FTI Consulting (FCN) Risk Analysis

The engagement letters that we typically have with clients do not obligate them to continue to use our services and permit them to terminate the engagement without penalty at any time. Even if the termination of an ongoing engagement by a client could constitute a breach of the client's engagement agreement, we may decide that preserving the overall client relationship is more important than seeking damages for the breach and, for that or other reasons, decide not to pursue any legal remedies against a client, even though such remedies may be available to us. We make the determination whether to pursue any legal actions against a client on a case-by-case basis.

Differing (and often conflicting) perceptions, attitudes or legal pronouncements regarding the consideration of social-related characteristics based on race, gender, sexual orientation and other attributes are complicating our ability to attract and maintain an inclusive workforce and comply with disparate U.S. federal and state and foreign legislative and court decisions. Some U.S. states, recent U.S. court decisions, the federal government and third-party activists are restricting or otherwise attempting to influence how we make and manage recruiting, hiring and other employment decisions. This contrasts with regulations being adopted by certain foreign jurisdictions in which we operate, the demands of many of our investors and other stakeholders, as well as third-party proxy and other advisory firms who provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters, who encourage or demand heightened consideration of diversity-related factors, including the reporting of characteristics of our employee populations, as well as reporting of our recruitment, hiring and other employment processes. Consequently, our employment processes, human capital management, risk management and reporting functions have become more complicated. Any failure to comply with U.S. federal and state and international laws and regulations or court decisions, or to meet the evolving and disparate expectations of our investors, other stakeholders and interested parties, and the media (including social media), could result in legal or regulatory proceedings against us, increased adverse public scrutiny, client dissatisfaction, reputational harm, employee disenfranchisement, increased employee turnover and other challenges in retaining, recruiting and hiring employees, which may give rise to damages or penalties, and materially adversely affect our business, financial results and stock performance.

In reaction to publicized incidents in which electronically stored personal and other information has been lost, accessed or stolen, or transmitted by or to third parties without permission, U.S. and non-U.S. governmental authorities have proposed or adopted or are considering proposing or adopting data security and/or data privacy statutes or regulations, including the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, and the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union. Continued governmental focus and regulation of data security and privacy may lead to additional legislative and regulatory actions, which could increase the complexity of doing business in the U.S. or the applicable jurisdiction. The increased emphasis on information security and the requirements to comply with applicable U.S. and foreign data security and privacy laws and regulations has increased, and is expected to continue to increase, our related costs of doing business and could negatively impact our financial results.

We may pay hiring or retention bonuses to secure the services of professionals and maintain incentive compensation programs for their benefit. Payments have taken the form of unsecured general recourse forgivable loans, stock options, restricted stock, cash-based stock appreciation rights and other equity- and cash-based awards, and cash payments to attract and retain our professional employees. We may provide forgivable or other types of loans under our incentive compensation programs, or to new hires and professionals who join us in connection with acquisitions, as well as to select current employees and other professionals on a case-by-case basis. The aggregate amount of loans to professionals is significant. We expect to continue issuing unsecured general recourse forgivable loans. In addition, our Economic Consulting segment has contracts with select economists or professionals that provide for compensation equal to a percentage of such individual's annual collected client fees plus a percentage of the annual fees generated by junior professionals working on engagements managed by such professionals, which results in compensation expenses for that segment being a higher percentage of segment revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA than the compensation paid by other segments. We expect that these arrangements will continue, and the Company has and will continue to enter into similar arrangements with other economists and professionals hired by the Company. In some cases, however, we have been, and in the future expect that we will continue to be, unsuccessful in reaching agreement on compensation or other key employment terms with certain highly qualified professionals who then choose to leave the Company. Such professionals will often pursue other business and professional opportunities and may compete with the Company for clients and/or employees. These situations have increased, and we expect that they will continue in the future to increase, our costs to retain other professionals at the Company and impact our ability to retain existing clients and win new engagements.

