Liam Ferguson

Senior Managing Director
Liam Ferguson in a suit and tie is smiling for a professional photograph

Liam A. Ferguson is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of electronic discovery and structured data, including the acquisition, management and analysis of transactional, financial and operational data. With more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Ferguson has provided clients with proven solutions with respect to risk and compliance program consulting, information governance, complex data analytics and electronic discovery service offerings.

Mr. Ferguson also provides advisory services to corporations and governments regarding all aspects of criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, including anti-money laundering. In addition, he offers proactive fraud risk assessment and compliance services with respect to whistleblower, ethics and integrity programs, money laundering and OFAC regulations, the FCPA, and environmental regulations, including:

  • Reviewing, designing and implementing anti-fraud controls and integrity programs.
  • Third-party due diligence, compliance, and monitoring program reviews, design, and implementation.
  • Internal audit support for fraud controls and detection strategies.

Mr. Ferguson’s technical and program management expertise includes transactional database design and management, implementing and maintaining cybersecurity programs, complex data modeling and database encryption, electronic discovery and discovery management, client-server and multi-tiered database design and implementation, process mapping and engineering, large-scale data conversion, process driven custom software development and implementation, claims management and administration, and document imaging systems. Mr. Ferguson is an expert in identifying and compiling from disparate systems the requisite data required to perform the pertinent analysis, as well as provide the profiling and statistical techniques such as aggregation, decomposition and stratification.

Mr. Ferguson’s litigation experience includes supporting and giving expert witness testimony, implementing statistical sampling, preparing attorney work product and providing trial exhibit compilations, and developing data and other document retrieval systems. He has served clients across numerous industries, including pharmaceutical, manufacturing, entertainment, government, healthcare, financial, and consumer products.

