When Rory Gannon, CPA, MST, was just five years old, he realized the courtroom was something special — not because of all the people in the room but the judge. To Rory, going to court was the time he would get to see his dad in action — the late Superior Court Judge Edward V. Gannon. What he didn’t know then was that he would return to court many years later as a senior forensic accountant for Smolin Lupin.

Growing up as a Gannon was anything but typical. Rory’s uncle is Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon. In a family of judges and sheriffs, Rory was surrounded by discussions of keeping law and order at a young age — even during family gatherings, such as baseball trips, Giants games and vacations. These events typically expanded to include retired judges and courtroom staff who had become “family” to the Gannons over the years. This expan­sion was natural since, dating back to the 1990s, his father served on the bench in three counties: Morris, Sussex and Passaic. One particular childhood memory gives a glimpse into how all-encompassing law enforcement was in the Gannon household: A routine Boy Scout meeting at his home turned out to be a lesson in what judges often have to deal with on a daily basis — criminal threats. Armed guards were protecting the Gannon property with rifles due to courtroom activity earlier that day.

Saving Troubled Youth

Protecting the public, particularly troubled youth, has always been high on the Gan­non family agenda. According to Rory, his dad “wanted to deter youths from doing wrong,” so he helped set up juvenile work programs in Morris County, and assisted Sussex and Passaic County youth. Rory continued that tradition by participating in a variety of charitable initiatives geared towards helping youth as well as entire families. He participated in Habitat for Humanity and Knights of Columbus and later helped his co-workers at Smolin sponsor a family in need at CPC Behavioral Healthcare.

Connecting the Dots

Rory’s interest in accounting can also be traced back to his family’s involvement with the law. “There are lots of connections between forensic accounting and law,” he says, noting that both rely on what he calls a “questioning mind.” Both law firms and accounting advisories are looking to enhance litigation support services, but Rory says only as a forensic accountant does one get to sink one’s teeth into uncovering “big data” transactional problems, for example, or even calculating what value can be placed on wrongful death cases to assist clients in court.

It’s only fitting that Rory works in a firm whose slogan is “We’re not your average CPA firm,” as clearly Rory is not your average CPA. “Not a lot of forensic accountants have a tax background,” explains Rory, who received his Masters in Tax from Rutgers University. He rejoined Smolin after two years in investment banking, where he gained practical knowledge on valuing Real Estate Investment Trusts and performing net asset value calculations, purchase price allocations and various litigation support services. He also obtained his Series 7, Series 79 and other licenses from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. As satisfying as investment banking was, Rory still felt something was missing — the opportunity to unravel employee fraud cases, find unrecorded cash or determine what assets may be undervalued. So, Rory opted to return to Smolin where he felt he truly “belonged.”

Family, understandably, means a lot to Rory, which is why he enjoys working at Smolin and the role he plays there. “While we may get into disagreements with another expert in litigation regarding an approach, a cap rate, a normalizing adjustment, we as forensic accountants are one giant family working to assist the client, not ourselves,” he said. “It is this family atmosphere that helps me to relate to the prestigious men in the Gannon household who I grew up under.”