• Unimpeachable Neutrality vs. Hardboiled Myths: A Direct Response to Hardball with Hitchner Issue 65/66
    Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Unimpeachable Neutrality vs. Hardboiled Myths

    May 7, 2026

    A Direct Response to Hardball with Hitchner Issue 65/66 James Hitchner’s March/April 2026 issue of Hardball with Hitchner, which opens with what it calls Myth 39, devoted a substantial part to criticizing my article “Unimpeachable Substance and Principles: Business Valuation Standards and the Substance and Principles of USPAP,” published in NACVA QuickRead on March 12, 2026. I appreciate the attention. Criticism from a visible platform is an opportunity, and I intend to use it fully. James Hitchner’s March/April 2026 issue of Hardball with Hitchner, which opens with what it calls Myth 39, devoted a substantial part to criticizing my article…

  • AI, Work Product, and Rule 26 in Three Cases: Beware of Your AI Queries; They May Not Be Protected
    Artificial Intelligence - Financial Forensics - Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    AI, Work Product, and Rule 26 In Three Cases

    May 7, 2026

    Beware of Your AI Queries; They May Not Be Protected When you are a party in a legal matter, sometimes the things you type into an LLM are protected and sometimes they are not. Sometimes, if you share privileged things with your AI-companion, those things are no longer privileged. It depends on what you shared, who you are, and why you shared it. In this article, the author discusses three recent cases that discuss what is discoverable. Three recent cases have addressed the use of large language models (LLM or colloquially referred to as “AI”) in litigation: Warner v. Gilbarco,…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Four Specific Indicia

    April 1, 2026

    Of Breach of Fiduciary Duty This article examines four recurring indicia that courts consistently associate with breaches of fiduciary duty: self-dealing and secret profits, misappropriation or misuse of funds, manipulation of financial reporting and compensation structures, and the usurpation of corporate opportunities. Introduction Fiduciary duty cases rarely turn on abstract principles alone. Instead, courts look for concrete patterns of conduct that reveal whether a fiduciary has placed personal interests ahead of the party to whom loyalty is owed. In litigation, breaches of fiduciary duty often emerge through identifiable financial and operational red flags: undisclosed conflicts of interest, unexplained transfers of…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Red Flags Indicating a Breach

    March 25, 2026

    Of Fiduciary Duty in Financial Disputes Forensic accountants are frequently brought into litigated disputes to examine whether individuals in positions of trust, such as business partners, executives, or agents, have breached their fiduciary duties. While this article concerns legal issues, the author intends to express no legal conclusions and/or opinions. Forensic accountants should consult the counsel that engaged them. Introduction Forensic accountants are frequently brought into litigated disputes to examine whether individuals in positions of trust, such as business partners, executives, or agents, have breached their fiduciary duties. While this article concerns legal issues, the author intends to express no…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Documents of Testifying Experts

    March 18, 2026

    Are My Draft Reports and Notes Discoverable? The purpose of this article is to explain the author’s understanding of certain issues impacting the discoverability of documents of forensic accounting, economic damages, and business valuation expert witnesses. This article is not intended to provide legal opinions, advice, or conclusions. It merely reflects the author’s current understanding of certain legal issues relating to certain aspects of expert witness reports, e-mails, and notes. Experts should consult with retaining counsel regarding specific engagement rules. Introduction The purpose of this article is to explain the author’s understanding of certain issues impacting the discoverability of documents…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Ensuring Data Authenticity and Governance

    March 18, 2026

    In Litigation and Business Environments As digital interdependence and geopolitical fragmentation grow, ensuring data authenticity, security, and regulatory compliance is more crucial than ever. Trust in data has eroded due to the opaque nature of AI systems, varying regulatory regimes, and governance gaps, reinforcing a critical need for transparency and accountability. The authors of this article discuss the regulatory framework, importance of data protection, risks of failing to protect the same, and how protected data is of value key to the use of AI. Introduction Ensuring data authenticity, security, and regulatory compliance is more crucial than ever as digital interdependence…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Unimpeachable Substance and Principles

