Partner - Forensic Consulting
Financial Advisory
Based in Melbourne Darryn leads the Forensic Consulting offering across Southern Australia including Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne and has conducted matters across all states of Australia.
Darryn holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) with a minor in Law from Swinburne University. In 1997 Darryn was admitted as an Associate (Chartered Accountant) of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.
In December 2004, Darryn completed a Graduate Certificate in Forensic Studies (Accounting) at Monash University and completed a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment with FINSIA in 2008.
Darryn is an Accredited Business Valuer and Accredited Forensic Accountant of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand
Experience
Expert Witness experience
For the past 18 years, Darryn has been involved in preparation of expert witness reports and other reports in the following contexts:
- Valuation for shareholder oppression claims, matrimonial disputes, ownership equity disputes, and estate disputes;
- Loss quantification associated with personal insurance claims including breach of employment contracts, defective products, contractual breaches, motor vehicle accidents and institutional abuse claims;
- Investigation of complex corporate structures and financial investigations;
- Assessment of economic loss arising under Contract, Tort and the Trade Practices Act;
- Investigation and review of financial transactions or events and reconstruction of transactions and financial statements in dispute and insurance purposes including acting as court appointed special referee;
- Valuation of controlling and minority interests in non-contentious situations;
- Valuation of Listed and Unlisted Options, Restricted Stock Units and other Executive Remuneration entitlements; and
- Professional Negligence claims in relation to liability and quantum.
Court experience and expert testimony
Darryn has acted as an Independent Expert, Jointly Appointed Expert, Court Appointed Expert, and as an Independent Expert Accountant under commercial agreements.
Darryn has provided oral expert testimony in the Federal Court of Australia, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Supreme Court of Western Australia, and International Arbitration Tribunals.
Darryn is experienced in the production of Joint Statement of Experts.
Darryn has provided concurrent evidence in matters and has experience in giving evidence via video link and in e-trials in a range of mediums including Webex Teams, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Noteworthy examples of matters in which Darryn has provided evidence :
Commercial disputes
Darryn has undertaken expert witness and advisory assignments involving the quantification of economic loss arising under Contract and Warranty, Tort and the Trade Practices Act, and in the context of a number of other commercial dispute types.
Contractual pricing disputes is an area of practice that Darryn has often been appointed as an expert to assist in quantification of overpayment or undercharging. Many of these engagements have required complex modelling of scenarios and analysis of significant source financial data.
Litigation Valuation experience
Darryn specialises in preparation of expert witness, valuation reports of businesses, intangible assets and equity in both controlling and non-controlling contexts.
Valuation reports are regularly prepared in the context of shareholder, partnership and joint venture disputes, estate disputes and share sale agreement disputes.
As an experienced accounting expert witness, Darryn regularly undertakes valuations of businesses, often with international operations and investments, superannuation and complex corporate structures and financial investigations for matrimonial and de facto matters in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
A number of recent matters have required the investigation of assets and interests across international borders. Darryn has worked with Grant Thornton offices across South East Asia, China, United Kingdom and the United States in the detailed investigation and review of the corporate structures in order to determine an equity holder’s rights, powers and obligations.
Non-Litigation Valuation Experience
Darryn also provides valuations tax restructuring, internal business restructures and bank lending purposes.
Darryn has provided such valuations for private clients, financial institutions such as the ANZ Bank, NAB, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Judo Bank for the valuation of independent supermarkets, cafes, medical and dental clinics and veterinary practices.
Insurance & Personal Injury Disputes
Darryn has acted as an Independent Expert in matters for Plaintiff and Defendants in personal and corporate insurance claims.
Personal insurance claim matters have involved the assessment of lost income for individuals resulting from motor vehicle accidents, employment contract disputes and institutional abuse claims.
In addition to the above Darryn has also provide expert reports for corporate insurance claims involving the losses suffered as a result of a contract breach and product defects.
Financial Investigations
Darryn undertakes assignments requiring investigations into complex financial transactions or events as well investigations relating to financial fraud for insurance claims.
A number of cases have required Darryn to undertake a reconstruction or material restatement of transactions or complete financial statements. Darryn is experienced in dealing with incomplete records and reconstructing transactions from non-financial records and is often appointed as a court special referee in these matters.
Professional Negligence
Darryn has experience in providing both liability and quantum opinions in professional negligence claims, for the Plaintiff or Defendant, often the Insurer.
Darryn’s professional background is in the provision of business advisory and taxation services provides him with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide an opinion in relation to certain liability issues. In a number of cases, Darryn has worked concurrently with other specialists within Grant Thornton, including Partners in domestic tax, international tax, and wealth advisory, to provide concurrent liability and quantum reports.
He has provided expert services to a number of major professional insurers and has recent specific experience in professional negligence claims involving accountants, solicitors, property valuers, financial planners and advisers, medical professionals, town planners, and engineers.
Sector experience
Darryn has undertaken assignments across a very wide range of sectors across Australia and internationally for private, government and semi-government organisations.
Industries in which Darryn has undertaken significant work recently include:
- Professional Services;
- Property and construction;
- Manufacturing;
- Retail; and
- Health and allied services.
Training and Publications
Darryn has been a guest lecturer to a number of Legal Professional Development training organisations such as Legalwise and Leo Cussen. Darryn has recently presented on behalf of Leo Cussen and separately for Grant Thornton to lawyers and accountants on valuation impacts in a Covid-19 environment.
Qualifications
- Chartered Accountant
- Graduate Certificate in Forensic Studies
- Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance & Investment
- Bachelor of Business
- Accredited Business Valuation Specialist
- Accredited Forensic Accounting Specialist
- Member for the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia
