Smith remembered for accounting, courtroom prowess

Attorney Jack Cochran first met Stephen B. Smith during a complex family law case in 1998. Unfortunately for Cochran, Smith was the expert witness for Cochran’s opponent in the case. Cochran, an award-winning attorney from Blue Springs, was so impressed with Smith that he retained him for his own firm and used him frequently over the next decade.

On Aug. 1, Smith died of a heart attack while vacationing in the Colorado mountains. He had been a member – owner of the Williams-Keepers accounting firm in Columbia since 1976.

“How to replace Steve is the million-dollar question. Due to his incredibly wide area of expertise and his sheer brilliance, replacing him is going to be borderline impossible,” Cochran said.

Smith’s expertise was in forensic or litigation accounting, which is any accounting that is suitable for use in a court of law. In civil cases, when litigants are suing for monetary compensation or to divide assets, a dollar amount must be placed on the sometimes intangible value associated with businesses, potential or lost profits, or wrongful deaths. Smith was particularly known for his expertise in business valuation and lost profits, although he frequently assisted lawyers in other areas of litigation accounting.

This specialized area of accounting is not taught at the bachelor’s, or even master’s degree level, but is learned through years of experience and training. Gary Freeman performs work similar to Smith’s for Regier, Carr and Monroe LLP, a firm with offices in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Freeman, who considers Smith a friend and mentor, describes becoming a litigation accountant as a long journey and passing the CPA exam as only the first step.

“You need basic accounting, auditing and tax skills to get in this area, but to become certified for litigation takes years and years of study,” Freeman said. “It’s a highly specialized sub area of accounting, and there aren’t that many of us across the country that do it.”

But, as Smith’s colleagues attest, it wasn’t just that Smith had mastered the accounting principles; he was also a great witness in the courtroom. “By and large, expert witnesses become very nervous when they are cross-examined. I never once saw an opposing attorney get to Steve,” Cochran said.

John Sheehan, member owner of Williams-Keepers, and also a CPA and attorney, said, “Steve was a powerful advocate for his client and a formidable opponent for his courtroom adversaries. This was his world, and he demonstrated an extraordinary command of it,” said John Sheehan, member-owner of Williams-Keepers, and also a CPA and attorney.

Freeman credits Smith with helping him establish his own career in litigation support in the sub-specialty area of wrongful death cases. “He would share his resources with me, help me review cases and share his knowledge and experience.”

In all areas of his professional life, Smith was supportive of his colleagues. For example, Freeman and Smith were both members of the National Litigation Support Services Association (NLSSA), a national professional association of CPAs specializing in litigation accounting. Last year, Freeman was asked by NLSSA leadership to lead a break-out session at its 2008 national conference. Freeman was apprehensive, but said Smith overheard the request and offered to be a co-presenter.

“Steve has the ability to analyze a case and quickly understand the issues that would help or hurt you. Him sharing his intellect is a phenomenal resource,” Freeman said. The tense of this quote makes it sound as if it was said before Smith died. If it was, it should probably be attributed as such.

Cochran, who handles the highly charged area of complex family law, calls Smith “the expert’s expert,” adding, “In my 42 years of experience, Steve was the most capable, competent forensic accountant that I have ever seen.”

Smith got a degree in business administration from the University of Missouri in 1968 and worked for Arthur Anderson accounting firm while still in college. He worked at the firm’s St. Louis office beginning in his junior year and commuted from Columbia, according to his obituary. He subsequently received the Missouri Gold Medal award for achieving the highest grade among 750 people who took the Certified Public Accountant examination. He joined Williams-Keepers in 1974.

His expertise in taxation led to his being one of two experts invited to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on changes in the U.S. income tax code, according to his obituary. Last year, the Missouri Lawyers Weekly published an article on the effectiveness of his trial skills.

Although Smith’s prowess in the courtroom was recognized nationally, his reputation in mid-Missouri was primarily that of a caring corporate parent to the community he served. Outside of local accountants, however, most business people in Columbia had a fuzzy idea of what exactly Smith did.

Freeman explained: “When you are a litigation support accountant, your only clients are law firms. It’s a small customer base and highly specialized, so a lot of people aren’t aware of what you do. My parents don’t even understand exactly what it is I do.”

The news of Smith’s sudden death ripped through Columbia’s business community, but ripples were also felt throughout the national network of litigation and forensic accountants. The void left by Smith’s passing extends beyond Columbia’s city limits.

“Two weeks before he died, Steve called me for input. He wanted to talk to someone he could trust. I took it as a huge compliment. I wish now I’d told him that,” Freeman said.