  • Recently provided Expert consulting services related to data management and data security, specifically around the investigation of and opining on the acquisition, maintenance, and security of electronic data.  Involved in the review of data infrastructure using encryption and working with their security protocols and designing of fraud prevention systems.
  • Large scale internal investigation into potential fraudulent accounting practices and related employee misconduct at the US subsidiary of an international metal parts manufacturer.  Collected and reviewed relevant available documents and electronically stored information (“ESI”), including the subsidiary’s books and records and general ledger, accounts receivable reports, financial statements, financial reports submitted to the parent, detailed bank reconciliations, and payments.  Performed forensic IT assessment and record reconciliation and accounting analysis.
  • Provide Discovery services related to a Federal Trade Commission investigation into an alleged false marketing scheme where hundreds of millions of dollars of hidden fees were charged to customers. Our team identified, acquired, consolidated and analyzed over 6 billion records and multiple terabytes of data from current and legacy systems for use in production as well as Expert analysis.  In addition, our technology group was responsible for validating and redacting personal data to ensure information was accurately and securely reported to all parties involved.
  • Assist United Stated Federal Monitor with information technology review and analysis of relevant information to determine data separation compliance for a company divestiture and sale.
  • Assist Federal Monitor with the development of a comprehensive data repository, which includes the amalgamation of work product, system databases, and unstructured data.
  • Assisted Counsel in identifying individuals that would receive direct notice as well as associated email and mailing addresses pursuant to a Proposed Class Action Settlement related to a lawsuit against a higher education institution. Obtained tens of millions of historical and current Registrar, Alumni and Health records to provide a comprehensive and reliable dataset to verify accuracy related to identified and potential Class members.
  • Provide eDiscovery and digital forensic services, including remote collection of multiple devices (including laptops, phones and tablets) related to a matter involving an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into a Ponzi scheme that included misappropriating funds from investors.
  • Assisted Counsel in the rebuttal of a Class Certification matter involving an alleged violation of the Illinois Right to Privacy Act. Provided analysis related to the scraping of images from the world’s largest photo and video sharing social networking platform that were allegedly being used to promote deal pages on a global e-commerce marketplace.
  • Designed, implemented and executed a third-party compliance management system and process for a multinational electronics manufacturing company. Included a provision of data support for legacy data review, as well as the management and cleaning of data from data warehouses (e.g. other financial data systems as identified via acquired or divested companies) to support identification, categorization and vetting of all in-scope third party legacy business partners from financial data feeds; implementation of protocols and controls for the third-party management system to support compliance with anti-corruption policy and mandatory procedures for engaging third-parties; implementation of internal controls with financial and procurement systems; and training and communications support for employees and compliance.
  • Created operational integration guide for public pharmaceutical company to use during a merger, acquisition, or divestiture. The playbook facilitated a structured approach to integrating newly acquired companies, providing reusable tools and templates to support integration activities.
  • Retained by the Chief Litigation Counsel for a large technology and manufacturing company to perform an eDiscovery Health Check that focused on assessing overall eDiscovery environment, interviewing key stakeholders, reviewing relevant documentation, and creating recommendations for remediation of identified areas of concern; including process and defensibility, information governance, legal hold management, and data mapping, among others.
  • Transparency program development and implementation related to Open Payments Compliance, including data analytics and business tool development for report testing, data cleansing and support management. Provided initial data validation reviews, monitoring and dispute resolution.
  • Forensic and due diligence review of Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) and their underlying assets. Using the originator’s original underwriting guidelines and the origination loan file information, perform an in-depth loan level and pool level analysis to determine the validity of the loans prior to the contract execution, as well as whether a breach of a representation or warrant occurred.  Assessed accuracy of the master tape information to the loan approval and file documentation, noting external review of occupancy data, making determinations about the overall reasonableness of the loan considering compensating factors, assessing various subcategories such as occupancy, compliance information, and noted both major and minor deficiencies.  Evaluated the specific loans compared to underwriting guidelines and securitization documentation.
  • Assisted Counsel in the acquisition and analysis of millions of transactional records related to alleged copyright infringement matter. Included identifying content uploaded by users of one of the largest social networking platforms in the world, focusing specifically on music and video content.  Provided sophisticated analysis related to the millions of files that were uploaded to the platform, the tracking of unique pageviews and play counts, as well as downloads and links.
  • One of the largest online retailing portals, housing the sixth largest data warehouse in the world, was being sued for alleged breach of contract. The project involved the online retailer and the multinational toy company for which it provides technology and order-fulfillment services. The Data Analytics team acquired, manipulated, stored and analyzed nearly six years of financial and sales data in a data warehouse, allowing the team to successfully mine the data to determine whether an exclusivity provision was breached pursuant to the contract terms.
  • Provided business consulting expertise related to the global implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) solution for a multi-national entertainment company. Process included all stages of an application integration workflow, including but not limited to process workflows, expected timelines, and system requirements. Overall scope included business requirement and scope definition, system requirements and initial solution design, detailed design and development, system testing and user access training, all of which was tied to a project tracking and collaboration work plan and budget.
  • A large complex banking organization engaged in providing correspondent banking services to foreign financial institutions contracted us for the monitoring and surveillance of potential money laundering activity across customers, accounts and external entities related to its correspondent and corporate banking business, with a strong focus on the US-based activities. It included the analysis of large transactional data sets (totaling more than 100 million records), including international and domestic banking and wiring platforms as well as email. We assisted the client with data availability and integrity issues related to regulatory reporting and record keeping. The project included the development of rules-based and statistical analyses against historical transactional activity to cull and pattern potentially suspicious behavior and the development for controlling the ongoing monitoring of suspicious activity.
  • Created and implemented a complex data analytic solution within the Internal Audit management execution process. Integrated the use of sophisticated analytical tools to acquire, migrate and analyze large transactional and operation data sets within the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) framework. This process addressed the key objectives of focusing on areas of high risk, high exposure and the detection of fraud. This allowed the traditional internal audit function to address additional areas of concern, extend the scope of each audit, create a deterrent and address legal issues.
  • Designed, developed, and implemented a legal defense expense database application. The system tracked invoice data submitted by outside counsel and litigation support vendors, and based on submissions to insurance carriers, calculated amounts paid, denied, and deferred.
  • Designed, developed and implemented an integrated relational database that consolidated inventory data from a legacy mainframe system. The system calculated inventory aging and weeks-of-supply for an international retailer.
  • Our team assisted a major wireless telecommunication firm in a major class action brought under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. The team responsibilities included responding to and handling discovery requests. Specifically, we assisted in identifying and interviewing appropriate personnel, analyzing data constraints, acquiring data from multiple production systems and data warehouses, and completing the supporting analysis.
  • A large national insurance company was faced with a multi-million-dollar class action suit brought under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) on behalf of thousands of Auto and Home Insurance consumers. The data in the case included hundreds of millions of electronic transactional records that were integral to the claim amounts and class certification. We successfully completed the migration and transformation of the electronic records as well as the design of a database capable of handling a large volume of data and allowing secure access to several analysts. Ultimately, our work allowed the legal team to estimate potential damages and identify potential claimants in the case.
  • Designed, developed, and implemented a proposition support database in an investment fraud matter. The database tracked individual plaintiff equity and calculated claimed versus actual damages across a series of investments in a fraudulent real-estate concern.
  • Developed the functional needs analysis for the selection of a comprehensive corporate legal management system. Implemented the system that included matter management, electronic document management, workflow, and integration with other corporate systems including ERP finance and risk management.
  • Valuation of a portfolio of bad checks, acquired over seven years, for a consumer check processing company. Created a model for payment probabilities and collection patterns on uncollected checks based on the analysis of almost twenty million historical check activity records.
  • Developed electronic discovery strategy and provided evidentiary production on large-scale international project with legal and cultural complexities.
  • Retained by a major insurance carrier to assist and provide preferred e-discovery services to an international gaming company on a breach of contract dispute.
  • Retained by a forensic accountant to assist with the acquisition and analysis of a “legacy” hedge fund allocation system.
  • Assisted litigation trustee with the acquisition and analysis of a mortgage lender’s accounting system and the proprietary programs used to originate and sell loans.

