TESTIMONY

It has been such a pleasure, and to no one’s surprise you were fantastic on the stand. I’ll look forward to working together again sometime soon!

Partner at firm ranked in the top 5 of US law firms

December 2022

I highly recommend Marty Dirks. He is an exceptionally knowledgeable expert in the investment consulting field with a wealth of experience and an individual with whom it is a pleasure and privilege to work.​

Jim Miller

​Partner at Shepherd Finkelman Miller & Shah

September 2018

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Martin Dirks acted as a forensic damages expert for me on a complex, legal malpractice case tried before a three member panel of the American Arbitration Association. The case consumed 19 trial days and was tried over a 2 and 1/2 month period in late 2008-early 2009. The case involved in excess of a 10 million dollar claim.

This was one of the most challenging damages cases I have ever been involved in in 35 years of practice. The case involved a claim by a hedge fund against its former lawyers for their negligent handling of a case against the fund’s prime broker. Specifically, the claim was that the prime broker failed to fully and properly optimize the hedge fund manager’s trades causing false margin calls and incorrectly stating the fund’s available capital. The challenge in the underlying case (that is, the case against the prime broker) was in proving the fund’s damages, and in the malpractice case, it also represented a major problem as the lawyers were alleged to have badly bungled the handling of the damage analysis and calculation. Accordingly, in the legal malpractice case, the difficult challenge we faced was threefold: we had to prove that the underlying damage against the prime broker, AND we had to prove that there was a better approach to calculating damages AND we had to come up with a different, specific and credible damages model. The complexity and difficult of dealing with this threefold hurdle cannot be overstated.

For reasons that don’t need to be gone into here, Mr. Dirks stepped into this problem with very little time available before trial was to commence. He did an extraordinary job in both tackling the flaws with the underlying damage analysis (showing that there were inherent defects in the structure of the damage theory) and presenting an alternative damages model in our case that was nothing short of brilliant. Essentially, Mr. Dirks had to demonstrate what the fund’s damages were as a result of the prime broker’s incorrect margin calculations and optimization process. This required Mr. Dirks to analyze thousands of stock transactions over a one and half year period and develop a credible model on which the panel could assess damages. This was not just a challenging project, it was mind-boggling. But, Mr. Dirks pulled it off.

He not only presented his damages model in a cogent, understated manner, he developed his own demonstrative charts to illustrate the model’s concepts and his final opinion. Despite a difficult assignment that had to be done in a compressed time frame, Mr. Dirks remained calm and pro-active throughout. His lack of experience as an expert witness was not a problem; he handled cross examination excellently, against an experienced trial attorney from a 1,000-person law firm. He was cordial, calm and professional during his entire time on the stand.​

Mr. Dirks gets my highest recommendation as an expert witness.  If you are in need of someone to handle a difficult and challenging damage analysis in the securities arena, you would do well to engage Mr. Dirks.

Sincerely,

William Gwire

March 2009

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​INVESTMENT EXPERT

Having served with Marty Dirks on the City of San Jose’s Federated Employee Retirement System Board (a $2B public pension plan) for six years, I can give Marty my highest recommendation as a sophisticated expert in all things investment related. Marty’s expertise in investing spans difficult topics such as asset allocation and risk management, and Marty has invested across asset classes. He presents well and is able to make difficult topics accessible to audiences that don’t possess his education or expertise. I saw him do this both as a professor when I gave a lecture to his students and monthly when we met as a pension fund board. Marty is a pleasure to work with, and he is astute, articulate and ethical.​

Lara Druyan
Venture Capitalist

October 2018

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Marty is a very capable investor.  He is particularly successful in finding opportunities in small and medium capitalization companies.

– Prior manager at Harvard University’s endowment​

Marty is an exceptional analyst with a keen understanding of the underlying factors that contribute to creating and sustaining value. I had the great privilege of working with Marty on a project, and over time became increasingly impressed with his energy, enthusiasm, knowledge, and analytic skills. I unconditionally and sincerely recommend Marty to any firm seeking an Analyst or Portfolio Manager. He is clearly at the top of his game.​

JP Mark

March 2012

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This was the most wonderful class during my entire program.  His efforts towards giving knowledge to the student are extraordinary. I am thankful for all the hard work he did with us.​

Golden Gate University MBA student in anonymous course review
August 2020

Marty Dirks provides Investment Strategy & Analysis, Expert Witness, & Litigatation Services to the Bay Area and Nationwide. 415-845-7829

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