Challenging Business Valuation and Business Damages Experts
Course Overview
Attorneys who practice in the areas of business litigation, family law, employment law, intellectual property law and other areas involving financial issues typically retain CPA’s, Valuation Experts and Economists to present expert testimony relating to the financial issues. The experts typically prepare reports setting forth their analysis and opinions. The reports of the financial experts are typically filled with extensive financial information, calculations, disclaimers, boilerplate and other language that is usually confusing to non-experts and many times incomplete and misleading.
Attorneys who have an understanding of the financial expert’s reports are much better positioned to use the reports most effectively throughout the proceeding. An understanding of their own expert’s analysis will enable counsel to gain command of their own expert’s work and craft direct examination that will present the expert to be most credible and persuasive. An understanding of the opposing expert’s work will enable counsel to challenge the opposing expert’s opinions and to be prepared to strategically cross-examine the opposing expert.
In this one-day workshop, we will delve into the reports prepared by Business Valuation and Damages experts, evaluate the appropriateness of their approaches and methodology, challenge their assumptions, and identify the reliability and sufficiency of the evidence underlying their analysis and opinions. We will highlight “vulnerability” and “attack points” and identify key questions for attorneys to ask to gain an informed perspective of each side’s strengths and weaknesses on the valuation and damages issues in the case.
The program is interactive and is lead by our seasoned faculty that includes CPAs and trial attorneys with extensive experience in the courtroom presentation of financial evidence and financial experts.
Program Objectives
Upon completion of the program, attendees will be able to:
- Describe the required components of a business valuation report.
- Review, interpret and identify the strengths and weaknesses in a business valuation expert’s report and in a damages expert’s report.
- Ascertain whether or not a business valuation report meets the professional standards governing business valuation.
- Identify the traditional approaches and key variables that enter into a business valuation analysis.
- Identify the strengths, weaknesses and appropriateness of the expert’s selection and application of valuation methodology.
- Identify and evaluate the adequacy of the foundational evidence required to support credible business valuation analysis.
- Identify the traditional approaches, methods and key variables that enter into lost profits and other damages calculations.
- Evaluate the appropriateness of the approach, methodology and assumptions used by the damages expert.
- Identify and evaluate adequacy and sufficiency the foundational evidence required to support a defensible business damages analysis.
- Identify the most vulnerable components of a valuation or damages expert’s report.
- Structure direct examination of a financial expert to facilitate the expert’s persuasiveness and credibility.
- Prepare effective cross-examination of the financial expert presented by opposing counsel.
- Use the opposing expert’s report as a strategic roadmap for cross-examination.
