Jimmy S. Pappas
Biography
Jimmy S. Pappas advises legal counsel, management, and boards of directors on accounting, financial, and internal control matters in the context of civil and criminal litigation, internal investigations, and corporate governance. He has over thirty years of experience in the forensic and financial statement audit disciplines of accounting - thirteen of which were with Big Four accounting firms - and has served clients internationally.
Jimmy is regularly retained as an expert witness and consulting expert in legal disputes pending in federal courts, state courts, and international jurisdictions. These cases encompass a variety of issues, including economic damages, valuation and insolvency matters, accounting disputes, financial statement fraud, post-acquisition disputes, shareholder disagreements, breach of contract claims, market reaction analyses, and accounting malpractice, among others. He has testified as an accounting expert on behalf of regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has been engaged as an accounting and economic damages expert by plaintiffs and defendants in civil and criminal litigation.
Jimmy also conducts internal investigations at corporations and governmental entities involving such issues as the integrity of financial statements, corruption, misappropriation of assets, and internal control failures. His work in this area is often in response to regulatory inquiry.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has appointed Jimmy to senior governance committees tasked with investigating and adjudicating alleged violations of ethical and technical standards by its members. In addition, he has served on the Advisory Council of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He frequently speaks at national and international conferences on economic damages, corporate compliance, and white collar crime.
Areas of Expertise
- Economic Damages and Lost Profits Analysis
- Valuation and Solvency Disputes
- Financial Statement and Accounting Disputes
- Internal Investigations (fraud, corruption, internal control failures)
- Compliance Oversight, Monitoring, and Remediation
Representative Engagements
Litigation
Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Ontario, Canada) - Civil: On behalf of the plaintiff, represented by a bankruptcy trustee, issued expert reports on the valuation and solvency of a financial institution before the petition date, as well as economic damages arising from an alleged deepening insolvency caused by defendants’ conduct. Testimony: Trial testimony for three days - valuation, insolvency, and economic damages.
Massachusetts Superior Court (Business Litigation Session) - Civil: On behalf of the defendant, issued a rebuttal expert report in a shareholder dispute concerning the fair market value of an educational institution in China and the quantification of alleged economic damages. Testimony: Trial testimony - valuation and damages.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court (Northern District of California) - Civil: On behalf of defendants, including former executives and external auditors of a bankrupt manufacturer, issued expert reports addressing the integrity of the company’s financial statements, the integrity of the related audits, the company’s pre-petition solvency, and the economic damages claimed by the plaintiff bankruptcy trustee. Testimony: Deposition testimony - insolvency, accounting, auditing, and economic damages.
U.S. District Court (District of Massachusetts) - Criminal: On behalf of a defendant who pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges, issued an expert report during sentencing quantifying the gain realized from the alleged conduct under a stipulated plea formula. Also addressed the statistical significance of abnormal returns in the affected publicly traded security using an event study.
U.S. District Court (District of Massachusetts) - SEC Enforcement Civil: On behalf of former executives of a health care company, issued an expert report addressing whether alleged accounting irregularities in the company’s financial statements had a statistically significant effect on share price, based on an event study. Testimony: Deposition testimony - market reaction analysis pursuant to an event study.
U.S. District Court (Middle District of North Carolina) - Civil: On behalf of the plaintiff, issued an expert report quantifying economic damages arising from allegations of theft of trade secrets and conspiracy. Testimony: Deposition testimony - economic damages.
Connecticut Superior Court - Civil: On behalf of the defendant in a legal malpractice matter, issued an expert report quantifying the fair market value of a manufacturer in Brazil. Testimony: Deposition testimony - valuation.
U.S. District Court (District of Massachusetts) - Criminal: On behalf of a defendant charged with insider trading, provided trial testimony opining that the alleged insider information could have been derived from the acquired company’s SEC filings and industry consolidation trends. Testimony: Trial testimony - accounting and market analysis.
Rhode Island Superior Court - Civil: On behalf of the plaintiff in a shareholder dispute, issued an expert report addressing the application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the interpretation of relevant operating agreement provisions, and the quantification of economic damages. Testimony: Trial and deposition testimony - accounting and economic damages.
International Chamber of Commerce - Arbitration: On behalf of the respondent in a product licensing dispute, issued an expert report addressing the application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in connection with the interpretation of relevant agreement provisions and related economic damages. Testimony: Trial testimony in arbitration - accounting and economic damages.
Investigations
Investigation of nationally publicized operational control failures at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, culminating in a public report with findings, root-cause analysis, remediation steps, and governance/internal-control recommendations.
Post-acquisition FCPA investigation for a publicly traded technology company involving a newly acquired entity in Brazil.
Internal investigation for a public technology company, conducted at the direction of the audit committee, into alleged financial statement fraud and FCPA violations.
Internal investigation for a privately held health care organization into alleged embezzlement.
Internal investigation for a public technology company into allegations of financial statement fraud raised by a short seller.
Compliance
Fraud and corruption risk assessment for a privately held global manufacturer, including development of a remediation plan.
Assistance to the controller of a public company in preparing a response to an SEC Wells Notice.
Cyber-incident engagement for a public technology company involving quantification of losses, preparation of a comprehensive findings report, and support in negotiations with business interruption insurers.
Recognition
- Lexology Index Recommended
- Experts: Financial Advisory & Valuation - Quantum of Damages
- Experts: Forensic Accountant
- Investigations: Forensic Accountant
- “Excellent during deposition and trial.”
- “Thorough, smart and well-organized… able to handle high-pressure situations and work under considerable scrutiny.”
Education
- Bentley University - Master of Science in Accounting
- Amherst College - Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Professional Designations
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)*
- Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
- Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF)
- Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV)
*Licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Recent Publications
- “The Role of the Independent Accountant in Post-Acquisition Disputes,” The M&A Lawyer, Thomson Reuters, November / December 2025 Issue
- “The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages, 7th edition,” co-editor. Business Valuation Resources, LLC, April 2, 2023
- “The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages, 6th edition,” co-editor. Business Valuation Resources, LLC, December 2020
Recent Presentations
- American Bar Association – International White Collar Crime Institute, Global Anti-Corruption Enforcement (Panel Speaker), Geneva, Switzerland, November 17, 2025
- American Bar Association – Global White Collar Crime Institute, Global Anti-Corruption Trends (Panel Speaker), Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 31, 2023
- Business Valuation Resources – National Economic Damages Conference – Speaker, Editors Panel – Virtual, May 26-27, 2021
- National State Auditors Association – When Internal Control Failures Result in Crises – Lessons Learned from the MA RMV Investigation (Keynote Speaker) – Virtual June 3, 2020
- American Bar Association – Global White Collar Crime Institute, Global Anti-Corruption Trends (Panel Speaker), Prague, Czech Republic, June 28, 2019
Affiliations
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)
- American Bar Association (ABA), Associate Member
Languages
- English
- Greek
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Expert witness and forensic accounting services for complex matters involving disputes, investigations, and compliance.