Michael Gears, CPA

Michael Gears is a Director in the Financial Experts business unit, working out of the Reston (DC Metro) office of Ocean Tomo, a part of J.S. Held. Michael provides litigation support and forensic accounting consulting services in industries involving insurance, pharmaceuticals, retail, government contracts, nuclear power, electric utilities, and energy.  Areas of focus have included evaluation of economic damages, financial statement analysis, lost profits, alleged breach of contract, cost accounting, cost and compliance auditing, audit malpractice, time keeping auditing, insurance and reinsurance, net worth calculations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations.  Michael assists counsel in all aspects of litigation proceedings including document review and discovery, fieldwork, deposition support, preparation of expert reports, analysis of opposing experts’ reports, and ultimately trial phase.

Engagement experience includes private practice cases as well as government and regulatory agencies including Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Naval Litigation Office, Department of Energy, and PCAOB. Recent experience includes multiple engagements involving calculating economic damages resulting from an alleged partial breach of contract between nuclear utilities and the United States Department of Energy, alleged damages between a government contractor and the Department of Navy from alleged contract solicitation inaccuracies, and disgorgement calculations of ill-gotten gains.

Michael holds a BBA and M.S. in Accounting with a Tax Concentration from James Madison University.  He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is a member of the School of Accounting Guiding Executive (SAGE) Accounting Advisory Board at James Madison University and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).