Commercial Disputes and General Damages

Greg Eastman

Senior Vice President

Greg Eastman coheads Cornerstone Research’s commercial disputes and general damages practice. Dr. Eastman analyzes complex economic and accounting issues related to tax, mergers, securities and financial products, and healthcare. He has extensive trial and arbitration expertise and directs large teams supporting multiple experts.

As a testifying expert, Dr. Eastman has addressed profitability, cost efficiencies, class certification, valuation and damages, and unjust enrichment issues. He has provided testimony before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Dr. Eastman has more than twenty years of experience consulting in a range of industries, including electric utilities, energy, financial institutions, insurance, medical services, nuclear utilities, oil, private equity, and transportation.

Tax controversy

In his tax controversy work, Dr. Eastman has analyzed the economic substance and business purpose of transactions. He has reviewed structured transactions, assessed a multinational company’s debt capacity, analyzed guarantee fee payments, and evaluated the risk management functions of a multinational financial institution. In addition, he has worked on cases involving transfer pricing, the relative value of software components, and the manufacturing and Food and Drug Administration approval processes for medical devices.

Dr. Eastman’s tax accounting work has covered stock option awards, uncertain tax benefits, deferred tax assets, and net operating loss carryforwards. He supported experts on tax accounting and poison pill issues in the Selectica, Inc. v. Versata Enterprises, Inc., and Trilogy, Inc. trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Merger efficiencies and failing firm analysis

Dr. Eastman has been retained as a testifying expert to assess merger-specificity and verifiability of claimed efficiencies in multiple industries. He helped to estimate the profitability of the individual commercial health insurance business in the Aetna/Humana merger. Dr. Eastman has also been retained to perform profitability analyses and to assess whether firms are failing and their assets are likely to exit the relevant market. He was the DOJ’s testifying expert in United States v. EnergySolutions Inc. et al.

Accounting

Dr. Eastman has led a variety of consulting projects involving accounting and financial reporting issues. In these matters, he has evaluated the adequacy of disclosures, fair value and asset impairments, materiality, goodwill, accounting for loan losses, concentrations of risk, revenue recognition, and other issues pertaining to whether financial statements were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and whether audit and review procedures complied with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS).

Securities and financial products

Dr. Eastman has conducted liability and damages analyses in securities class actions, including In re Vivendi Securities Litigation, In re Omnicom Securities Litigation, and In re Williams Securities Litigation. In financial cases, he has analyzed issues related to debt and equity securities, derivative contracts, mutual fund trading, cost of capital, real estate investments, private equity investments, and valuation. He worked with experts on insider trading and failure to report transactions in the SEC v. Samuel E. Wyly et al. trial. Dr. Eastman also supported multiple experts in a trial involving risks and investment returns in a large portfolio of high-yield bonds.

Healthcare

Dr. Eastman has performed drug valuations in multiple contexts, including in appraisal and breach of contract cases. As the testifying expert in an international arbitration, he estimated damages related to allegations of breach of contract to market a drug. He has also analyzed medical devices, cord blood services, cancer treatment services, and other healthcare-related industries. Dr. Eastman worked on firm profitability and cost efficiencies issues in the Aetna/Humana and Anthem/Cigna proposed mergers. He was retained as a testifying expert to analyze cost efficiencies and failing firm defenses in a hospital and physician practice merger.

Sean M. Kruskol

Vice President

Sean Kruskol coheads Cornerstone Research’s commercial disputes and general damages practice. Mr. Kruskol analyzes large, complex datasets related to commercial litigation and accounting disputes. His expertise includes analysis of economic damages, data analytics, accounting and auditing, healthcare and life sciences, and forensic accounting investigations. He has worked on matters in the entertainment, financial services, healthcare and health insurance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and technology industries.

Mr. Kruskol has served as a testifying expert in matters involving data analytics, damages, and forensic accounting issues.

