Valuation, Forensic Accounting & Litigation Services Conference (VFALS)

Christopher Cooper, Managing Director, Vallit Advisors, LLC

C. Brett Cooper is the Managing Director of Valuation and Advisory Services.  He has nearly 25 years of experience performing valuation and forensic-related consulting services and has been a part of an investment banking firm, a CFO of a privately owned light manufacturing firm, and with public accounting firms over his 35-plus-year career.

Rivero, Gordimer & Company, P.A. is the largest locally owned and operated CPA and Advisory firm in Tampa.  The Firm provides attest, tax, and advisory services.  The Valuation and Advisory Service Group assists clients with the valuation of businesses, business interests, and intangible property, litigation support in a wide variety of circumstances, financial forensic investigation, M&A transaction assistance, and ESOP implementation.

Gary Moll, Forensic and Valuations Services Director, Fiske

Gary joined Fiske in 2022 and brings over 30 years of professional in both industry and public accounting He is renowned for his expertise in valuing closely held companies and professional practices, with a specialization in Business Valuation and Forensic Accounting services. Additionally, he has experience in asset tracing, income, and other family law issues, economic damage calculations and providing expert testimony in disputes.
In addition to serving as an expert witness in courts throughout Ohio and Florida, Gary has presented seminars for the Florida Institute of CPA’s (FICPA), Columbus Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the National Business Institute, and other groups of in both Ohio and Florida. He has also had articles published by the Columbus Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, The Valuation Examiner, and Valuation Strategies.
Prior to his association with Fiske, Gary spent much of the past 25 years providing business valuation, litigation support, and other management consulting services to clients and attorneys throughout Ohio. Before his career in public accounting, Gary was a Financial Analyst for a developer and provider of assisted living residences and participated in the IPO process of that company to become publicly traded. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer for a specialty pharmacy and home infusion company.

James Hitchner, Managing Director, Financial Valuation Advisors, Inc

Jim Hitchner is managing director of Financial Valuation Advisors www.finvaluation.com and is president of The Financial Consulting Group www.gofcg.org. He is also CEO of Valuation Products and Services (VPS) www.valuationproducts.com. 
  
Mr. Hitchner is editor/coauthor of the books the Hitchner Pratt Fishman Consensus View Q&A Guide to Financial Valuation and the VPS DLOM Guide and Toolkit, published by VPS. He is also editor/coauthor of Financial Valuation Applications and Models (FVAM), fourth edition; Financial Valuation Workbook (FVW), fourth edition; and Valuation for Financial Reporting: Fair Value, Business Combinations, Intangible Assets, Goodwill, and Impairment Analysis, third edition, all published by Wiley. He is also coauthor of PPC’s Guide To Business Valuations, 28th edition, published by Thomson Reuters.  FVAM and FVW have been adopted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) for its five-day Business Valuation School course and by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) for its two-day Advanced Business Valuation course. The VPS DLOM Guide and Toolkit is the core resource for NACVA’s one-day DLOM course. Mr. Hitchner designed all three courses.

He has spent over 38 years in valuation services, including as a shareholder with Phillips Hitchner Group, partner-in-charge of valuation services for the Southern Region of Coopers & Lybrand (currently PricewaterhouseCoopers), and senior appraiser with American Appraisal Associates. In the valuation area he has coauthored over 20 courses, taught over 60 courses, published over 140 articles, and has made over 350 conference and webinar presentations.  

He is also an inductee in the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame and a two-time recipient of the AICPA’s Business Valuation Volunteer of the Year award. He was also one of the four original members of the AICPA Business Valuation Standards Writing Task Force and served for the entire six years, up to the June 2007 official release of the standards.

James Stewart, Partner, Soman Stewart Business Valuation & Forensic CPAs

Jimmy Stewart is a founding partner of Soman Stewart Business Valuation & Forensic CPAs, where he guides attorneys, business owners, and high-net-worth individuals through complex business valuation, high-value marital and commercial cases, damage calculations, and other forensic accounting matters. He has testified as an expert witness in multiple jurisdictions and works extensively on cases involving significant financial stakes.
Before establishing his firm, Jimmy gained valuable experience at respected CPA firms, working on a wide range of engagements across industries and company sizes, from privately held businesses to publicly traded corporations worth tens of billions of dollars. He holds a Master of Science in Accounting from Long Island University, along with a bachelor’s degree in History and a bachelor’s degree in Business.
Jimmy is a licensed CPA in Florida, accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He is also a published author and speaker, contributing thought leadership to professional journals, bar associations, and conferences.
He brings a practical, detail-oriented approach to complex financial matters, delivering analyses that are rigorous, well-supported, and easy to understand.

Jason Harrell, Chief External Affairs Officer, Florida Institute of CPAs

Jason Harrell is the FICPA Chief External Affairs Officer responsible for leading all aspects of the Institute’s public policy, advocacy, governmental affairs and regulatory affairs. He serves as the liaison to the DBPR and Board of Accountancy and is responsible for all advocacy-related external communications and campaigns to increase the value of the CPA license. Jason brings numerous years of experience to this role, previously serving as director of government relations for Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers Association and budget and communications director for the Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, serving in key roles under two Speakers in the Florida House, and serving in the Executive Office of the Governor in the Office of Policy and Budget and Chief Inspector General’s Office.

