6 minute read
Taking the Stand
By Kirsten Shaw
Photo by Jenn D Photography
When Jim Koerber took the stand as an expert witness for the first time, he realized he’d found his life’s calling.
Today, he is a leader in the specialized accounting field of forensic and valuation services. Back then, he was an accountant with a Mississippi CPA firm, and one of his tax clients – a dentist – was getting divorced.
The dentist’s attorney asked Koerber to value their mutual client’s practice. This was a first for Koerber, and he was determined to do a thorough and accurate job. He bought a $14 book from the American Dental Association on how to value a dental practice, then studied other books it suggested, and got to work.
It took a couple of years, but in 1997 he started the Koerber Company, PA, a niche practice in Hattiesburg, MS – the only one of this specialty in the state.
“I limit my work to forensic and valuation services,” he shares. “I value businesses for such things as divorce, estate and gift taxes, buy-sell agreements, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder agreements and shareholder disputes. The forensic work is related to legal cases – it could be lost profits, personal injury or wrongful death. I don’t prepare tax returns or provide auditing services.”
As with starting most new businesses, it was slow going at first. Koerber gives a great deal of credit to Melinda, his wife of 47 years, for encouraging and supporting the venture.
“You never get along without help from others,” he states.
Help was also found in mentors like his friend Maury Gurwitch.
“Maury and I met for lunch every Saturday for 22 years,” Koerber says, before Gurwitch moved to Houston, TX, to be near his children. “We talked about how to grow my practice and what was important in life. Maury ran the Smart Shoe Store in Hattiesburg for about 42 years. He always told me to stay humble, listen to your clients and coworkers and enjoy every day.”
To get the word out about his practice, Koerber wrote articles and presented seminars to attorneys and CPAs.
Of those early days, he laughs, “If I had two appointments in one day, I’d schedule them back to back so they’d see other clients coming or going.”
Koerber attended national conferences and regional presentations, where he honed his knowledge and made connections. At one divorce taxation seminar in Jackson, he introduced himself to the presenting attorney, William Wright, who remembered and retained him a year or so later for a case that involved a $50 million-plus technology business formed by a married couple who subsequently decided to divorce.
“The other spouse retained an expert in Washington, DC, who was well known for valuations of high-tech companies,” recalls Wright, who practices family law with Heidelberg Patterson Welch Wright in Ridgeland, MS. “At the end of the day, Jim and the other expert came back with values that were virtually the same, which was extraordinary in the valuation field.”
Wright has often called on Koerber since that first case. He notes Koerber has built a reputation on outstanding work and ethics, as well as timeliness, fairness and accessibility.
“If one asks any family lawyer or chancery judge whose name comes to mind first when asked about a divorce valuation expert in Mississippi, I’m confident the overwhelming majority will mention Jim’s name first,” he states. “His reports are cited in Mississippi appellate opinions more than any other CPA in the area, and he is also recognized as an authority in Louisiana and other states.” It’s not unusual for Koerber to receive thank you notes from clients in his most memorable cases, which he values.
“It means we really helped somebody with a problem or issue,” he says.
Doing good is a way of life Koerber learned early on. His grandmother, Rose Anderson, would take him along as a child when she cooked as a volunteer for a Natchez, MS, orphanage.
“My grandmother taught me to do something kind for someone every day,” he shares. “I hope I make her proud.”
His generosity ranges from providing advice and help to other CPAs who want to pursue his field to keeping $5 McDonald’s gift cards in his car for people who seem like they need a meal.
He has spoken in many law school classes and served as an adjunct professor of accounting at the University of Southern Mississippi. He was influenced by his own professors at Mississippi State, where he majored in banking and finance.
“Dr. Carroll Aby was one of those finance professors who challenged you to do the best you could in work and in life,” he recalls. “I appreciate the guidance I received at Mississippi State.”
The first time Koerber laid eyes on the Starkville campus was when his parents dropped him off with his footlocker at the start of his freshman year. It turned out to be a great experience – a time during which he met Melinda, a library sciences major, and made good friends.
After graduating with his banking and finance degree, he worked for International Paper for a year before some acquaintances at Arthur Andersen encouraged him to become a CPA. He took courses at Louisiana State University and earned a major in accounting, followed by a CPA designation. This led to work in public accounting – tax, audit and
Maury Gurwitch (left) and Jim Koerber met for lunch every Saturday for 22 years.
Photo courtesy of Jim Koerber
management advisory services – and in industry as a controller for a Vidalia, LA, family with oil interests.
Once he shifted his focus solely to forensic and valuation services, he made himself an expert in these areas. He is now a CPA licensed in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama and holds the designations of Accredited in Business Valuation and Certified in Financial Forensics. He has qualified as an expert witness in U.S. District Court in Mississippi and in the state courts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and Texas. Koerber has been active in the American Accountants (AICPA) and other forensic economic and accounting organizations, chairing numerous committees. His knowledge and service have earned such recognitions as AICPA Business Valuation Champion of the Year.
At the beginning of 2021, the Koerber Company joined Postlethwaite & Netterville, APAC, a Baton Rouge-based accounting and business advisory firm with eight offices in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Koerber’s decision was driven by shared values and quality of personnel.
“You always want to be around people who make you better and smarter,” he observes. “That’s the thing that sealed the deal for me.”
Outside work, Koerber spends a great deal of time with family. He and Melinda have a son, a daughter and son-in-law and two granddaughters who all live nearby. Daughter Emily Montgomery, an MSU marketing alumna, has been his office manager since 2003.
Koerber calls granddaughters Lacy Gray (left) and Lillian Claire Montgomery "the joys of my life."
Photo courtesy of Jim Koerber
Koerber’s favorite pastime is attending music concerts – many of them classic rock and soul like Al Green, The Rolling Stones and Billy Joel, though lately his interest in country music has grown.
He notes, “There are some great lines, like ‘If you came by it easy, you wouldn’t be you’ in Rodney Crowell’s song, ‘It Ain’t Over Yet.’”
A few years ago, Koerber spoke at the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy’s swearingin ceremony for new CPAs. He advocated excellence and balance.
“Be the best that you can be,” he counseled. “But don’t do it at the sacrifice of your families, your health or your ethics.”
Koerber told them about his grandmother, who taught him to do the right thing. He told them about Maury Gurwitch, in whom he found wisdom. He told them about Melinda and their family, who have provided unwavering support and love. He told them about his own habits and pursuits.
And in telling, what he actually did was show. He showed these new accountants what a career and life well-lived can look like.
