Richard F. Bero

Rick Bero is Executive Vice President – Economic Consulting with Aperture (formerly The BERO Group). Rick is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA). Rick received his BBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Rick provides accounting and financial consulting services and expert testimony pertaining to economic damages and valuation issues in a wide range of litigation matters with an emphasis on commercial litigation and intellectual property matters. Rick's experience spans more than 34 years and he has testified as an expert 180 times in trials, depositions, arbitrations and other hearings. Rick has testified in federal and state courts across the country and has been named an expert in approximately 30 states.

Rick's experience spans a wide array of commercial litigation and bankruptcy matters. His commercial litigation experience includes breach of contract, tortious interference, fraud, false advertising, dealership disputes, lender liability and other matters.

Rick's intellectual property valuation and damages quantification experience includes utility and design patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade dress, and trade secrets. Rick has served as an expert in intellectual property litigations covering a wide range of technologies including pharmaceutical, electronics, medical imaging, medical devices, software, construction and heavy equipment, automotive, consumer products and many others.

The BERO Group was formerly part of Corporate Financial Advisors, LLC, a firm Rick co-founded in 1995. Prior to co-founding Corporate Financial Advisors, LLC, Rick was the Wisconsin Practice Leader for Coopers & Lybrand's National Litigation & Claims Service practice and an executive consultant with Peterson Consulting in Chicago and Milwaukee.

Rick has presented, instructed and written articles on topics including intangible assets, intellectual property damages, working with experts and various accounting issues. Rick has authored The Litigator's Damages Blueprint: The Pragmatic Solution, as a guide to his five-step process to help litigators build a strong damages analysis. He also authored the chapters on patent infringement damages, design patent damages and trade secret damages in The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages, currently in its seventh edition. He is the lead instructor of the intellectual property damages course for the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and is a former instructor for an international CPA review course.

Rick has been active in community affairs and in numerous professional organizations, including:

• Intellectual Property Owners Association (Damages Committee Member, 2004 – Present)
• National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (Intellectual Property Damages Instructor, 2005 – Present)
• Licensing Executive Society (co-chair of the Wisconsin chapter, 2006 – 2008)
• Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Board Member, 2000 – 2002)
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants