WhY Join the American academy of Certified financial litigators (aacfl)?
Whether your engagement is related to a divorce, a shareholder dispute, a damages claim or other types of litigation, chances are that a significant part of your work relates to money. Surprisingly, many law schools do not offer extensive training in finance, accounting, and economics. The CFL™ designation fills this void. The CFL™ Training Course covers a wide range of topics such as tax returns, financial statements, business tax returns, income support calculations, investments, business valuations, and much more. While the program was built specifically to promote greater awareness and education for attorneys on financial concepts related to litigation, it offers significant value to attorneys who don’t find themselves in court frequently.
The AACFL Training Course has been developed exclusively by the AACFL faculty, including experts in their fields. The faculty and curriculum developers consist of Attorneys, CPAs, CFAs, MBAs, PhDs, and other talented experts. All participants will receive the course materials, reference materials, practice aids, practice checklists, and financial analysis resources. The AACFL’s approach to training is interactive and is based on class exercises followed by discussion.
Position yourself with credibility in your profession by becoming a CFL™.
The CFL™ designation represents the successful completion of the CFL™ training curriculum and a passing score on the CFL exam. Only members of the AACFL may enroll in this course.
The Training Course will cover all of the information included on the CFL™ exam.
AACFL Membership
choose your
membership
Ability to take the CFL, PCFL, or CFM and earn the designation
Access to exclusive member resources including checklists and practice aids
Remain on the cutting edge of financial issues & strategies for divorce – with our monthly newsletter
Premission to display the AACFL badge on your website and on social media
Be a leader in your area and belong to a group comprising many of the nations finest divorce attorneys
Exclusive invitations to events & trainings including our Judicial panel events
Unlimited Live CLE every month at no additional cost (through the Accountant-Lawyer Alliance
CLE certificate tracking and compliance in Accountant-Lawyer Alliance Member Portal
Networking opportunties provided through the Accountant-Lawyer Alliance
Priority status for speaking opportunity at panel events
Attorney profile featured and promoted on social media by the AACFL
Receive 5 hours of consultation from our experts
Exam preparation questions answered by AACFL faculty
Discounted fees to have our experts assist you with document requests and depositions
Platinum Membership
$650
Annually
Gold
Membership
$375
Annually
Basic
Membership
$250
Annually
Certification
Certified Financial LitigatoR (CFL™)
Join the nation’s leaders in divorce financial strategies today!
Certified Divorce Financial Paralegal
Join the nation’s most valuable divorce paralegals with financial training today!
Certified Divorce Financial Mediator
Join the nation’s leaders in divorce alternative dispute resolution today!
Why Join the AACFL?
The primary mission of the AACFL is to serve the community through its many programs. How is this accomplished? By promoting greater awareness and education to attorneys on the financial aspects of litigation. One end result will be a reduction in the need for court time or avoiding litigation altogether. A reduction in court time needed for these issues will reduce the work load of the courts allowing the justices to focus their valuable time more pressing matters. Other end results will include a way for the public to more easily distinguish the lawyers who have had advanced training, a more efficient process for the parties, and mentoring among lawyers and judges to create a more cooperative legal community.
Frequently Asked Questions about the aacfl
FAQ
Our national headquarters is located at:
295 Madison Avenue, New York City, NY, 10017
(i) Elite divorce attorneys; (ii) Entire law firms; (iii) Exceptional law students; (iv) Judges; (v) Professors / Educators
The CFL™ training course consists of 10 modules that cover a wide range of financial topics taught by university professors and prestigious national firms such as Morgan Stanley, KLR, Advantage Payroll, Valuation Forensics, and Fairview Fund Administration.
Topics covered include: Accounting for Attorneys • Financial Statement Analysis • The Anatomy of Tax Returns • Tax Return Analysis • Understanding Investments • Compensation Issues • Business Valuation • Forensic Accounting • Economic Analysis for Attorneys • Income Available for Support Process • Lost Profits and Lost Wages • How to Cross Examine a Financial Expert • Preparing Effective Document Requests
The course is taught by a variety of our expert instructors. Morgan Stanley teaches all about understanding brokerage statements and investments, a professor of Finance from Bentley college teaches in the investment area also. Advantage payroll, a national payroll company, teaches about compensation documents, KLR – a national CPA firm has CPAs that teach about understanding financial statements and various local experts in each area teach about tax returns, valuation issues and unique divorce related topics.
You may complete the training at your own pace without any time constraints – it generally takes between 10-12 hours from start to finish.
The training course culminates with the 2 hour long CFL™ Exam which you must pass in order to demonstrate their proficiency, become certified by the AACFL and earn the use of the CFL™ designation. Don’t worry, though – we allow you to retake the exam until you pass!
We are not primarily a CLE organization, although many of our members do get CLE for taking our course. We have not encountered any members who have had an issue using the CFL™ training course for CLE credits, but we recognize that every state is different. Although many use this course for CLE, there are also many who take the course separately from CLE because it is so unique and as culminates in an award/certification. These attorneys report that they have taken it for reasons that go above and beyond CLE.
Absolutely! Please send us an email to discuss becoming a member and perhaps even launching a new chapter in your area!
Topics covered include:
Business Valuation • How Divorcing Spouses Hide Money • Executive Compensation – Divorce Considerations • RSUs and PSUs in Divorce • Divorce and the New Tax Laws • Capturing Cash Perks for Divorce • Property Division
Over 8 hours of content.