Breach of contract and damages

Mr. Kruskol’s breach of contract and general damages expertise covers disputes across multiple industries. Select experience includes:

• Testifying at trial on accounting standards and potential lost profit and lost business value damages applicable to a breach of contract claim in a post-acquisition dispute
• Testifying at multiple arbitration hearings on issues of lost profits and lost business value damages
• Consulting on lost profits and profit participation in an entertainment-industry lawsuit

Data analytics

Mr. Kruskol is experienced with SQL and computer-assisted audit techniques (CAATs). Using these tools, he has analyzed big data in a range of commercial disputes, as well as government and internal investigations. Select matters include:

• Testifying on data analytic techniques and results using large datasets in various contexts
• Investigating claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding an alleged financial reporting fraud scheme
• Analyzing billions of transactional records for a large online retailer to assess consumer behavior

Accounting and auditing

Mr. Kruskol has worked on cases involving U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS), International Standards on Auditing (ISA), and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Select experience includes:

• Testifying at trial on interpretations and applications of revenue recognition and loss contingency accounting standards
• Evaluating timing and causes of potential damages in an accounting malpractice dispute
• Assessing claims by the SEC of auditor negligence related to an audit of a U.S. manufacturer’s foreign subsidiary
• Assessing claims by the SEC of auditor independence issues

Healthcare and life sciences

Mr. Kruskol testifies and consults on accounting, disclosure, loss causation, and damages issues in healthcare matters. Select experience includes:

• Testifying on large-scale data analytics issues for pharmaceutical companies
• Analyzing damages and loss causation related to a breach of contract for a healthcare revenue cycle company
• Evaluating a health insurance claims company’s profitability over a multiyear period to develop a damages model
• Assessing False Claims Act (FCA) allegations related to Medicaid claims paid by the federal government
• Investigating the historical financial reporting of a healthcare technology company for compliance with GAAP

Forensic investigations

Mr. Kruskol has particular expertise testifying and consulting on issues of alleged earnings management and asset misappropriation schemes, including:

• Testifying on the selection and application of various cash tracing methods
• Investigating an alleged earnings management scheme in a post-acquisition dispute
• Investigating an alleged revenue recognition and financial reporting fraud scheme
• Analyzing customer bank account activity to identify patterns consistent with a Ponzi scheme

Mr. Kruskol is a certified public accountant (CPA), chartered global management accountant (CGMA), and certified fraud examiner (CFE).

Carlyn Irwin

Senior Advisor

Carlyn Irwin is an economic damages and forensic accounting expert with over thirty years of expert witness and litigation consulting experience. Ms. Irwin specializes in intellectual property (IP) matters, including trade secret misappropriation and patent, copyright, and trademark issues. She also has extensive expertise in breach of contract/tort claims, forensic accounting analyses, and investigations. At trial, she has testified multiple times on IP damages, with a focus on trade secret disputes.

In addition to her expertise in calculating damages, Ms. Irwin has extensive forensic accounting experience. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has retained her to analyze financial records in matters involving flow of funds, potential asset misappropriation, and Ponzi schemes. She has provided expert testimony in federal, state, and international courts and arbitration settings.

Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) has recognized Ms. Irwin as a leading forensic accountant in the legal investigations space, describing her as “extremely thoughtful” and citing her “detail-oriented approach” and “meticulous analysis.”

A certified public accountant (CPA) and certified fraud examiner (CFE), Ms. Irwin is also certified in financial forensics, certified in entity and intangible valuations, and accredited in business valuation.

Intellectual property damages

Ms. Irwin has testified on damages in dozens of matters, including federal trials, arbitrations, and depositions that span the full range of IP claims, including trade secret misappropriation and patent, copyright, and trademark infringement. Her IP industry experience spans consumer and retail products, life sciences, media and entertainment, and technology.

