Melissa Katz is the Director of Matrimonial & Family Law Practice at KapilaMukamal, LLP and joined the firm in 2016. She has a decade of experience providing forensic and business and business valuation services to a wide array of clients and fiduciaries.
Professional Experience
Ms. Katz concentrates on providing matrimonial services to high net worth individuals with significant domestic and international assets and business interests. Ms. Katz provides expert testimony in court and plays an integral role in mediations for complex marital dissolution engagements. Ms. Katz routinely provides equitable distribution analyses and family law financial affidavits for divorce and prenuptial disclosure, providing financial and practical guidance to attorneys on negotiation of alimony, child support and valuation of assets and liabilities to determine equitable distribution of property. Her valuation expertise and credentials extend to developing valuation models and producing reports for gift tax and business divorce.
Ms. Katz is experienced with performing lost profits, variance and transaction-tracing analyses to calculate economic damages and identify flows of funds by constructing databases and utilizing advanced functions to interpret data, test theories, and formulate conclusions. She has prepared expert witness reports to summarize results and opinions, examine the work of opposing experts, corroborate third-party financial information and create corresponding exhibits to illustrate financial information. Ms. Katz has conducted fraud investigations and quantification of misappropriation of assets.
Ms. Katz is involved with forensic investigations and performs bankruptcy consulting and litigation support services to bankruptcy trustees, receivers and fiduciaries. Litigation support and damage calculation services include solvency analyses, asset tracking, investigation of fraudulent and preferential transfers, tracing of commingled funds and claims analysis. Such activities have assisted court-appointed receivers, trustees and examiners with investigation and recovery of misappropriated assets in Ponzi or other fraudulent schemes.
Education
University of Miami, Miami, Florida
Masters of Accounting
Bachelor of Business Administration
Major in Accounting, Minors in Marketing and Spanish, (Summa cum laude)
Professional Qualifications
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA)
Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF)
Affiliations
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA)
National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA)
NAVCA CTI 2017 40 Under 40 Honorees
Areas of Expertise
Business Valuations
Family Law Services
Commercial Damage Calculations
Investigation of Commercial Fraud
Bankruptcy and Insolvency
Achievements/Awards (Past and Present)
Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. Campaign Committee and GenNext Initiative
Toastmasters
University of Miami (Masters Program)- Recipient of $15,000 fellowship and $12,000 endowed scholarship towards graduate tuition for academic achievement
University of Miami – University Honors Program (top 10% of Students), President’s Honor Roll, National Merit Scholar; Recipient of Foote Fellow Singer Full-Tuition Scholarship awarded to the top 2% of incoming freshmen annually
Sigma Delta Tau, Vice President of Programming & Executive Board Member, Coral Gables, FL
