Thomas Kalajian has limited his practice of professional services to expert legal consulting as a non-testifying expert with respect to cases involving accounting, income taxes and business valuation.  He has excluded from his practice the role of testifying expert on the grounds that his professional career includes a possible impairment which may jeopardize the interests of the legal matter in which he would be required to present his opinion or opine on the opinion of others with respect to these matters.

The Thomas Kalajian CPA firm’s bookkeeper was authorized by the client as a signer on the client’s checking account to facilitate the bookkeeper in performing her expanded duties to salvage the client from financial failure caused by long-standing history of financial irregularities committed by the client’s husband as the company controller. The turnaround assignment was in addition to the other routine bookkeeping, accounting and income tax tasks which were already being performed by the Thomas Kalajian CPA firm.

The dispute arose based on the client's demand for a full refund for all fees paid to the Thomas Kalajian CPA firm for all services requested, delivered and accepted by the client for the prior year under which the retainer was being replenished by the firm's bookkeeper.  Copies of cancelled checks show that none of the replenishment checks were written or signed by Thomas Kalajian, nor were any of the replenishment checks paid to or cashed by Thomas Kalajian personally. All the retainer replenishments were paid to and deposited intact by the firm, Thomas Kalajian, CPA, Inc.

Inasmuch as the client had authorized the replenishments in writing, authorized the bookkeeper as a signer on the checking account, was notified regularly through billing statements, and received and opened all monthly bank statements, which included all the cancelled checks, the client had both provided sufficient authorization to the firm and had been given sufficient notice by the firm throughout the engagement period that replenishments were being paid on a regular basis. Therefore, the firm refused to refund any of the funds used to pay for the services rendered to the client.

After the client failed to obtain a refund from a deadlocked mediation, the client was encouraged by the California Board of Accountancy to renew their effort to revoke Thomas Kalajian’s CPA license. The administrative judge’s decision to disregard all the defense testimony and documentation cleared the way for to find all the allegations proved and to support his recommendation to the California Board of Accountancy to revoke Thomas Kalajian’s CPA license, as Thomas Kalajian was the President and shareholder of the Thomas Kalajian CPA firm.

Implications Upon Expert Testimony

Since this action is recorded as public information, it represents a possible impairment to discredit Thomas Kalajian's testimony in a role as a testifying expert witness. Accordingly, to protect his clients from possible difficulties, Thomas Kalajian has limited his practice to exclude assignments which could involve his services as a testifying expert witness. However, Thomas Kalajian does accept assignments as a non-testifying expert witness providing services in litigation support cases as a legal consultant, with considerable professional education in the areas of business valuation and matrimonial litigation.

Since the incident, Thomas Kalajian has intensified his professional development through continuing professional education.  He has obtained professional designations in business valuation, while continuing his professional development in taxation, to maintain his professional level of skills, knowledge, education, experience and training in his practice of accounting, taxation, business development advisory services and business valuation without interruption or deterrence.