Merle Erickson’s research focuses on the accounting and tax implications of various types of transactions, including financing transactions, mergers, and divestitures. He also studies aspects and implications of accounting fraud.
Several courts have recognized Professor Erickson as an expert in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), tax, and managerial accounting. These venues include the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, the Federal Court of Claims, U.S. District Courts, and the Delaware Court of Chancery. He is also a recognized expert in the value and use of tax assets such as net operating losses. His expert testimony has dealt with a variety of transactions involving corporations, partnerships, REITs, and S corporations. He has dealt with tax and GAAP accounting issues associated with employee stock options, corporate formation, bankruptcy, leases, and various financing transactions.
He has addressed debt versus equity issues and the nature of, and proper accounting for, various financial instruments. His tax accounting work has involved numerous technical issues associated with FAS 109, FIN 48, and ASC 740. Professor Erickson’s expert work also includes a variety of forensic accounting analyses of financial accounting and tax accounting records. He has served as an expert witness for government bodies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as for financial institutions, investment banks, accounting firms, law firms, and various industrial companies.
Professor Erickson has also published extensively on the valuation implications of taxes in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. He teaches executive education courses for corporations and investment banks on topics such as valuation, investment strategies, and due diligence. Professor Erickson has served as editor of the Journal of Accounting Research, and as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the American Taxation Association. His research has appeared in numerous publications, including the Accounting Review and the National Tax Journal.
Prior to entering academia, he served as a consultant in a variety of business disputes on issues relating to lost profits, valuation, and accounting fraud. During that time, he helped government regulators prosecute individuals associated with accounting malfeasance at Lincoln Savings & Loan and subsequently published a case study dealing with Lincoln that has been widely used to train auditors.
