Expert Banking Witness Services

When you bring in an expert, you need someone who has hands-on experience with every facet of the banking industry. With 28 years of experience managing everything from the most granular details to the highest level decisions, Doug Brown has unparalleled experience. At Wells Fargo, he worked his way up from branch manager to Senior Vice President. He served on several bank boards, was CEO of three separate banks, and he founded what became the nation's largest mortgage company. He has made lending decisions, managed credit risk, navigated regulatory examinations, and dealt with the real-world pressures that bank officers and directors face daily.

What sets Doug apart is his ability to see both sides of banking disputes. He understands the regulatory framework because he's operated within it. He knows industry standards of practice because he helped establish many of them at Wells Fargo. And he can speak credibly about what reasonable banking professionals should do in various situations because he's been that banking professional making those decisions under pressure. When opposing counsel tries to claim something was standard practice, Doug can tell you—and the jury—whether it actually was, based on his decades of direct experience.

His crisis management background is particularly valuable in banking cases. He's been brought in to turn around troubled banks and has served as interim CEO during leadership transitions. This means he understands how banks behave when they're under stress, how decisions get made during workouts and forbearance negotiations, and what proper credit administration looks like even in difficult circumstances. This perspective is invaluable in lender liability cases where the bank's conduct during troubled times is often at the center of the dispute.

Doug's credibility stems from an unimpeachable combination of direct experience, recognized expertise, and unwavering ethical standards. With executive experience spanning many banks, he has had deep exposure to best banking practices, change management, and regulatory compliance in different organizations.

For example, he helped launch the first ATM network—an industry-changing initiative that required deep understanding of banking operations, risk management, and regulatory compliance.

As CEO of three separate banks in California, New Mexico, and Colorado, including ABQ Corp (the largest financial company in New Mexico) and First National Bank of Santa Fe (New Mexico's oldest commercial bank), he has chaired loan committees, overseen credit administration, dealt with bank examiners, managed problem loans, and made the tough decisions that bank executives face. He's also served on six bank boards of directors, giving him governance-level perspective on how banks should operate and what fiduciary duties bank directors owe to their institutions.

His appointment as New Mexico State Treasurer demonstrates his standing in the financial community. The Governor specifically asked him to take over a scandal-ridden agency and restore its credibility. In 18 months, Doug transformed the office, achieving a clean audit, improving investment performance from 46th to 7th in the nation, and earning the first-ever AAA rating from Standard & Poor's for a New Mexico state investment program. This track record shows his ability to understand complex financial operations, identify problems, and implement solutions that meet the highest professional standards.

Doug's ethical reputation is spotless. He was literally an Eagle Scout, he received dual recognition as both Outstanding Soldier and Honor Student during his military service (an unprecedented combination), and was nominated for "Ethical Executive of the Year" in Albuquerque (though he declined the award because he chaired the sponsoring organization's board—itself a testament to his ethical standards). In fact, two opposing counsel have asked him to serve as their expert witness in future cases—the sincerest form of professional respect.

Doug's approach to case preparation is exhaustive and has led to case-changing discoveries. His philosophy is simple but demanding: "If you don't want me to read it, don't send it to me." He reads everything—every document, every deposition, every piece of evidence, no matter how voluminous. In cases involving 800+ page documents, he reads every single page, and this thoroughness consistently pays off.

In one recent case, Doug was the only person who noticed a single sentence in all caps buried in hundreds of pages of documents. That emphasized sentence contained unfavorable material for the opposition and had been missed by the attorneys on both sides. In another case, he identified a tax angle that had been completely overlooked, inflating his client's award by several million dollars. The attorney later remarked that had he known the award would be that substantial, he would have taken the case on contingency rather than hourly fees—a clear indication that Doug's analysis fundamentally changed the case's value.

This meticulous preparation extends beyond just reading documents. Doug dives deep into the analysis, teasing out lines of inquiry that others might miss. His decades of banking experience allow him to spot irregularities, identify deviations from standard practice, and recognize when something doesn't add up. He doesn't just rely on what he's told—he verifies, cross-references, and applies his real-world knowledge to test whether explanations make sense.

Doug also prepares by anticipating questions and challenges. He understands what deposing attorneys will ask because he knows the banking industry from every angle. He can explain not just what happened, but why it matters, what the industry standards are, and what reasonable banking professionals would have done in similar circumstances. This preparation means he's never caught off guard, never has to guess, and can respond with confidence grounded in both the facts of the case and his extensive experience.