We rely heavily on our executive officers and our segment, industry and regional leaders to manage our operations. Given the highly specialized nature of our services and the scale of our operations, our executive officers and the heads of our segments and industry and regional leaders must have a thorough understanding of our service offerings, as well as the skills and experience necessary to manage a large organization in diverse geographic locations. We are unable to predict with certainty the impact that leadership transitions and the loss of certain employees in leadership roles may have on our business operations, prospects, financial results, client relationships, or employee retention or morale. If one or more of our leaders leave and cannot be replaced with a suitable candidate quickly, we could experience difficulty in securing and successfully completing engagements and managing our operations, which could harm our business, prospects and financial results.

Our professionals typically have close relationships with the clients they serve, based on their expertise and bonds of personal trust and confidence. Therefore, the barriers to our professionals pursuing independent business opportunities or joining our competitors or clients are low. Although our clients generally contract for services with us as a company, and not with an individual, in the event that a professional leaves, such clients may decide that they prefer to continue working with a specific professional rather than with our Company. This has occurred in the past, and we expect that it will continue to occur from time to time in the future.

Our failure to manage the utilization of our professionals who bill on an hourly basis, or maintain or increase the hourly rates we charge our clients for our services, could result in adverse consequences, such as non- or lower-revenue-generating professionals, increased employee turnover, fixed compensation expenses in periods of declining revenues, the inability to appropriately staff engagements with employees and/or independent consultants (including adding or reducing staff during periods of increased or decreased demand for our services, or redeploying staff to other practices or engagements), or special charges associated with reductions in staff or operations. Reductions in workforce or increases of billable rates will not necessarily lead to savings. In such events, our financial results may decline or be adversely impacted. A number of factors affect the utilization of our workforce, some of which we cannot predict with certainty, including general economic and financial market conditions; the complexity, number, type, size and timing of client engagements; the level of demand for our services; appropriate staffing levels, in light of changing client demands, expectations or market conditions; redeployment or utilization of staff across segments and geographic regions; competition; acquisitions; or the utilization of temporary independent consultants who may be compensated on a different or higher basis than certain employees, provide services under fixed-term and/or fixed-fee contracts that are not amenable to extension or early termination, or are not as disposed to redeployment to other client engagements, segments or practices. In addition, our global expansion into or within locations where we are not well-known or where demand for our services is not well-developed could also contribute to low or lower utilization rates in certain locations. Certain practices within our segments may enter into engagements such as fixed-fee and time and materials with caps. Failure to effectively manage staff utilization and other aspects of alternative fee engagements may result in the costs of providing such services exceeding the fees collected by the Company. Failure to successfully complete or reach milestones with respect to contingent fee or success fee assignments may also lead to lower revenues or the costs of providing services under those types of arrangements may exceed the fees collected by the Company. Factors that could negatively affect utilization in our segments include: Corporate Finance - The completion of bankruptcy proceedings; the timing of the completion of other engagements; fewer and smaller restructuring (including bankruptcy) cases; a recovering or strong economy; easy credit availability; lower interest rates; fewer, smaller and less complex M&A and restructuring activity; and less capital markets activity or fewer complex transactions. FLC - The settlement of litigation; less frequent instances of significant mismanagement, fraud, wrongdoing or other business problems that could result in fewer or less complex business engagements; fewer and less complex legal disputes;fewer class action suits; the timing of the completion of engagements; less government regulation, less government enforcement activity, and fewer regulatory investigations; and the timing of government investigations and litigation. Economic Consulting - Fewer, smaller and less complex M&A activity; less capital markets activity or fewer complex transactions; a reduced number of regulatory filings and less litigation, reduced or less aggressive antitrust and competition regulation or enforcement; fewer government investigations and proceedings; and the timing of client utilization of our services. Technology - The settlement of litigation; a decline in volume and complexity of litigation proceedings and governmental investigations; a decline in volume and the timing of M&A activities and reduced or less aggressive enforcement of antitrust and competition regulations; the more rapid and successful integration of new and emerging technologies in client offerings, such as artificial intelligence ("AI") or machine learning, by competitors, or the availability and engagement of independent consultants, which this segment, more than our other segments, relies on for staffing e-discovery and certain other types of client engagements. Strategic Communications - Fewer event-driven crises affecting businesses; general economic decline that may reduce certain discretionary spending by clients; a decline in capital markets activity, including M&A; and fewer public securities offerings.