Ron Seigneur, CPA/ABV, MBA, CVA

Ron has over 20 years of valuation experience and has been endorsed as an expert witness in several jurisdictions and has served in appointments as trustee, mediator, arbitrator and special master of the court. Ron is very active nationally as an educator and author of valuation science and has written and taught advanced level valuation courses in several states for the AICPA, NACVA state bar associations and the Environmental Protection Agency.

He currently serves on the AICPA Business Valuations sub-committee and NACVA's technical development team and professional standards board. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law where he teaches leadership and management for law firms. Ron is an author and lead instructor of the Association of Legal Administrator's national Essential Competencies training program for financial management. Ron holds a BA in Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Management from Michigan State University and an MBA in Accounting and Corporate Policy from the University of Michigan.

Melinda M. Harper, CPA/ABV, CFE

Melinda Harper is managing member of Harper Lutz Zuber Potenza & Associates, LLC, financial consultants in litigation, valuation and marital dissolutions.  Her firm provides litigation services relating to damages, business disputes, investigatory services, business valuation and family law, as well as non-litigation valuation related services.  Melinda, who has been testifying for almost 25 years, has been qualified as an expert in Federal Courts in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and California, Colorado’s District Courts, Bankruptcy Court, before arbitration panels, and in depositions and serves as an expert consultant and special master.  Her primary emphasis is on business issues in complex commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation.  She also provides business valuation and marital dissolution services.  She is a former Chair of the AICPA’s Consulting Services Executive Committee and of the AICPA’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Services Subcommittee.  She also was the founding Chair of the Litigation Support Services Committee of the Colorado Society of CPA’s.

Melinda is also a Member of the American Arbitration Association’s Large Complex Case and Mediation Panels, the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution’s (CPR) Certified Public Accountants Panel of Neutrals and also serves on the Colorado Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Hearing Board.  She is also a member of the Denver Bar Association’s Fee Dispute Committee and the Hearing Board of the Supreme Court, State of Colorado.  She is a former member of the AICPA’s Joint Trial Board.  She is currently a Board member of the Colorado Judicial Institute and the Legal Aid Foundation.

In addition to the service described above, Ms. Harper was the founding president of The Alliance of Professional Women and has been involved with many other community organizations.  In addition to honors earned while taking the CPA exam, she has received awards recognizing her public service.  She graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Accounting.

Shari L. Lutz, CPA/ABV, ASA

Shari Lutz is the Director of Valuation Services for Harper Lutz Zuber Potenza & Associates, LLC.  She has twenty years of valuation experience including both litigated and non-litigated valuations as well as wide ranging experience in lost profits and other types of damages analyses.  Her valuation specialization is “business divorce” although she prepares valuations for martial dissolutions, wealth transfer and estate planning as well.  She has been qualified as an expert in Federal Courts in Colorado as well as Colorado’s District Courts.  Shari has authored articles on business valuation for The Colorado Lawyer and speaks about business valuation issues to legal and accounting groups in the Denver area.

Shari is the President of The Alliance Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization funding scholarships for women locally and providing micro credit loans for women internationally.  Shari holds a B.S. in finance and international business with honors for the University of Colorado at Denver and an MBA in finance and international business from the University of Michigan.

Edwin P. Aro, Esq.

Ed Aro is a commercial trial lawyer. His practice emphasizes the representation of companies in business, intellectual property, and employment litigation. He has also tried construction, environmental, real estate, and criminal cases, and regularly counsels businesses concerning risk-management and insurance matters. His clients include major companies in the software, biotechnology, financial services, restaurant, and telecommunications industries, among others.

Upon graduation from law school, Ed served as law clerk to The Honorable Richard P. Matsch, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Representative Experience
Represented a major mutual fund company in connection with governance and employment-related aspects of a regulatory investigation.

Represented a coalition of national environmental groups in challenging U.S. Department of the Interior actions in connection with water rights in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Represented a major telecommunications carrier in a software licensing lawsuit arising from the defendant’s surreptitious installation of software “locks” in mission-critical software licensed by the defendant to the plaintiff. Claims included violation of the Federal Computer Crimes and Abuse Act, a variety of tort claims, and violation of contractual provisions that entitled plaintiff to approximately $85 million in liquidated damages.

Represented a biotechnology company involved in synthetic RNA syntheses in a lawsuit against one of its venture capital investors and two of the investor’s principals, arising from the investor’s surreptitious investment in a competing business, and the potential posed by the investment for the disclosure or misuse of the plaintiff’s trade secrets.

Represented a leading cable television programmer in defending against a claim that it and several other defendants had conspired to steal the idea for a new cable television network.

Represented the defendant, a major mutual fund complex, in a dispute from its alleged violation of an investment sub-advisory agreement under which the defendant managed a portfolio of investment assets belonging to investors in the plaintiff’s propriety mutual funds. 
 
Represented an oil and gas pipeline operator in a pair of lawsuits arising from the alleged formation of a partnership for the ownership and operation.
 
Represented the defendants in a dispute with a founding shareholder of a subsidiary in a novel cramdown and breach of fiduciary duty case arising from alleged irregularities in connection with the tax and share-exchange features of the subsidiary’s acquisition.

Represented a telecommunications company in a dispute with a founding shareholder and former general counsel arising from allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste, consequent diminution of the value of shareholders’ interests, and violations of a shareholder rights agreement.

Represented a construction-industry specialty product marketing company in a series of lawsuits and arbitrations arising from a long-term exclusive rights marketing and licensing agreement for a patented concrete production system. Claims involved violations of commercial “best efforts” marketing obligations, and counterclaims concerning noninterference by the licensor and loss of royalty and other income valued at more than $25 million.

Represented the plaintiff in a civil action to recover the proceeds of a sophisticated fraud perpetrated by a former employee and a co-conspirator who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars, were caught, and served federal prison sentences. Case involved tracing and collecting concealed assets and contesting on co-defendant’s efforts to discharge her obligations through bankruptcy.

CPE Credit Information

Earn 2 Interactive CPE Credits (Consulting Services)
Business Valuation Resources, LLC is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN 37219-2417. www.nasba.org NASBA Sponsor