Jason Soman, Soman Stewart Business Valuation & Forensic CPAs

Jason is a founder Soman Stewart CPA PLLC, a firm he launched after spending nearly a decade at prestigious CPA and consulting firms, focused on advising attorneys, business owners and high net worth individuals on matters involving business valuation and forensic accounting in the context of marital dissolution, probate and trust litigation, commercial litigation, estate/gift taxation and for transaction purposes. Over his career, Jason has regularly defended his analyses and conclusions for clients in high stakes situations and has testified as an expert witness at hearings, deposition and trials.

Jose Ruiz, Forensic Accounting and Forfeiture Support Unit Chief, Federal Bureau of Investigations

Javier Ruiz is the current Unit Chief of the Forensic Accounting and Forfeiture Support Unit at the FBI. His experience comes from having worked in the tax advisory group at BMO Bank’s wealth management group and a small accounting firm in Chicago. Prior to the FBI, his government experience comes from being a budget analyst, internal auditor, and program manager at Sandia National Laboratories and auditor and investigator for the US Department of Labor. He has now been with the FBI for almost 10 years having been a Forensic Accountant, Supervisor, Regional Program Manager, and now Unit Chief. He holds an active CPA and CFE license and holds a bachelor and master’s degree in Accounting from Northern Illinois University and Arizona State University.

Joshua Shilts, Dean Dorton

Josh Shilts is a partner in Dean Dorton’s expert forensic accounting and business valuation practice. Mr. Shilts joined Dean Dorton upon the merger of Shilts CPA, a firm he founded and operated for nearly a decade after roles with public accounting firms ranging in size from the “Big Four” to smaller regional and local firms, as well as large public organizations throughout Florida and New York. In his role at Dean Dorton, Mr. Shilts is a thought leader, educator, and entrepreneur who assists attorneys, individuals, and businesses with complex financial matters and disputes.

Maximilian Halasz, Director - Forensic, Advisory & Valuation Services, Kaufman, Rossin & Co, PA

Max Halasz is a Director in Kaufman Rossin's Forensic, Advisory, and Valuation Services department. He advises legal teams, organizations, business stakeholders, and individuals on complex issues and disputes regarding economic damages, financial investigations, and business valuations.
Max's expertise includes analyzing and interpreting complex data, crafting supportable economic damage models, and clearly communicating findings in an understandable manner. He has served as an expert witness in federal and state court matters. 
Max holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Commerce Business and a Master of Science in Accounting from Rhodes College, where he also earned four varsity baseball letters. He is a licensed CPA in Florida, Tennessee, and Maryland and holds the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credentials.

Michael Crain, Professor and Director of Center for Forensic Accounting, Kaufman, Rossin & Co, PA

Dr. Michael A. Crain is an academic and practitioner. Mike is a CPA licensed by the State of Florida. He holds several certifications in valuation: Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) from the American Institute of CPAs and the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the CFA Institute. Mike is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He earned his doctor of business administration (finance) degree from Manchester Business School in England at the University of Manchester.

Mike is a past chairman of the AICPA business valuation committee and has been inducted into the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame. He is a recipient of AICPA’s Lawler Award presented by Journal of Accountancy for best article of the year and AICPA’s Sustained Contribution Award. Mike is the co-author or contributing author of six texts on business valuation or forensic accounting and has written extensively in practitioner journals such as the Journal of Accountancy. Mike has practiced for over 30 years mostly in forensic accounting and valuation and has testified many times as an expert witness. He has been on faculty at Florida Atlantic University and is the co-director of FAU’s Center for Forensic Accounting. Mike still consults with clients and is a senior advisor with Miami-based Kaufman Rossin CPAs.

Michelle Gallagher, Strategic Partner, Adamy Valuation

Michelle Gallagher is a nationally recognized expert in business valuation, forensic accounting, and tax matters. In addition to serving clients with valuations for gift and estate tax and other matters, she leads Adamy Valuation’s family law practice. Her extensive experience includes serving as a trusted consultant, expert witness, mediator, and court-appointed expert. In 2025, Michelle provided Congressional testimony at a Ways and Means Committee hearing in Washington D.C. on the importance of permanently extending provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and in 2016 Michelle testified at a Department of Treasury hearing in Washington D.C. regarding Proposed Regulations under Internal Revenue Code 2704. She has spoken nationally at AICPA, ABA, and AAML conferences, as well as regionally and locally for various business and professional groups on business valuation and litigation-related topics.

Tim Brackney, CEO, Springline Advisory

Tim Brackney serves as CEO of Springline Advisory, a financial and business advisory firm dedicated to reshaping the national accounting and advisory landscape. Recognized for his values-driven leadership style, Tim has guided Springline since its public launch toward the goal of building a top-tier, mid-market business advisory leader and one of the most irresistible, people-first firms in the industry. Prior to Springline, Tim had a successful 20-year career with Resources Global Professionals (NASDAQ: RGP), where he most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer, leading RGP’s global operations which included full P&L and operational responsibilities across North America, the UK and EU, and Asia Pacific region. He earned his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and holds a BBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Z. Christopher Mercer, CEO, Mercer Capital Management, Inc

Z. Christopher Mercer is the Chairman and Founder of Mercer Capital, and he has been working in the business valuation profession for over 40 years. Chris is a prolific author on valuation-related topics and a frequent speaker on business valuation issues for national professional associations and other business and professional groups. His most recently released book is Buy-Sell Agreements: Valuation Handbook for Attorneys, published by the ABA in 2024.