Ms. Irwin estimates and rebuts alleged lost profits, unjust enrichment, and reasonable royalty damages claims. She also analyzes loss causation, apportionment, and “most favored licensee” issues. Her experience includes:

• Analyzing patent and trade secret damages under Georgia-Pacific, Panduit, and University Computing
• Valuing intangible assets such as patents, trade secrets, trademarks, assembled workforces, non-competition provisions, and client relationships
• Isolating the incremental value of the asserted IP through apportionment and “head start” analyses
• Consulting on licensing programs and pre-litigation patent matters

Trade secret damages

Ms. Irwin has testified extensively on trade secret damages issues, including matters involving apparel, commercial real estate services, custom manufacturing, enterprise and software as a service (SaaS) platforms, power-delivery systems, radio-frequency devices, retail, and semiconductors.

Both plaintiffs and defendants have retained Ms. Irwin, and she works with counsel from early case assessment through trial. A recurring focus of Ms. Irwin’s work is apportionment—isolating the value of the information alleged to be secret and testing whether an opposing expert’s model reliably ties damages to the trade secrets at issue. Her work includes:

• Providing deposition and trial testimony to rebut “head start” and unjust enrichment damages models, including alternative calculations under multiple scenarios
• Analyzing reasonable royalty and development-cost measures and valuing allegedly misappropriated confidential information
• Addressing apportionment and causation, including whether damages are properly limited to the trade secrets at issue rather than to broader business advantages
• Quantifying the cost of employee movement between competitors, including lost productivity and the cost of replacing key personnel

Ms. Irwin also speaks and writes about trade secret damages. She served as a panelist at the AIPLA 2025 Trade Secret Summit and has presented for the American Bar Association (ABA) on proving damages in trade secrets cases.

Breach of contract and tort claims

Ms. Irwin analyzes and testifies on loss causation and damages and performs business valuations in matters alleging breach of contract and tort causes of action, including class actions. Her experience includes issues related to fiduciary duty, product liability, alter ego, Lanham Act violations, false advertising, and unfair business competition. She has also evaluated compensatory damages and claims for statutory and restitution or disgorgement damages. Ms. Irwin has experience:

• Serving as an expert in high-profile matters involving discrimination claims, as well as allegations of aiding and abetting illegal conduct and violations of federal law
• Providing expert testimony in breach of contract litigation to rebut damages theories and calculations, including in trial testimony
• Providing affirmative and rebuttal trial testimony in calculating damages, including analysis of loss causation issues and opining on definitions of the but-for world
• Testifying in putative class action matters regarding damages at the pre-certification stage
• Analyzed liability issues in matters alleging breach of fiduciary duty and discrimination

Forensic accounting

A forensic accountant certified in financial forensics, Ms. Irwin has extensive experience with reconstructing and confirming financial records (including tax returns), reviewing them to assess consistency and reliability, and tracing transactions through corporate reporting systems. She has consulted on civil and criminal white-collar litigation, as well as matters alleging fraudulent conveyances, breach of contract, money laundering, racketeering claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, pyramid schemes, and fraud.

In her forensic accounting testimony, Ms. Irwin has addressed allegations related to solvency, financial misstatements, fraudulent and preferential transfers and schemes, and misappropriation of assets. Her work includes:

• Testifying at deposition and trial regarding affirmative defenses that plaintiffs had falsely reported their financial condition
• Analyzing, for multiple financial institutions, transactions allegedly used to launder money and/or facilitate fraudulent customer schemes
• Assessing companies’ solvency and the “reasonable equivalent value” of allegedly fraudulent transfers and conveyances pre-bankruptcy
• Analyzing legal fees and costs for post-judgment reimbursement by the prevailing party

Ms. Irwin’s industry experience includes consumer products, e-commerce, entertainment, financial and professional services, healthcare, life sciences, medical devices, medical services, real estate, retail, software, SaaS, sports, and technology. She works with clients and counsel in all phases of the litigation process.

Community engagement

Ms. Irwin is an active patroness and honorary lifetime member for her local chapter of the National Charity League, Inc. She previously served as president, vice president of membership and standards, treasurer, and compliance officer. She also served for four years as a member of the board of directors.