    March 11, 2026

    Business Valuation Standards and the Substance and Principles of USPAP In this 25th article of the Unimpeachable Neutrality series, the author wants to make a case that he believes is both technically accurate and practically necessary: the business valuation standards of NACVA, ASA, and the AICPA do not merely conform to the substance and principles of USPAP in a passive or derivative sense. They are built upon those principles, share the same foundational architecture, and in the specific context of business valuation, complement USPAP’s framework with discipline-specific structure. The conversation that the valuation/appraisal profession needs to have is not about…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    A Guide to Discovery Rules

    March 11, 2026

    Federal and State-by-State Guidelines that Expert Witnesses Should Know (Part II of II) Navigating the maze of discovery rules in economic damage cases can be daunting. Professionals often face a patchwork of regulations across jurisdictions. This two-part article provides an overview of key discovery rules applicable in federal courts and each of the 50 U.S. states. Read Part I here. In this second part of the article, the rules for Mayland through Wyoming are summarized. Maryland Maryland’s discovery rules are codified in its Rules of Procedure, with a strong emphasis on early disclosures and efficient case management. Discoverable items include…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    A Guide to Discovery Rules

    March 4, 2026

    Federal and State-by-State Guidelines that Expert Witnesses Should Know (Part I of II) Navigating the maze of discovery rules in economic damage cases can be daunting. Professionals often face a patchwork of regulations across jurisdictions. This two-part article provides an overview of key discovery rules applicable in federal courts and each of the 50 U.S. states. Navigating the maze of discovery rules in economic damage cases can be daunting. Professionals often face a patchwork of regulations across jurisdictions. This two-part article provides an overview of key discovery rules applicable in federal courts and each of the 50 U.S. states. The…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Applying the Modern New Business Rule in Real Life

    February 25, 2026

    Overview of an Expert’s Testimony in a Precedent Setting Texas Court Case The author had the opportunity of being the economic expert for the plaintiff in the initial case in the Business Court of Texas Eighth Division. This assignment provided the author with an opportunity to argue the modern new business rule as the basis for the lost profits calculations prepared in connection with the case. It provided the first Daubert (Robinson in Texas courts) challenge in business court and the first judge’s ruling on a motion to exclude an expert’s testimony for the business court. This article reviews the…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Is the Risk-Free Rate Really Risk Free?

    February 18, 2026

    Deconstructing the Idea of the Risk-Free Rate To evaluate future risk factors, analysts should understand the composition of the risk-free rate and consider the data influencing U.S. Treasury Bond yields. This article analyzes the criteria for evaluating the risk-free rate for use in engagements involving business valuations and economic damages. The general notion of a “risk-free rate” is the return available as of the valuation date on a security that the market generally regards as free of the risk of default.[1] U.S. Treasuries have fit this profile for decades, providing minimum, safe alternatives for risk-averse investors. They also provide a…

  • Financial Forensics - Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    A Collision Course in Evidentiary Standards for AI-Assisted Financial Forensics

    February 11, 2026

    How a New Proposed Rule of Evidence Seeks to Admit AI Analysis and Supplant Experts On January 30, 2026, Anthropic released legal plugins for its Claude AI that automate contract review, compliance tracking, and legal analysis. Within three days, $285 billion in market value evaporated from legal software and publishing companies. This was not a correction. It was a signal. The AI companies are no longer content selling infrastructure, now they are coming for the legal, financial, and forensic analysis applications themselves. The author discusses the legal and practical repercussions that the new Federal Rule of Evidence would have on…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Unimpeachable Methodological Consistency

    February 11, 2026

    The Foundation of Unassailable Authority When you sit in deposition or at trial, you can speak with absolute confidence about your methodology because it is not something you invented for this case. It is something you have applied in hundreds or thousands of cases. The best defense against aggressive cross-examination is not clever language or diplomatic positioning. It is methodological consistency applied with rigor. In this 24th article of the Unimpeachable Neutrality series, the author addresses something that has become increasingly important as technology changes the nature of expert testimony: the relationship between consistency, methodology, and credibility. The best defense…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Don’t Get Struck

