Simon Oddy is a principal with Baker Tilly’s forensic, litigation and valuation services practice. Working with clients and lawyers, Simon has handled engagements in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Simon focuses his work on the field of economic and financial damages. He acts as an expert witness, providing financial damages testimony on cases in litigation.
In recent years, he has concentrated on crisis management, managing a global team of professionals who handle financial damages projects resulting from cybersecurity and product recall issues. He and his team are also heavily involved in high profile complex liability matters for the casualty industry.
Simon provides financial loss opinions in litigated and non-litigated matters on cases related to high profile food contamination and nonfood related losses impacting the U.S. and global food supply chains. He and the team also assist clients in developing complex analytical models for damage measurements and loss exposure analysis. He has worked with clients addressing risk management issues in cybersecurity, product recall and liability issues.
In the area of liability cases, Simon has worked on food manufacturing and distribution claims, automobile products manufacturing, breach of contract, medical products liability and construction defect liability cases. He has been involved as a damage expert in the recent wave of sexual abuse claims and other significant class action matters. He has handled claims for the pre-launch satellite business, marine losses and the jewelry and precious stones industries.
Simon has handled government work on behalf of the United States Department of Justice, performing transaction analysis in cases of fraud. He has experience acting in an expert witness capacity in fraud and asset misappropriation related cases.
In addition to clients in the U.S., Simon works with clients in the London insurance market, syndicates in Lloyds and handles cases globally. He has handled matters for both claimants and defendants.
- Engaged to calculate damages resulting from a cyber attack in the healthcare industry. Cyber event impacted a hospital network in the U.S. over several weeks, resulting in a reduction of in patient and out patient visits and in turn a claim for business income damages.
- Online retailer suffered a systems outage due to a ransomware event. Engaged to determine the losses resulting from the business income loss which followed.
- Engaged to compute damages across various industries following cyber events which resulted in contingent business income losses following systems disruption.
- Engaged to value the financial damages resulting from a nationwide recall of brand name food products. Foreign material was identified in a large volume of food products distributed throughout the U.S. When the recall was initiated, the financial damage suffered exceeded $100 million, with loss of inventory, customer refunds and credits and business interruption losses forming the majority of the financial impact. Collaborated closely with clients and their lawyers to evaluate the supported financial damages.
- Engaged as an expert witness to provide an opinion on the financial damage resulting from the global market recall of a medical device. The recall and redesign of the product resulted in alleged related financial damages for the manufacturer and distributor, along with alleged financial damages for complementary products. Worked with clients and lawyers, providing financial calculations, opinions and expert testimony during proceedings.
- Manufacturing issues with batteries used in electric vehicles (EV) led to a global recall of products and a significant claim for past and future financial loss. Worked with clients to measure the financial impact of the overall product recall.
- Engaged as an expert witness in litigation related to alleged fraud and misappropriation of assets. The allegations of fraud and financial loss related to a C-Suite executive’s misuse of company funds and allegations of unauthorized funds transfers to other companies operated by the executive. Provided expert opinions on the financial loss and expert witness testimony on behalf of clients.
- Managed and developed financial analysis, provided analytical expertise and analytical modeling on a number of significant class action lawsuits. Assisted clients with understanding the extent of known and unknown financial exposure allowing them to consider case management and strategy. Baker Tilly data and analytical models were used in bankruptcy proceedings.
- Assisting in a class action dispute where a Rhode Island pharmaceutical manufacturer developed a surgical device which was identified to be causing internal bodily damage in patients. Appointed to verify the damage caused because of the product failure. Analyzed more than 2,500 individual medical claims to determine the actual losses suffered and supported. The analysis allowed insurers to negotiate a favorable settlement with the insured.
- Engaged by Lloyds of London to determine losses resulting from damage caused to a satellite by a crane boom during preparation for launch. The satellite contained transmitters to be used by various telecommunications companies for broadcasting. Following the incident, the satellite had to be dismantled, inspected, and rebuilt to ensure full functionality at a cost in excess of $25 million. Within the claimed costs were profit, overhead and general and administration expenses allocated to the project. Worked closely with underwriters and lawyers to quantify the damages.
- Engaged to determine the loss resulting from Salmonella contamination of ingredients which were supplied via a co-op arrangement in Illinois to four internationally known fast food restaurant chains. Analysis and work performed allowed London insurers to settle the claim through a negotiated settlement.
- Over a two-year period, a businessperson owning a professional employer organization defrauded his client companies by not paying the about $40 million in taxes owed on their behalf. Retained by the Department of Justice to investigate the extent of the fraud and trace the transactions for asset recovery. Billions of outgoing transactions were under suspicion, and we successfully identified the receiving accounts to determine the fate of the funds.
- Quantified losses resulting from a product recall caused by the identification of Salmonella in processing equipment at a California plant. The affected product was powdered baby milk which was supplied across the U.S. The case went into litigation early in the process and drew media attention. Expert report was used to achieve a pre-trial settlement.
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), member
- The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, member
- Simon has been involved with clients in preparation for trial and depositions of experts. He has been deposed on client matters where he has acted as an expert.
- Simon has participated in seminars for clients on various topics including problem areas in business interruption and the fundamentals of employee dishonesty and financial institution bond claims. He has also presented on cyber risk insurance policies and product recall claims handling. His recent presentations and publications include:
- "Inflation's Impact on Product Recall," January 2023
- “Preparation is the Right Recipe When Food Recalls Threaten Your Business”, Food Safety Magazine, May 2020
- “A New Recipe for Food Contamination Risk Management,” Risk Management Magazine, November 2018
- “What's the Beef? Where's the Beef?” Blog, October 2018
- “Cyber Risk and Reputational Harm,” Claims Magazine, October 2017
- “Perspectives: Tallying the true cost of the Equifax Breach,” co-author with Matthew Morris, Business Insurance, September 2017
- “When Food Safety Meets Cyber Risk,” co-author with Duc Nguyen, Food Safety Magazine, September 2017
- “Blind Trust,” Blog, August 2017
- “Cyber Risk Assessments,” Blog, June 2017
- “British Airways Gridlock and the Cyber World…” Blog, June 2017
- “This is not a drill! Now what?” Blog, May 2017
- “The Next Batch: The Crossroads of Cyber Risk and Food Processing,” Blog, May 2017
- “Recall Meets General Liability,” CLM Magazine, May 2017
- “It Depends...” Blog, April 2017
- “Evaluating a Claim by the Numbers,” co-author with Steve Rosenthal, Claims Magazine, January 2017
- “That Would Never Happen - A cautionary tale of cyber breach,” Blog, November 2016
- “Booming or Busting: Samsung’s Trouble with Quality,” Risk Management Monitor, October 2016
- “The Correlation is Not Always Obvious…” co-author with Alex McQuiston, Blog, September 2016
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, fellow
- Certified Fraud Examiner
- Long Island Business News Who’s Who: Forensic Accounting, 2023
