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Forensic and Litigation Accountant

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"I kind of fell into it by accident." That's how Melinda Wright describes her entry into the field of forensic accounting.

"I ended up accidentally having to do what turned out to be a forensic accounting investigation for relatives," says Wright. "The police didn't want to investigate, but I saw that there was something funny going on, so I started investigating. What I ended up doing was exactly what a forensic accountant would do."

Wright wasn't an accountant when she started helping her relatives. But she did have education and experience that prepared her for the task. For example, she had an MBA with a concentration in finance.

"I took finance courses when I got my MBA years ago," she says. "I didn't expect to do well in them, but found I did exceptionally well and the subject matter came easily to me."

Wright wanted to get her CPA years ago, a few years after she got her MBA, but needed to go back to work. She was offered a position at a bank as a technical writer. She did not like technical writing, but the position taught her about banking procedures and regulatory issues.

"I did not like the writing part, but the finance part and the banking part were very interesting," says Wright. The fraud issue that her relatives were dealing with provided Wright the chance to get a taste of forensic accounting.

"The banking background, the finance background, the computer background, and just the fact that I had a natural inclination for detective work, all came together, and I was successful," says Wright. "The guy was indicted."

Wright will soon be studying toward an M.S. in accounting. Then she will write the CPA exam. Her goal is to have her own forensic accounting business.

"You really need a person that has detective skills, that can investigate people, that can question people, that can think in that direction," says Wright. "They can see the little things that just aren't right that make you investigate in the right direction." Wright adds that you also need a high level of integrity.

Douglas Kalesnikoff has been investigating in the right direction for more than 20 years. As a forensic accountant, he has provided expert evidence in courts, international commissions of inquiry and various hearings and tribunals.

"What's appealing for me is the degree to which you are dealing with different circumstances, different matters, on every engagement," says Kalesnikoff. "And I find that to be intellectually stimulating and find that it really expands, or has expanded, my knowledge of the accounting areas.

"It also is intriguing in that it deals very much with behavior of individuals, as to why they do certain things."

Kalesnikoff says most forensic accountants end up testifying in court at some point (or at many points) in their career. Testifying is not easy.

"It's like studying for a big test, and going out and having an oral examination of that test," says Kalesnikoff. "It's very interesting, it's exhilarating, it's stressful -- very much so at times.

"My survival advice, I guess, would be to do good work, do objective and independent work, and go to trial and explain your work and that should carry the day of withstanding any type of cross examination," says Kalesnikoff. "You have to remember that you're an expert there for the court's purposes. You're not an expert for either side, whether it be the side that might retain you or the other side."

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