From your very first conversation with Doug, you'll see his careful approach to case selection. He doesn't take every case that comes his way. First, he needs to be confident in the integrity of the attorney and the legal team. Second, he evaluates whether the case has merit. Doug's commitment is to truth and proper analysis, not to being a hired gun. If he doesn't believe in the case after hearing the facts, he won't take it. This selectivity means that when Doug does agree to serve as your expert, you know he genuinely believes your position is sound.

Doug's practice is to handle only one case at a time, which means you get his full attention and focus. His schedule remains flexible to respond to urgent needs. You won't be competing with other cases for his time or attention, and he makes it easy to schedule working sessions, depositions, and trial.

Throughout the case, Doug serves as more than just an expert who will testify. He becomes a resource for understanding the nuanced banking aspects of your case. While his theoretical role is to testify about financial matters or industry standards based on his experience, his actual value often extends much further. He becomes familiar with everything in the case file, not just the materials specifically designated for the expert. This comprehensive understanding means he can spot issues, identify weaknesses in opposing arguments, and help you understand the banking context of every aspect of the case.

For example, he once noticed that several key documents had been signed by an administrative assistant, which helped prove one banking executive was not living up to their standard of care.

During depositions, Doug's preparation shines. He's thoroughly conversant with all materials and can speak convincingly about the issues. But what really distinguishes him is his honesty—when he doesn't know something or hasn't seen a particular document, he says so clearly. In one Montana case, this candor made a powerful impression when he admitted he hadn't reviewed a specific deposition that the opposing attorney assumed he had seen. The attorney's assistant whispered that they hadn't actually provided that document—and Doug's honesty in front of the jury became a credibility rather than a weakness.

At trial, Doug presents complex banking concepts in ways that judges and juries can understand. His decades of experience include extensive public speaking, media appearances, and executive presentations. He's comfortable in high-pressure situations, having presented to meetings of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange. He was Wells Fargo's spokesperson for years, managing all public relations, press relations, and shareholder relations. He's delivered a TEDx talk and has been interviewed twice on MSNBC. This communication experience translates directly to depositions and the courtroom where he makes complicated banking practices understandable without talking down to the fact-finders.

Doug's ability to communicate complex financial concepts clearly is rooted in decades of high-stakes communication experience. At Wells Fargo, he wasn't just the Senior Vice President and Marketing Director—he also headed public relations, shareholder relations, press relations, and government relations. He was effectively the bank's spokesman, responsible for explaining the strategy and operations to diverse audiences including shareholders, regulators, the media, and the public.

This experience included formal presentations to sophisticated audiences at meetings of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange. He distills complex banking terminology into clear, compelling narratives that non-bankers can understand and evaluate. He also led Wells Fargo's annual meetings, where he had to explain the bank's performance and strategy to shareholders who ranged from institutional investors to individual retail shareholders with limited financial backgrounds.

His media experience is particularly relevant to jury trials. Doug has been interviewed twice on MSNBC and has dealt extensively with print media throughout his career. He understands how to deliver a message clearly in limited time, how to anticipate questions, and how to avoid the kind of hedging or technical language that loses audiences.

Beyond media and investor relations, Doug has demonstrated communication effectiveness through leadership of large organizations. As CEO of banks and other financial institutions, he managed teams of up to 2,500 employees. Effective leadership at that scale requires the ability to articulate vision, explain complex changes, and ensure that diverse groups understand both the "what" and the "why" of organizational decisions. As Dean of Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico, he led a business school with 1,800 students and managed faculty, staff, and alumni relations—all requiring clear, persuasive communication.

Perhaps most importantly, Doug understands his audience. Whether he's speaking to a sophisticated commercial judge who understands banking or a jury with no financial background, he adapts his explanations appropriately. He doesn't oversimplify for knowledgeable audiences or use intimidating jargon with lay audiences. His goal is always the same: to help the fact-finder understand the banking issues clearly enough to reach the right decision.

This communication skill, combined with his genuine expertise and thorough preparation, makes Doug exceptionally effective on the witness stand. He doesn't just know the answers—he can explain them in ways that resonate, persuade, and withstand aggressive cross-examination.

In his 40+ year career, Doug also has extensive experience serving on corporate boards, in university leadership, and on investment management committees. To learn more about his experience and skills, please visit the appropriate page:

• •Higher education expertise
• •Board service and corporate governance
• •Investment management and fiduciary duties