Katharyn is a managing director with Baker Tilly’s forensic, litigation and valuation services practice. In 40 years as a forensic accountant, Katharyn has dedicated herself to becoming a specialist in a variety of businesses and products, helping her understand the context, economics and industries in which her clients work. Focusing on the quantification of economic damages for insurance companies and law firms, Katharyn has analyzed innumerable complex and multimillion dollar cases and claims. Katharyn is based in Portland, Oregon.
Katharyn focuses on claims and cases involving business interruption and loss of profits; stock losses; product liability and recall; fraud and fidelity claims; personal injury and wrongful death.
She has worked throughout the U.S. and abroad with claims professionals and attorneys to quantify losses across industries as diverse as hospitality, forestry, energy (including renewable, hydro and solar), shipping and distribution, multifamily residential, retail and manufacturing.
Born with an investigator’s keen sense of fairness and truth, Katharyn is a graduate of the FBI Citizen’s Academy and a member of the Portland FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association (Portland FBICAAA). She has been on the educational committee for the Property and Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) and has served as president of Women in Sound Equities (WISE), a local investment and education organization for women.
- Quantifying the complex losses when a dam gave way, flooding the utility powerhouse of a hydroelectric plant in the Pacific Northwest. Power generation was halted until the dam could be rebuilt and the generators cleaned, repaired and brought back online, which resulted in more than U.S. $120 million in losses related to business interruption, loss of profits and extra expense claims
- Reviewing claimed reconstruction and repair costs for dozens of state owned buildings damaged by hurricanes in Florida, including several prisons. Also analyzing the underlying source documents in support of the claimed labor rates, material costs, equipment use and associated costs, subcontractor billings and overhead expenses
- Analyzing the financial condition of a retail store destroyed by fire. Following the analysis and police investigation, we provided testimony to the grand jury and at the criminal trial regarding the business owner’s financial motive for arson. The owner was convicted and jailed
- Conducting an audit of the employment and accounting records of a northwest company to ensure the company was providing accurate pension contributions to employees hired by the company into different departments and at different compensation levels
- Measuring income losses to various manufacturing and retail locations for an international apparel company with locations throughout the world. The losses resulted from many perils, including fire, flood, civil authority and contingent losses incurred by suppliers. The claims necessitated working with various business contacts in different countries to gather sufficient documentation to properly evaluate and quantify both upstream and downstream financial impacts
- Evaluating losses incurred by a number of fisheries when a ship crashed on the coast spilling oil and affecting wildlife. The claims alleged that the contaminated waters impacted the harvest, so assessments were conducted on the anticipated harvest in terms of quantity and size and comparisons to historical averages, eliminating duplications between the value of the lost fish and the future income losses
- Collecting and analyzing employee and accounting data and testifying in a class action lawsuit for unpaid wages involving hundreds of employees of a fast food chain in Oregon. Employees were interviewed and a value for each individual claim was computed for a multiyear period using Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) laws
- Institute of Certified Public Accountants, member
- Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants, member
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, associate member
- Katharyn has appeared as an expert witness providing testimony related to the quantification of economic damages in depositions, mediation, arbitrations, and at trial in federal, state and district courts, in many states on behalf of both defendants and plaintiffs
- Katharyn has conducted and participated in seminars and workshops on investigative accounting, fraud analysis, and the measurement of economic damages to colleagues, clients and attorneys
- “Period of Restoration Issues in Business Income Losses”, presented to PLRB Annual Claims Conference, April 2022 and March 2023
- “Homeowner Fire Involving Suspicious Origin and Commingled Business Assets, presented to PLRB Large Loss Conference, November 2020
- “Business Income Losses – Avoiding Pitfalls,” presented to PLRB Annual Claims Conference, April 2019
- “What is Income to Self Employed Business Owners,” presented to Smith Freed Everhard, August 2018
- “Establishing Realistic Business Income Loss Reserves,” presented at PLRB Annual Climes Conference, April 2018
- “What is Income to Self Employed Business Owners,” presented to International Association of Special Investigation Units (IASIU), October 2017
- “Introduction to Business Income Losses,” presented as a PLRB Distance Learning Module, December 2016
- “Dissecting Business Income Loss Claims,” presented to OADC Trial lawyers, November 2015
- “Business Income and Extra Expense Claims: Communication is Key,” presented at PLRB Annual Claims Conference, April 2015
- “Ethical Crossroads: Which Way Do I Go?,” presented to LEA (Loss Executives Association) Annual Meeting, January 2015
- “Adjusting Large Building Losses at Manufacturing Facilities,” presented to PLRB (Property & Liability Resource Bureau) Large Loss Conference, November 2013, and to PLRB Annual Conference, March 2013
- “Commercial Property Loss and Financial Documents,” presented to International Association of Special Investigation Units (IASIU), October 2013
- “A Day in the Life of A Forensic Accountant,” presented to Humboldt State University, September 2013
- “What To Do When The Lights Go Out,” presented to LEA (Loss Executives Association) Summer Meeting, June 2013
- “Difficult Damages - Improving your Evaluation of Impaired Earnings and Business Income Loss,” presented to OCAA Annual Symposium (Oregon Casualty Adjusters Association), April 2013
- “A Forensic Accountant's Role in Analyzing Economic Losses in Personal Injury Claims,” private law firm seminar, June 2012
- “Business Income Loss Basics,” private client seminar, April 2012
- Certified Public Accountant
- Certified in Financial Forensics
Location
Lake Oswego, OR
Education
Bachelor of Science in business administration
Humboldt State University (Arcata, California)