Learn How to Testify as an Expert with Confidence in Family Court

Course Details

Date: Monday, August 31

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EDT

Format: Live Online

Tuition: $495

Designed For:

• Certified Divorce Financial Analysts®
• CPAs and forensic accountants
• Business valuation professionals
• Financial planners
• Real estate professionals
• Appraisers
• Other financial professionals who testify—or may someday testify—in family court

CDFA CE Credit-5 general CE credits 1 Ethics Credit

Whether you're a CDFA®, CPA, business valuation expert, real estate professional, financial planner, or appraiser, stepping into the courtroom requires an entirely different skill set. Knowing the numbers is only part of the job. Knowing how to explain them under oath, clearly, objectively, and credibly, is what makes an effective expert witness.

Why Attend?

If you've ever found yourself thinking...

• "I'd love to testify someday, but I don't know where to start."
• "What if an attorney asks me to be an expert witness tomorrow?"
• "How do I know if I'm qualified?"
• "What happens during a deposition?"
• "How do I survive cross-examination?"
• "What if I say the wrong thing?"

...this course was designed for you.

You'll leave with a clear understanding of:

• How expert witnesses fit into divorce litigation
• What attorneys expect from financial experts
• How to qualify as an expert witness
• How to prepare reports that withstand scrutiny
• What really happens during depositions and trial testimony
• How to communicate complex financial opinions with clarity and confidence
• How to protect your credibility while remaining objective and independent

Most importantly, you'll leave knowing not just what expert witnesses do, but how to become one.

What Makes This Course Different?

Most expert witness training is designed for every profession.

This course was built specifically for divorce professionals in family court.

The curriculum follows a structured progression through eight modules covering the expert witness role, legal standards, qualifications, report writing, divorce-specific testimony topics, deposition skills, trial testimony, and communicating financial evidence effectively. 

You'll learn from instructors who have spent years in family court, not just teaching the subject, but living it.

Meet Your Faculty

Kristen Shearin, JD, CDFA®

Director, Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts®

Kristen Shearin is a family law attorney, mediator, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®, and Director of the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts®. She has litigated hundreds of divorce and custody matters and served as lead counsel in complex financial cases involving business interests, retirement assets, executive compensation, and high-net-worth estates.

Today, Kristen leads the Institute's education initiatives and is passionate about helping divorce professionals become trusted financial experts in family court. Known for her practical teaching style and real-world courtroom perspective, she focuses on giving participants the confidence to explain complex financial issues in a way judges understand and trust.

Sam Hubbard, MBA, CFA, CDFA

Sam Hubbard is the founder and principal of Coastal Forensics & Litigation, LLC, a Savannah, Georgia-based firm providing forensic financial analysis for divorce, fraud, and probate/estate litigation cases. Sam has been qualified as an expert witness by 19 different judges and arbitrators, and has testified over 50 times, including 2 jury trials, across 4 judicial circuits in Georgia.

Prior to 2015, Sam spent 16 years at Merrill Lynch's International Wealth Management division in New York City, including roles as Senior Financial Analyst and International Financial Advisor, where he worked with high-net-worth international and domestic clients. In 2015, he left Merrill Lynch and returned to Savannah to found Coastal Forensics & Litigation, and simultaneously launched TRUE Coastal Capital, LLC, a fee-based Registered Investment Advisor. Sam holds a BA from Furman University and an MBA in Finance and Management from Fordham University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter and the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) designation.

Sam has spoken at two IDFA National Conferences, including a panel on "The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Expert Testimony" (Dallas, 2023), and has also presented twice at the State Bar of Georgia's Family Law Section annual conference. He has been published several times, including in the Divorce Financial Analyst Journal and the State Bar of Georgia's quarterly Family Law Review publication.

Sam currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA).

Michele M. Laws, CDFA®, CVA, MAFF, CBDA

Michele Laws is a nationally recognized divorce financial expert specializing in business valuation, financial forensics, and complex divorce matters. In addition to being a CDFA®, she holds the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF), and Certified Business Data Analyst (CBDA) designations.

Michele combines deep technical expertise with years of experience helping attorneys, courts, and clients understand complicated financial issues through clear analysis and credible expert testimony.

• We will also have some special guests pop in including Paulina Havelka, former District Court Judge who will provide some insight on what Judges are looking for and CDFA and litigation attorney Suzanne Cavanaugh who will provide some insight on how to survive cross exam.

What this course does not do

There are expert witness training programs available—but most are designed for physicians, engineers, economists, or experts in general civil litigation. Others focus on a single topic, such as report writing or courtroom communication.

This course was built specifically for professionals working in family law.

Every lesson is taught through the lens of divorce litigation, where financial experts face unique challenges involving marital property, retirement assets, business interests, income analysis, support, tracing, and complex settlement issues. Rather than teaching generic courtroom theory, this course focuses on the situations divorce professionals encounter every day. The curriculum is organized into eight structured modules that cover the expert witness role, legal standards, qualifications, report writing, divorce-specific testimony topics, deposition skills, trial testimony, and communicating financial evidence effectively. 

Comparable expert witness programs often require multiple days of training and can cost well over $1,000. We've designed this course to deliver practical, litigation-focused instruction from experienced family law professionals at a price that makes advanced courtroom training accessible to more divorce professionals.

For $495, you'll receive a full day of live instruction, course materials, practical guidance you can apply immediately, and direct access to instructors who have spent years working in family court.

This isn't a motivational webinar or a high-level overview. This course also does not guarantee you will be qualified as an expert witness. We will not be offering any legal, tax or financial advice. It's a practical roadmap that walks you through the entire expert witness process, from the moment an attorney contacts you through deposition and trial testimony. You'll learn the legal framework governing expert testimony, how to prepare defensible reports, how to communicate complex financial issues so judges understand them, and how to respond confidently when opposing counsel begins asking difficult questions.