Galiotos v. Galiotos—The Tale of a Sibling Feud This legal update provides a summary of how the trial and appellate courts addressed a dispute amongst siblings that were co-trustees of trusts holding commercial real estate assets. The case provides valuation and litigation support professionals an opportunity to assess what has happened when an impasse of this nature results in litigation. “If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you’ll be going, ‘You know, we’re…
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Conversations with ChatGPT In this article, the author discusses the conversation she had with ChatGPT regarding Bitcoin and Ponzi schemes. This question has been around nearly as long as Bitcoin itself (without the Charles Ponzi qualifier). How could I have a conversation with Charles Ponzi? Perhaps ChatGPT has ingested enough material about the historical figure to do it for me. I initiated a new conversation with ChatGPT and asked, “Is Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme?” The short answer it gave was no and the model provided some reasons but they are boring. I then responded, “Give me more specific answers designed…
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Trust but Authenticate This 20th article in the Unimpeachable Neutrality series explores why and how valuation and forensic accounting experts may need to evolve toward a new standard: unimpeachable certainty. Neutrality, once the highest standard of expert credibility, must now be supplemented with verifiable authentication practices to ensure that expert conclusions are not built upon fabricated realities. Neutrality without authentication has become not a virtue, but a risk; a structural weakness that can be exploited. This evolution marks a pivotal moment for our profession. Those who remain static, clinging to an outdated conception of unimpeachability, will find themselves undermined not…
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Retain and Build Client Relationships Finding good clients can be a challenge. Even with good clients, maintaining the relationship and improving it takes a few easy steps. In this article, the author shares steps a firm can take to improve the relationships and minimize the chance of losing the client. Finding good clients can be a challenge. Even with good clients, maintaining relationships with them can be improved by a few easy steps. Consider the following ideas, which require minimal time or expense. Visit your client’s website once a month. Look for announcements about recent changes such as new products,…
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This article reviews 10 ways you can use AI in your consulting firm to improve efficiency. I have a lot of people tell me that AI is pretty cool but ask, how can I use it to boost the efficiency of my consulting practice? It is easy to get caught up in the hype of new technology, but there really are some immediate benefits that you can implement quickly to have more time with family and friends and less time at the office. Here is my list: AI-Powered Proposal and Report Generation Use Case: Automate the creation of consulting proposals,…
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(With the Help of ChatGPT) In this article, the author provides three versions of a data retention policy that appears compliant with GDPR or NIST. After taking NACVA’s cybersecurity course, a student reached out to me asking for a Data Retention Policy template that would be compliant with the statutes and frameworks discussed in the course, such as the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework or the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I thought this may be a good question for large language models because the subject matter is old enough that there is a sufficiently…
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The Four Pillar Framework Rod Burkert has been spreading the gospel about BVFLS practice development since 2013. In this article, he discusses a framework that he has developed and can be used to close the gap between the practice you have and the practice you want. The people I talk to all seem to have slightly different ideas about practice development. Here is one definition from a Forbes article that I like: “Business development is the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.” A good definition, especially at the level of a large firm. But…
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and My Productivity Doubled How can one materially improve productivity in just two weeks? In this article, the author describes how she allowed artificial intelligence to start managing her work schedule. What happened next surprised her: the author gained nearly two hours a day and doubled her weekly task completion rate. I am a single mom with two kids under three years old. I work full-time as a forensic accountant and economic damages analyst. I also own several rental properties—most of which are under construction at any given time—and I serve as my own general contractor. That means I juggle…
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Inside the Expert Battle Over Kroger’s Pharmacy Discounts What does “usual and customary price” mean? How does a plaintiff challenge such a broad assertion in a class action? What will a defendant assert to discredit a plaintiff’s expert? This article discusses the Daubert motion brought forth in Kirkbride v. The Kroger Co. and provides notice to how a challenge may unfold in other class action suits that have a similar underlying claim(s). In a closely watched ruling, a federal court allowed expert testimony to proceed against Kroger over claims it concealed lower prescription prices. At the center of it is…
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Today, I am taking a risk. A risk of exposing weaknesses in AI and applying it to the business valuation profession. So, follow along with my experiment and let’s see what happens. First of all, you should know that I have the paid version of ChatGPT ($20/month) and I used the 4o model for my test. Since I am a tech wizard and not a CVA, I started simple. Prompt #1: What kind of data do you need to calculate DCF? Here was the response from ChatGPT. Prompt #2: Yes, could you give me a downloadable DCF template and then…