Mr. Sidney P Blum
Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA 94104
Leading experience in complex financial damages from millions to billions of dollars.
Forensic accounting and economic expert on financial damages in litigations for intellectual property, general damages, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, licensing disputes, reasonable royalty rates, lost profits, fraud, & royalty auditor competence. His 30+ years experiences includes corporate and as an in-charge KPMG Partner. He was the Chief Audit Officer of Beats (now Apple). Author of two books on contract financial language and auditing (Oxford University Press & LexisNexis). His well-written grounded reports are cited as best examples by judges. He brings to trial invaluable 10 years of real world corporate experience plus being retained in more than 150 matters.
Sidney P. Blum is experienced as an economic damages expert in State, Federal and USITC matters. In additional to economic damages and lost profits, Mr. Blum serves on many occasions as an expert related to royalty audits and royalty auditor competence. Mr. Blum is a renowned fraud investigator.
Vast diversified deep industry experience including: automotive, construction, entertainment, audio, media, beverages, software, hardware, healthcare, consumer products, toys, medical devices, digital, entertainment, music, film, energy, oil, gas, personal injury, machinery, gaming and many more.
As a financial and economic damages expert witness, Mr. Blum has worked on matters from simple to more than $1 billion complex litigations. He works approximately 50/50 for plaintiffs/defendants.
Expert witness services for: intellectual property, patent disputes, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, false advertising, breach of contract, business interruption, class action, complex commercial litigation, fraud & forensics, Lanham Act, unfair competition, DMCA (expert witness for third largest award of $66 million), accountant malpractice, personal injury, product liability, royalty disputes, royalty auditor malpractice, royalty auditor independence, trusts & estates, wrongful termination, USITC.
Mr. Blum is a leader in understanding Georgia-Pacific factors given his supervision of more than 1,500 royalty audits. Mr. Blum also provides royalty audit defense work plus testifying on the responsibilities for an independent auditor in a royalty audit and professional standards.
FRAUD & FORENSICS: Mr. Blum was one of five members of the 2016-2017 Board of Regents of the 80,000 member Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. The Association also named Mr. Blum "Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year" in 2012.
ROYALTY AUDITS: Mr. Blum is recognized as a world leading authority in royalty auditing having led the practice for two Big 4 Accounting firms, written two books on the topic (Oxford University Press & LexisNexis), numerous articles, and given many presentations.
Mr. Blum wrote the contract and royalty audit methodologies for both Ernst & Young and KPMG. He has experience performing the following types of contract compliance audits: royalty, construction, motion picture, video games & TV participation, residual, statutory payments, most-favored-nation, oil & gas royalties, publishing, labor, digital distribution, reseller & distribution, time & material, vendor and supplier.
INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: advertising, apparel, automotive, beer, beverages, biotechnology, building materials, chemicals, computers, construction, consumer products, electronics, energy, environmental, hardware, home furnishings, manufacturing, media & entertainment, medical devices, marijuana, movie theaters, motion pictures, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, pipelines, publishing, real estate, semiconductors, studios, software, spirits, theaters, toys & games, video games, wine, wireless communications.
REPRESENTATIVE CAREER NON-LITIGATION CLIENTS: “A” list talent, Adobe, Amgen, Beats Electronics, Director's Guild of America, Disney, Dolby, DreamWorks, DTS, DKNY, Ed Hardy, General Electric, General Motors, IGT, IMG, Marvel, Mattel, McDonald's, Microsoft, Major League Baseball, NFL, Northrup, Occidental Petroleum, Obey, Paramount Pictures, Perry Ellis, Philips, Premier Inc, SAG, Shark Tank, Silgan Containers, Scotsman Trailers, Sony Pictures, SRS, Toshiba, UCLA, Unocal, Warner Bros. Music, Warner Bros. Studios, Writers Guild, The Apprentice, Wheel of Fortune and more.
PRIOR EMPLOYMENT INCLUDES: KPMG Partner, CAO of Beats Electronics, Ernst & Young, Disney Consumer Products, Occidental Petroleum.
Sidney Blum named "Forensic Services Expert Witness of the Year" in 2016 by the publication "Corporate America" and California CPA of the Year in 2017 by Surgent.
