Jared Bourgeois
Senior Consultant, Forensic and Litigation Consulting
Chicago

My day is anything but typical—the opportunities, challenges, and work flow are constantly changing.

A few weeks ago I was in New York City for a week long trial for a breach-of-contract case that I had been working on for a few months. I worked closely with counsel to prepare the fact witnesses and FTI’s expert witness for direct- and cross-examination. This involved preparing demonstratives for trial, dry-running each witness’ direct testimony several times, and simulating the cross-examination environment with potential questions each witness could expect from opposing counsel. Each night we regrouped as a team, reviewed the transcript from the day’s hearing, and prepared for the next day’s direct- and cross-examination. The hours were long and stressful—but I loved every minute of it. After several months of hard work, it was very satisfying to participate in taking the case all the way through trial.

Another case I worked on was centered on calculating damages incurred by shareholders resulting from the bankruptcy of a large insurance company. My typical day involved reviewing the complaint, response, and counter-complaint filed by each party to understand the allegations, performing various financial and other general forensic analyses on the evidence produced by each party as well as the public filings of the company in question. Much of the evidence is non-financial information, such as emails and internal presentations, that I reviewed in order build a holistic understanding of the allegations and to support the development of an expert opinion. I met daily with the FTI team to discuss the allegations and the progress of our document review and analysis.

One of my more recent cases provided me the opportunity to assist in the preparation of an engagement proposal for a potential case in Central America. This involved participating in the initial conference call with counsel to get our first glimpse at the case, coordinating internally with FTI’s international resources to build the proposed team for the case, researching the client’s company and industry, and preparing a presentation for counsel and the potential client on FTI’s capabilities and proposed case strategy.

The most typical thing about my day is that I consistently work on more than one case or project at a time. No two engagements have had identical life-cycles and I have never performed the same analysis twice. Every case presents a new set of facts, new allegations, new research to perform, new questions to answer, new people to work with, and new opportunities for professional growth and advancement.

Lauren Gallagher
Consultant, Technology
Los Angeles

I find FTI to be a fun and challenging place to work for the very reason that there is no typical day. I am fortunate enough to live near the office where I can walk to work. When I arrive, usually around 8:30 AM, I quickly stop by the kitchen to grab a bagel (or fresh fruit if I am lucky). Once I reach my desk, I check my e-mails for the usual overnight correspondence you receive when working for a global company. After I am settled, I check in with my senior manager to establish the days’ tasks that must be completed. Currently I am balancing two projects which are based in different offices so I make sure I contact my managers on both cases.

The case I have been working on for the majority of the past year involves identifying and resolving gaps in large sets of electronic transactional data, identifying accounts to receive a historical statement of account, and mapping transfers and reversals within and between historical accounting systems. This effort requires researching numerous types of historical, hard copy and electronic accounting records. I primarily use Microsoft Access and SQL on one of my three computers I use for work, due to the nature of the engagements.

My second engagement involves recalculating royalties due to a large provider of digital music and video content. I have been given the chance to work closely with two Managing Directors, one in Technology and the other in Corporate Finance. I find this to be a very valuable experience because I am able to learn directly from my superiors and witness firsthand the business of another segment of FTI. This engagement involves constant client interaction, which consists of traveling to client sites, overseeing conference calls, e-mailing, and reviewing data requests.

Other than the analysis I do on a day to day basis, FTI takes a great deal of interest in the well-being of its employees. We often have optional lunch-and-learns where we discuss the other practice areas of FTI. In addition, we have frequent social events such as happy hours, bowling events, team lunches, and sundae socials where I can mingle and interact with my colleagues in a more relaxed setting. I genuinely admire and respect everyone I work with and could not wish for a happier place to work.

Jessica Bennett
Consultant, Corporate Finance
New York City

One of the characteristics of my job that I have adjusted to and come to enjoy is that there is no typical day at FTI. While each day is guided by a rough outline of tasks to be completed, where or when they are done is never certain: one Friday, I found myself in the New York office, the following Monday I was on a plane commuting to a new engagement in Portland, Oregon! I like to humor myself and think of a consultant as similar to that of an investigator – corporate finance style. Excel is our magnifying glass. It is our role to gather information from companies, create questions and then analyze and seek the best solutions for these issues.

The current case I am on involves monthly inventory analysis. Of course, excel is the main tool used, and variance analyses are completed to record changes. Because I am in the office for this project, at least two hours per day is devoted to conference calls, however in-person meetings are common as well. For the meetings I do not attend, my manager always gives me case updates in order for me to remain informed. Social activities at work generally include grabbing lunch to-go with a coworker or an afternoon shot of espresso to keep productivity going. If it’s a Thursday or Friday after work, coworkers may get together after work!

While that is a snap shot of office life, traveling engagements are a bit different. You adjust to navigating airports, collecting hotel points and being able to pack for a week’s travel in 10 minutes. Hopefully you have the chance to see a city which you have never been to before (if you stay the weekend), but don’t count on Hawaii anytime soon…think more like Detroit.