    February 4, 2026

    Why Financial Experts Get Excluded and How to Avoid It In this article, the authors describe at a high level the rules governing admissibility of expert testimony, discuss common pitfalls, and provide some tips for avoiding these pitfalls so that expert opinions can be admitted into evidence with maximum effect. Financial experts play a vital role in financial restructurings, delivering important insights in many contexts, including plan confirmation, analysis of sales of a debtor’s property, preferential and fraudulent transfer litigation, and many other areas. They also can be pivotal in commercial disputes and transactions, opining on business and asset valuation,…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    The Case for Out-of-Court Winddowns

    January 14, 2026

    A Comparison to a Bankruptcy Proceeding and Views from the Various Stakeholders When a business faces insolvency, the path forward is rarely straightforward. This article examines the reasons why out-of-court winddowns may be a preferred alternative over bankruptcy for private equity sponsors, lenders, and boards of directors. Introduction When a business faces insolvency, the path forward is rarely straightforward. Should the company file Chapter 11 in hopes of reorganizing? Should it liquidate under Chapter 7? Would an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC) or a court-appointed receivership make more sense? These options dominate conversations around distressed businesses, but they…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Injury to a Medical Professional

    January 7, 2026

    One Economic Loss or Two? A medical professional suffered a career ending injury. The injured person owned and managed the practice through which he provided his services. This medical professional also had employees who aided him and generated additional revenue and profits for the practice. The situation addressed in this article is as follows: While it seems plain that the physician here has lost earning capacity, has this injured medical professional also lost the value of his practice? If, the answer to the latter is ”yes”, how should such a calculation be made? In this article, the author discusses his…

  • Artificial Intelligence - Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Interference?

    November 12, 2025

    How AI is Reshaping Litigation for Better and Worse AI remains a flawed practice companion. In addition to the possibility of hallucinated case citations and incorrect legal analysis, the use of AI introduces data privacy concerns and risks misadvising individuals due to overly generalized AI conclusions. In this article, the author addresses the following: Does the use of AI in litigation represent true artificial intelligence, or is it artificial interference preventing a just outcome? Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the modern-day legal landscape, offering tools for research, drafting, fact development, document review, expert services, jury selection, and even predicting…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Expert Witness E-mail Blunders That Can Sink Your Case

    October 29, 2025

    Don’t Say That! What is protected communications in one jurisdiction might be discoverable in another. Yet, many expert witnesses draft e-mails as if their words will never see the light of a courtroom projector. The author shares what she has experienced and makes suggestions. Words live forever, especially when they are typed into e-mails during litigation. As an expert witness, your casual Monday morning thoughts could become Thursday’s courtroom exhibit, projected on a screen for all to see. The discoverability rules governing expert communications vary significantly across jurisdictions.[1] What is protected in an arbitration in Michigan might be fair game…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    The Unimpeachable Rebuttal 2.0

    September 17, 2025

    Pearls Clutched, Loaded, and Now AI-Augmented The hired guns now have AI, and they are even more convincing at making the truth sound like a lie and a lie sound like the gospel. This 23rd article in the Unimpeachable Neutrality Series revisits and revolutionizes the art of the rebuttal in an age where AI has become both sword and shield in the expert witness arena. This 23rd article in the Unimpeachable Neutrality Series revisits and revolutionizes the art of the rebuttal in an age where artificial intelligence (AI) has become both sword and shield in the expert witness arena. Last…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Case Study

    September 10, 2025

    Creative Cash Flow Analysis for Bankruptcy Assignment Earlier this year, the author received a business bankruptcy assignment which called for assessing the cash flow for a particular asset in a bankrupt estate and how the circumstances of the estate affected the value of that particular asset. As this assignment continued through testimony and the judge’s ruling, the author wanted to share his experience. While working as an economic expert, I receive numerous assignments in the areas of personal damages, commercial damages, and business bankruptcy. While the assignments for personal and commercial damages cover the waterfront for forensic economic analyses, they…