It is interesting to find FTI Consulting, Inc. opening a new forensic and litigation consulting practice in Paris. There is more to this, I suspect, than the economic truism that, for those who can afford it, recession is the best time to expand and to invest against the anticipated upturn.
The press release gives three reasons for opening a new office – to deliver forensic accounting and litigation consulting to FTI’s existing French and French speaking clients, to develop its international arbitration practice in Paris, and to build on its electronic discovery and forensic technology work in France. I imagine that the business case included other and more specific factors such as the increasing incursions by US courts, regulators and government bodies into non-US subsidiaries and sister companies, investigating fraudulent activity either prompted by or exposed by the recession, and increasing activity on the part of EU regulators.
FTI are among the sponsors of IQPC’s Information Retention and E-Disclosure Management Conference in Brussels on 30 September and 1 October. My own specific reason for being there is that Guidance Software, another sponsor of the conference (and, like FTI, a sponsor of the e-Disclosure Information Project), has asked me to take part in a couple of panels. I would be there anyway this year for the same reasons as are behind FTI’s European expansion. There are still seats available if you want to join us there.
eDisclosure Information Project 