LECG Expands Its Global Financial Services Platform to Better Serve Companies Challenged by Worldwide Financial Crisis

Wall Street Veteran Peter Vinella Hired to Lead Financial Services Sector, Which Formalizes Integration of Two Recent Consulting Firm Acquisitions; LECG's Financial Services Sector Will Focus on Advisory Services for Regulated and Non-Regulated Financial Institutions and Government Agencies, Working Closely With Litigation Support and Other In-House Groups

• Press Release
• Source: LECG
• On 4:30 pm EDT, Thursday March 12, 2009

EMERYVILLE, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Mar 12, 2009 -- Leading global strategic consulting and expert services firm LECG has expanded its financial services sector. This expansion will complement a well established regulatory consulting practice and completes the integration of the acquisitions The Secura Group LLC and Bates Private Capital, Inc. into LECG, both well-respected financial services consulting firms.

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The financial services sector is the third industry sector to be launched under the LECG flag, joining energy & environment, and healthcare.

Financial services currently has approximately 80 professionals in the US, Europe, and Asia, and generates nearly $30 million in revenue annually. It will be divided into four service lines -- regulatory compliance, retail securities litigation and arbitration, governance and risk management, and credit and financial products -- and will work in close partnership with LECG's existing litigation consulting and expert services practices.

The new sector will be lead by Peter Vinella, who joined the firm from Wilmington Trust Conduit Services, a subsidiary of Wilmington Trust that provided collateral and fund administration services to issuers, managers, and investors in credit and structured financial products. There he had been president and chief executive officer. Mr. Vinella has spent more than 25 years in finance in a wide variety of roles including senior trading and management positions at Smith Barney and Drexel Burnham Lambert.

Peter will work alongside LECG's William Isaac, former chairman of the FDIC; Mike Mancusi, former senior deputy comptroller of the currency; and Walt Mix, former commissioner of the California Department of Financial Institutions.

"The global economic downturn, and both the stresses and the opportunities it brings to the global financial services industry, represents a consulting renaissance. LECG is now perfectly positioned to take a leading role by virtue of our unique expertise and experience in providing our clients with practical solutions to complex, unstructured problems," said Mr. Vinella. "By building strong and accountable teams made up of the most talented people, ones with firsthand experience as senior executives in major financial institutions around the world, LECG will be the first choice for high-profile financial institutions and investors. My job is to make sure our people are extraordinary and our organization is strong, and I am taking this on with great anticipation and delight."

In addition to Mr. Vinella, LECG has also recently hired Dan Borge, a financial risk management expert and former head of risk management for a leading international management consulting firm. With a PhD in finance from the Harvard Business School, Mr. Borge developed the enterprise risk management system RAROC, which has become the industry standard for capital allocation. He also wrote "The Book of Risk" and, with ex-Bankers Trust chairman and CEO Charles Sanford, "The Risk Management Revolution."

Mr. Borge will serve in LECG's New York office, while Mr. Vinella will split his time between the firm's New York and Emeryville, Calif., locations.

"This new financial services sector will greatly enhance LECG's ability to provide outstanding service to its clients, as well as give us greater flexibility with which to pursue the strategic consulting opportunities that today's unpredictable economic conditions will no doubt provide for some time," said LECG Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Jeffery. "This is a major step in the growth of our firm, and we have placed it in sound and capable hands by bringing aboard Peter Vinella. We are confident that under his leadership the financial services sector will continue to be a healthy revenue producer for LECG, one that leverages its strengths seamlessly with the many other services LECG offers."

The industry segments that the new financial services sector will most strongly target, says Mr. Vinella, include the credit and financial markets, structured financial products and derivatives, bankruptcy and restructuring, pre-merger due diligence and post-merger integration, risk management, and regulatory compliance.

"Peter has a strong track record working with clients and colleagues to achieve top-of-line results," said Richard Boulton, the head of finance and accounting services at LECG. "His experience, energy, and enthusiasm will help bring LECG's financial services sector where it needs to be both in terms of servicing clients as well as in creating a cohesive internal function. As the leading financial markets around the world adapt to overhauled regulatory structures in the coming years, LECG has an opportunity to be at the forefront of providing strategic advisory services to many of the affected institutions. Peter's leadership and management skills will be invaluable in this pursuit."

LECG, a global expert services and consulting firm, with approximately 800 experts and professionals in 31 offices around the world, provides independent expert testimony, financial advisory services, original authoritative studies, and strategic advisory services to clients including Fortune Global 500 corporations, major law firms, and local, state, and federal governments and agencies worldwide. LECG's highly credentialed experts and professional staff conduct economic and financial analyses to provide objective opinions and advice regarding complex disputes and inform legislative, judicial, regulatory, and business decision makers. LECG's experts are renowned academics, former senior government officials, experienced industry leaders, and seasoned consultants. (NasdaqGS:XPRT - News)