A. Christine (Chris) Davis is a Bates Consulting and Testifying Expert and an accounting and economic damages expert. She works with attorneys and their clients, businesses, nonprofits, and public agencies.
Chris has over 30 years of combined professional experience in public accounting, financial accounting and reporting, management accounting, forensic accounting and litigation consulting, financial statement auditing, preparing corporate and partnership income tax returns, and calculating and reporting on the fair market value of privately held businesses. She holds professional credentials in public accounting, management accounting, financial forensics, and business valuation.
Chris is routinely retained as a consulting and testifying expert in the areas of forensic accounting, economic damages, financial accounting and reporting, and management accounting. She has led and participated in a wide range of matters involving public corporations, privately held companies, nonprofits, and individuals. She has been admitted as an accounting and economic damages expert at trials and other proceedings venued in California Superior courts and Federal District courts in the U.S, and at dispute resolution hearings at JAMS and FINRA. She has been a designated expert in many matters involving forensic accounting, complex accounting analyses, economic damages, such as lost business profits and lost earnings, partnership disputes, alleged accountant malpractice, and alleged financial accounting and reporting violations. She also has considerable experience in investigating allegations of asset misappropriation and financial improprieties, assisting in wage and hour disputes, explaining an entity’s ability to pay punitive damages based upon its financial performance and the condition of the entity, and preparing business valuations.
Chris is also a volunteer resource for the AICPA's forensic and valuation staff by assisting in developing continuing education programs. She is on the AICPA’s National Accreditation Commission; this Commission, comprised of thirteen members/commissioners, leads the AICPA's accreditation process and impacts the CPA profession significantly through its leadership role.
Whether testifying as an expert witness, presenting investigative findings, or teaching CLE courses, Chris’s primary goals are to be well-prepared, to inform, and to persuade. She excels at unraveling and explaining, in plain English, complicated financial analyses while efficiently instilling fundamental financial concepts. Having testified numerous times in federal and state courts, she has the frontline experience to successfully communicate her findings with clarity, objectivity, impact, and care.
Christine is a consultant and subject matter expert in these Practice Areas and Services:
- Securities and Financial Services Litigation & Consulting
- Regulatory & Internal Investigations
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AML & Financial Crimes
- Internal Investigations
- Forensic Accounting
- Economic And Other Damages
- Asset Tracing
- Forensic Accounting and Economic Damages
Credentials
EXPERIENCE
Financial Evidence Group, A CPA Firm, Founder and President, San Francisco, CA, 2020 - Present
Bates Group LLC, San Francisco, CA, 2020 – Present; Consulting and Testifying Expert, 2020 – Present; Managing Director of Forensic Accounting, Economic Damages & Financial Crimes and Member of the Firm, 2020; Director of Forensic Accounting, Economic Damages & Financial Crimes, 2018 –2019
OnPoint Analytics, Inc., Director of Forensic and Financial Accounting, Emeryville, CA, 2016 – 2018
DZH Phillips LLP, CPAs and Advisors, Director and Partner in Charge of Forensic Accounting and Litigation Consulting, San Francisco, CA, 2013 – 2016
StoneTurn, Managing Director, San Francisco, CA, 2012
Hemming Morse, LLP, Director, Forensic Accounting and Litigation Consulting, San Francisco, CA, 1997 – 2011
Banner Aerospace, Subsidiary Controller, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, 1995 – 1996
Bank of America, N.A., Financial Consultant, Financial Management Reporting and Analysis, San Francisco, CA,1995
Coopers & Lybrand LLP, Auditor and Tax Accountant, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, 1994 – 1995
Burr, Pilger & Mayer, Auditor and Tax Accountant, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, 1993 – 1994
Arthur Andersen LLP, Tax Paraprofessional (while in college), San Francisco, CA, 1988 - 1992
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Accounting, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS/LICENSING
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- State of California (#69217) - 1995
- State of New York (#101228) – 2009
- District of Columbia (#CPA40000212) - 2022
Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA] (#257) - 2008
Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), AICPA - 2014
Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts [NACVA] (#041850) – 2008
Arbitrator Certificate, Bar Association of San Francisco - 2015
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
- Commissioner/Member – National Accreditation Commission (1 of 14 members), 2025
- Member – Certified in Financial Forensics Credential Committee (1 of 9 members), 2022 – 2025; Chair for the CFF Study Group Task Force
- Member - Forensic and Valuation Services Section
- Co-author - Continuing Professional Development pertaining to the following professional standards; Statement on Standards for Forensic Services (SSFS) No. 1; Statement on Standards for Consulting Services (SSCS) No. 1
- Technical reviewer for various professional guidance and reference materials used in the CFF credential process
NERA Economic Consulting
- Affiliated Industry Expert
National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA)
Practising Law Institute (PLI)
- Co-Chair and faculty member, Pocket MBA: Finance for Lawyers and Other Professionals, 2018 – 2023
Continuing Education of the Bar of California (CEB)
- CLE Speaker
PUBLICATIONS AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Upon Request