| FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT
FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT |
Chris Makin
“Customers had been lost, the vendors thought because the new owners didn’t know how to handle them; the purchasers were suspicious that the vendors knew the customers who would be lost, and they refused to pay the final instalment of the purchase price.”
Chartered Accountant | Accredited Civil Mediator | Accredited Expert Determiner
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chartered accountant with a vast range of experience, firstly as a general practitioner and then for over 25 years as a forensic accountant and expert witness, Chris Makin offers a range of skills and experience that can add value and provide solutions to those facing the legal process. As can be seen from his CV, Chris Makin, who qualified as an accountant 40 years ago, has been a forensic accountant and expert witness for over 25 years. He acts frequently for claimants/applicants, defendants/respondents and as SJE. He has given expert evidence about 100 times. Previously national head of litigation in a national firm, Chris practises as a commercial mediator, expert determiner, and forensic accountant in commercial, family and criminal cases. As mediator, he has helped parties with problems over business purchase and sale, partnerships, contractual failings, professional negligence, construction, contracting, rights of way, boundaries, fees, defamation, fraud, housing disrepair, expensive motor cars, and probate. “Mediation is now a very important stage in the litigation process, and it usually results in a prompt settlement to even the most complex and highly-charged disputes,” says Chris.
An award-winning chartered accountant, Chris has worked recently on many ‘structured collar’ cases, claiming consequential losses against Britain’s big banks. He also has immense experience in matrimonial cases. “With business and share valuations being a large part in these cases, I can advise on tax-efficient ways to withdraw assets from the marriage.” The criminal cases Chris has worked on involve money laundering, drug trafficking and taxation offences. He worked on the Barlow Clowes international investor fraud case, helping to secure Not Guilty verdicts for his client. Providing an example of a mediation where his accountancy experience and in-depth knowledge played a key role, Chris says: “This was a company sale/purchase dispute. The assets in an old-established engineering business were sold, with a review of the goodwill value after two years, dependent on how many customers had been retained.
His chapter on loss of profits for the self-employed and family company director, now out of print and available free on request, is considered an admirable summary of how businesses work, and is of benefit to lawyers in many fields, not just personal injury.
“I find mediation particularly satisfying, when I am able to help others to settle their differences in their own way, thereby avoiding the horrors and expense of a trial.”
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“For the new company to exercise the option the Stamp Duty would have been £24,000 at 4% with a second £24,000 payable when the factory was sold to the pension fund. The vendors agreed to have the option clause extended to the pension fund – that was no loss to them - and the saving of £24,000 was sufficient to close the gap, and so the mediation settled.” In another mediation, a family company had the freehold of a retail shop which one brother had operated for many years, but he wished to retire. Another brother wished to buy the first brother’s shares so that the company’s main asset, the property, could be redeveloped. The developer brother came along with a fat cheque book, and the other brother with a form requiring signatures so that he could draw his company pension. “Agreement was reached; a cheque and a signed pension consent were passed to the retailer brother, and the developer brother received a signed stock transfer form, and could now develop the property. This is the only occasion on which I have known a settlement agreement setting out, not what the parties promised to do in future, but what they had already done some minutes earlier!”
“I have mediated in some very challenging cases, where the parties even refused to sit in the same room at the start.” Despite these challenges, his personal settlement rate is running at about 80%. He is one of only about 60 chartered accountants to have received the accolade of accredited forensic accountant and expert witness at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) recognises him as an expert 1st tier, and he was for many years a contributor to Kemp & Kemp’s The Quantum of Damages.
“Versatility is key to the role of a forensic accountant,” says Chris. “I offer a wide range of dispute resolution methods as an accredited forensic accountant, accredited expert witness, accredited mediator and accredited expert determiner.
Differences were narrowed, but agreement could not be reached. But the purchasers wanted to exercise an option to buy the freehold factory at £600,000 through their pension fund, not by the new company which held the option.
Mobile: 07887 660072 Telephone: 01924 495888 Fax: 01924 494421 Email: chris@chrismakin.co.uk Website: www.chrismakin.co.uk
Chris offers an initial review of any case, without obligation to instruct him. If the matter does not proceed, there is no charge and all documents are destroyed. However, if the matter does proceed, the time spend on initial review is included in the fee quoted. A contractual relationship is established only when terms are agreed. Solicitors like this!
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