Press Releases

Senior Managing Directors Bring Executive Management Expertise to FTI Palladium Partners & Consolidate FTI's Energy & Utility Industry Offering

Annapolis, MD - November 16, 2005
FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), a premier provider of problem-solving consulting and technology services to major corporations, financial institutions and law firms, today announced the appointments of three new senior managing directors. Trevor Birch and David Taylor join FTI Palladium Partners, and Michael Valocchi joins FTI's Economic Consulting practice.

Commenting on the new appointments, Dominic DiNapoli, FTI's chief operating officer, said, “These professionals will be a tremendous asset to our firm. Our mission is to provide clients with the most astute advice in the marketplace, and Trevor, David and Michael exemplify the level of talent we look to have on our team.”

New Appointments

Trevor Birch joins FTI Palladium Partners, the interim management arm of FTI's Corporate Finance/Restructuring practice, as senior managing director in FTI's London office. Mr. Birch has 20 years of experience assisting financially distressed and troubled businesses in multi-stakeholder environments, both as an advisor and in an executive role. In his new role at FTI Palladium Partners, Mr. Birch will step into interim executive management positions at underperforming and financially distressed companies to help turn their businesses around.

Prior to joining FTI, Mr. Birch was a partner at a Big 4 accounting firm based in the UK. In that role he specialized in corporate recovery, predominantly working with troubled corporations. Prior to that, Mr. Birch held senior executive positions at Chelsea Village PLC and Leeds United PLC, the holding companies of two major UK Premier League football clubs. Mr. Birch was successful in effecting the organizational and financial restructuring of both companies and ultimately negotiated the sales of their businesses. Previously, Mr. Birch spent 19 years at a Big 4 accounting firm in the UK where he was head of the Northern restructuring practice.

Mr. Birch holds a BA honors degree in Accountancy and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant (FCA).

David Taylor joins the FTI Palladium Partners team as senior managing director and will be based in FTI's Charlotte office. As part of this team, Mr. Taylor will undertake interim C-suite positions within companies to stabilize operations, restore credibility and drive long-term positive change. Mr. Taylor brings over 25 years of broad experience and a record of successful reorganization efforts while acting in executive management roles.

Prior to joining FTI, Mr. Taylor was CFO at Guilford Mills, Inc., where he was brought in to stabilize and strengthen the company's financial and administrative functions and guide it through a bankruptcy reorganization. Prior to that, Mr. Taylor was CFO at Heafner Tire Group Inc. where he negotiated a 100% increase in the company's borrowing capacity and increased the company's annual revenue by 20% through strategic acquisitions during his tenure. Earlier in his career, Mr. Taylor acted as COO for C'Board USA, Inc., and CFO and Director of JPS Textile Group, Inc. Mr. Taylor began his career at a Big 4 accounting firm.

Mr. Taylor holds a BA in Business Administration and Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) as well as an AICPA and SCACPA member.

Michael Valocchi joins FTI Economic Consulting practice where he will lead the Energy Corporate Economics group which will provide strategic advice to energy and utility related clients on key issues, focusing on industry solutions. Mr. Valocchi, who will work out of FTI's King of Prussia office, is an accomplished business strategist with 20 years of experience leading complex client projects in the areas of financial, operational and regulatory strategy.

Prior to joining FTI, Mr. Valocchi was one of the partners in the IBM Business Consulting Services Energy and Utilities practice where he specialized in business strategy in the energy and utilities industry. At IBM, Mr. Valocchi was a lead partner on several major IBM energy accounts and led key strategic projects related to market expansion, generation, transmission reengineering, meter-to-cash controls and technology strategy. Mr. Valocchi began his career at a major national accounting firm.

Mr. Valocchi holds a BS in Accounting from Saint Joseph's University and is CPA and an AICPA member.

About FTI Consulting FTI is a premier provider of problem-solving consulting and technology services to major corporations, financial institutions and law firms when confronting critical issues that shape their future and the future of their clients, such as financial and operational improvement, major litigation, mergers and acquisitions and regulatory issues. Strategically located in 24 of the major US cities, London and Melbourne, FTI's total workforce of more than 1,300 employees includes numerous PhDs, MBAs, CPAs, CIRAs and CFEs, who are committed to delivering the highest level of service to clients. Additional information is available at: www.fticonsulting.com.