Mr. Sidney P Blum
Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA 94104
Leading Expertise in Complex Financial Damages, Royalty Auditing, Licensing & Valuation
With over 30 years of experience in forensic accounting and economic damages analysis, Mr. Blum specializes in financial damages spanning from millions to billions of dollars. His expertise covers a broad range of areas, including:
-Intellectual Property: Patent and trademark infringement, licensing disputes, and reasonable royalty rates.
-Contract and Financial Disputes: Breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, fraud, and lost profits.
-Royalty Audits: Analysis of royalty auditor competence and the calculation of damages related to royalty agreements.
Mr. Blum’s career includes leadership roles such as serving as the Chief Audit Officer at Beats (now Apple) and a former KPMG Partner, where he led corporate and complex financial audits. He is also the author of two books on contract financial language and auditing, published by Oxford University Press and LexisNexis.
His well-grounded reports have been cited by judges as best examples in legal proceedings. Having been retained in more than 150 matters, he brings invaluable real-world corporate experience to every case.
Sidney P. Blum is a highly experienced economic damages expert with a specialization in State, Federal, and USITC matters. He has worked on a broad range of cases, from simple to multi-billion dollar complex litigations, providing expert testimony in areas including economic damages, lost profits, royalty audits, and royalty auditor competence.
Areas of Expertise:
-Intellectual Property: Patent disputes, copyright and trademark infringement, false advertising, DMCA (including expert witness for the $66 million award), Lanham Act, and business interruption.
-Financial & Economic Damages: Breach of contract, class action, complex commercial litigation, fraud, forensics, accountant malpractice, product liability, personal injury, wrongful termination, and USITC matters.
-Royalty Audits, Licensing, & Compliance: Royalties, auditor independence, auditor malpractice, and royalty disputes. He is a world-leading authority on royalty auditing with over 2,500 audits supervised.
Mr. Blum is recognized for his profound understanding of Georgia-Pacific factors, having led numerous royalty audits, and providing expert testimony on the responsibilities of independent auditors in these audits. His well-grounded reports have been cited as best examples by judges.
Royalty Audits, Contract Compliance & Licensing:
Mr. Blum led the global royalty audit practices at Ernst & Young and KPMG, and authored two books on the subject published by Oxford University Press and LexisNexis. He has performed contract compliance audits in numerous sectors, including motion picture, video games, oil & gas royalties, publishing, and digital distribution.
Fraud & Forensics:
Mr. Blum was one of five members of the 2016-2017 Board of Regents of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), with over 80,000 members. He was named “Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year” in 2012 and has extensive experience in fraud investigations and forensic accounting.
Industry Expertise:
Mr. Blum's experience spans a wide range of industries, including: Advertising, Automotive, Beer & Beverages, Biotechnology, Construction, Electronics, Energy, Film, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Software, Toys & Games, Video Games, Wireless Communications, and more.
Representative Clients:
Mr. Blum has provided expert services to top-tier clients including: A-list talent, Amgen, Beats Electronics, Disney, Dolby, General Motors, IGT, Microsoft, McDonald’s, NFL, Occidental Petroleum, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Toshiba, Warner Bros., Writers Guild, and many others.
Career Highlights:
Prior Employment: KPMG Partner, Chief Audit Officer at Beats Electronics (now part of Apple), Ernst & Young, Disney Consumer Products, and Occidental Petroleum.
Recognition:
Named “Forensic Services Expert Witness of the Year” in 2016 by 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.