoming a testifying expert was what pushed her to develop and strengthen her presentation and communication skills.
Victoria and her team focus on specific services, such as calculating damages in personal injury/wrongful death, employment, business litigation, and fraud. Her projects span across many industries, including but not limited to real estate, professional services, manufacturing, healthcare, and entertainment.
According to Victoria, what makes her practice interesting is a balance of project types from different practice areas. The mixture of cases can vary over time, but she is currently working on several complex partnership disputes. “A lot of these cases involve family or friends who went into business together. Typically, they do so with the best intentions, but not with the traditional preparation and legal structure in place,” she explains, “and when things don’t go as planned, they can turn into lengthy and expensive legal disputes regarding lost profits, misappropriation, and mismanagement.”
Perhaps one of the things Victoria enjoys most about her work is the opportunity to learn about different businesses and professions. She explains, “I have worked on over a thousand cases over my career, yet I am still learning something new every day.”
“Spending time with my family is the best. We love to travel, and we try to plan at least one big trip every year,” says Victoria. “Hawaii is a favorite.” An avid golfer, Victoria says she tries to play anytime she goes on a trip. “One of my favorite trips was to Scotland and Ireland, where we played while touring the countryside.” Unlike in the U.S., she adds that Scotland and Ireland's courses don’t typically offer golf carts. “We had to walk entire courses. We played in the rain and wind for several days, but it made it even more memorable, and we had an amazing time.”
“There’s often more of a story behind numbers than you may expect.”
Victoria Wilkerson
Are you interested in learning more about Victoria Wilkerson? Send her an email at [email protected] or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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