Sample Landmark Cases
• UMB Bank v. Sanofi: Stock contingent value rights ($315 million)
• Jillian Michaels v. Lionsgate: free video content released on YouTube ($5.8 million)
• MBC v. Create New Technology: DMCA theft of cable signals ($66.7 million)
• Converse, Inc. vs. Highline United: USITC trademark case for defense
- Auditing
- Business
- Business Interruption
- Business Law
- Compensation
- Contracts
- Copyrights
- Entertainment & Media
- Forensic Accounting
- Patents
- Trademarks
- Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:
- A: • Certified Public Accountant (California & New York)
• Certified Fraud Examiner
• Certified Professional Environmental Auditor:
• Health & Safety
• Environmental Compliance
• Certified in Financial Forensics (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
- Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:
- A: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners - Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
- A: • “Royalty Auditing: What IP Lawyers Should Know”
• “Monitoring 3rd Parties”
• “What Every Licensor Should Know About Royalty Auditing”
• “Legal Foundations of Licensing - The Royalty Audit and Accounting Issues”
• “Common Mistakes in Royalty Agreements”
• “Avoid Key Financial Errors in Licensing Agreements”
• “Selected Issues in Dispute Resolution: Entertainment & Media Industry” (Pepperdine School of Law / Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution)– April 2012)
• “Forensic Accounting and Expert Witness Workshop” (Finance Education Resources CPE - 8 hour seminar taught several times a year through ICDC College)
- Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
- A: No
- Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?
- A: More than 100 times involving testimony in State, Federal and USITC matters.
Damage calculations for intellectual property, real estate, breach of contract, patent, trademark, copyright, DMCA, wrongful termination, patent infringement, personal injury, transportation, energy, oil and gas, entertainment and more.
Over 1,500 IP investigations. Expert in multiple industries. Leading entertainment industry expert. - Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
- A: Damages including lost profits, lost value of businesses, unjust enrichment, reasonable royalties, and lost earnings; fraud investigations, forensic accounting and standard of care in accounting matters. Juris Pro's areas of expertise for which I have been retained include: accounting, auditing, business, construction, employment, intellectual property, partnerships, wrongful termination, class action, personal injury, complex commercial litigation, false advertising, branding, trademarks, patents, copyrights, theatrical distribution, video distribution, profit participation and real estate. Also as a marketing expert.
- Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the plaintiff?
- A: 50%
- Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the defendant?
- A: 50%
- Q: On how many occasions have you had your deposition taken?
- A: More than 50 occasions.
- Q: When was the last time you had your deposition taken?
- A: Several times annually.
- Q: On how many occasions have you been qualified by a court to give expert testimony?
- A: Many times, including arbitration.
- Q: On how many occasions have you testified as an expert in court or before an arbitrator?
- A: More than 20 times.
- Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?
- A: More than 20 years as an expert witness
- Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
- A: Expert witness testimony and consulting in general damages, complex litigation, branding, financial terms in contracts, royalty auditor competence testimony, royalty auditing, contract compliance services, intellectual property damages, consultation, fraud and forensic investigations and consulting, internal audit services, accounting record testing, damage calculations.
Sample Landmark Cases
• UMB Bank v. Sanofi: Stock contingent value rights ($315 million)
• Jillian Michaels v. Lionsgate: free video content released on YouTube ($5.8 million)
• MBC v. Create New Technology: DMCA theft of cable signals ($66.7 million)
• Converse, Inc. vs. Highline United: USITC trademark case for defense
- Q: What is your hourly rate to consult with an attorney?
- A: Depends on the case. Ranges from $850 to $2,200.
- Q: What is your hourly rate to review documents?
- A: Depends on the case. Ranges from $850 to $2,500.
- Q: What is your hourly rate to provide deposition testimony?
- A: Depends on the case. Ranges from $850 to $2,500,
- Q: What is your hourly rate to provide testimony at trial?
- A: Depends on the case. Ranges from $900 to $2,500.
- Q: Please list any fees other than those stated above (E.g.: travel expenses, copy fees, etc.)
- A: Out of pocket and overhead expenses are charged at actual as incurred. There is an admission fee for copying, phones and other administrative costs.
References upon request.