TESTIMONY

  • Vivian Deveroux, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated v. Apple Inc., California Superior Court, County of Santa Clara, Case No. 1-14-CV-271773. Provide oral testimony regarding database security.
  • Council for Education and Research on Toxics, et al. v. Starbucks Corporation et al., California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, Docket No. BC461182. Identify the effort necessary to establish cost and burden imposed by proposed preservation order.
  • Michele Daniel, v. Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company; Mike DePasquale; Scott Gooden and DOES 1-50, et al., California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, Docket No. BC383531. Understand and review IT infrastructure, as well as determine availability of potentially relevant information from company’s software and computer systems.
  • Bradley Schwartz and Catherine Schwartz v. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corp., d/b/a Glenbrook Hospital et al., Illinois Circuit Court, Cook County, Docket No. 2006-L-004626. Evaluated the searchability and functional usage related to the production of documents. Understand and review IT infrastructure, as well as determine availability of potentially relevant information from company’s software and database systems.

PUBLICATIONS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

  • 2023 Sedona Conference Working Group 6 on International Electronic Information Management, Discovery, and Disclosure, dialogue leader “Cross-border data and information governance – practical considerations for global compliance” – London, England
  • 2019 SoCal Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection IG3 Retreat, Moderator and Speaker, “Third-party Risk Management and Identifying Solutions on Working with Legacy Vendors” – Newport Coast
  • 2017 National Association of Women Lawyers’, “Data and the Law” – Chicago
  • 2013 The Sedona Conference (WG1 drafting team member), “The Sedona Conference Commentary on Information Governance”
  • 2011 ABA In-house Litigator, “The Implication of Cloud Computing on E-discovery”
  • 2011 International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, “E-Discovery”
  • 2010 Hedge Fund Law Report, “Pension Committee Case Highlights Obligations of Hedge Fund Managers to Preserve Documents and Information in Anticipation of Litigation”
  • 2010 Wall Street & Technology, “E-Discovery: It’s Time to Remember Forgotten Data”
  • 2010 ABA Electronic Discovery and Digital Evidence Practitioners’ Workshop, “ESI Forensics Workshop”
  • 2009 ARMA International – Orlando
  • 2009 Computer Forensics Show, “Forensic Accounting – Don’t Forget about the Structure in the EDRM”
  • 2009 Records Management Society UK, “Don’t Forget about the Structure in the EDRM”
  • 2009 Latham & Watkins CLE, “Structured Data”
  • 2009 RMS, “Retrieving “Forgotten” Data from Legacy Systems in E-Discovery”
  • 2008 Reed Smith CLE, “Technology Labor and Employment”
  • 2006 ASDA Conference – Montana
  • 2004 Mayer Brown CLE, “Electronic Discovery & Data Analytics”
  • 2004 Quarles & Brady CLE, “Electronic Discovery – Protecting Your Clients’ Interests” 2002 Legal Tech Conference – Los Angeles, California
  • 2001 Legal Tech Conference – London, England
  • 2001 Legal Tech Conference – Los Angeles, California

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, University of Southern California, School of Business Administration, Cinema-Television Minor

Certifications

  • Microsoft Certified Professional
  • Microsoft SQL Server Implementation
  • Microsoft SQL Server Administration
  • Windows Server Core Technologies

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association, Associate Member
  • The Sedona Conference, Working Group 1 and Working Group 6, Member
  • ACFE – Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Member and Candidate for CFE
  • ARMA – Association of Information Management Professionals, Member

Media + Events

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May 29, 2019

Guidepost Solutions Bolsters Data Management and Governance Capabilities, Liam A. Ferguson and Courtney H. Fletcher Bring Decades of Technology Experience

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