What was your route into the profession?
I read Maths at university and vowed never to become an accountant. That didn’t last long as at 21 I wasn’t ready to stop learning and rather than do more maths, I opted for the chartered accountancy qualification as it opens lots of doors. I always wanted to specialise in forensic accounting though as it utilises my analytical and problem-solving skills. After qualifying, I spent 11 years with a Big Four forensic team working on high profile international investigations and quantifying losses in the context of complex, high-value commercial litigation. After starting a family, I realised it was time for a change and moved to a Surrey based accounting firm where I focused on expert witness work in the context of commercial litigation and divorce. The opportunity then came along to move to Stowe Family Law, to lead and grow their in-house forensic team. Stowe Family Law is the largest specialist family law firm in the UK and continues to grow, so it is a really exciting opportunity to specialise in divorce finance cases and work hand-in-hand with my clients, who can often struggle to get to grips with high value and complex financial and business assets.
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
There have been lots of challenging cases - that’s what makes my work interesting (lots of brain ache). But in terms of my career, probably the biggest challenge was making the decision to move in-house. I was really happy where I was, doing what I love, had just been promoted and was working with a fantastic forensic team. I wasn’t looking for anything else. But when the opportunity to move to Stowe came along it was too good to pass on. I work alongside lots of brilliant lawyers at Stowe, but that’s just it, they’re lawyers, not accountants. We look at things from a different angle, so when I’m looking into the weird and the wonderful of the finance world and need to bounce ideas around it can sometimes feel a bit lonely. I better get on and build a great forensic team.
Which person within the profession inspires you most?
I’m lucky to have worked with lots of fantastic forensic accountants during my career. I won’t name names as I now instruct some of them in my in-house role, but the ones that inspire me most are the ones who have tons of experience, have been there, done that, yet remain open-minded and are willing to learn from those around them and admit they might be wrong. One of the keys to being a successful expert witness is independence - being able to see things from both sides and forming your own view based on the evidence, which isn’t always the same as the view of your paying client!
If you weren’t an accountant, what would you choose as an alternate career?
Well I also vowed never to be a teacher, but probably another career where I can use my skills to help people – maybe a police detective.
What change would you make to the profession?
More use of single joint experts in commercial litigation or getting party-appointed experts together earlier on in the dispute process for without prejudice discussions so that they can agree on the issues in the case and reasonable assumptions to adopt where it is necessary to do so. Hot-tubbing of experts has been a step in the right direction but there is still more that can be done.
How do you relax?
With two small children to run around after it sometimes feels like I come to work to relax. But no, in all seriousness, I enjoy family time out in the fresh air away from phones, ipads, laptops and all the other gadgets that could so easily occupy all of my precious ‘spare’ time.
