Avoiding Speculation The author of this article, Dr. Kreuter, recently testified in a jury trial in New York State Supreme Court. The case was heard in April 2023. In the case, Kela Tennis, Inc. (“Kela”) sued the City of Mt. Vernon (“Mt. Vernon” or “the City”). On behalf of Kela, Dr. Kreuter calculated the economic damages in connection with the City’s breach of contract with Kela. The City had wrongfully d ...

There are riches in niches! That’s because you cannot be everything to everybody. Sounds reasonable. But what is missing is the advice that will help you identify your practice niche that everyone says is the secret sauce to making more money. There are riches in niches! That’s because you cannot be everything to everybody. Sounds reasonable. But what is missing is the advice that will help you identify you ...

(Part I of IV) Valuation analysts (“analysts”) are often asked to value special-purpose industrial and commercial property. These analyses may be developed for various purposes, including taxation purposes. This discussion focuses on the identification and measurement of economic obsolescence in the application of the cost approach to value such special-purpose property. This topic is particularly relevant ...

A Review of the Basics for Lost Profits (Part V) This is the fifth article in a series reviewing the basics for lost profits. When calculating lost profits, some assignments will show results with future lost profits. The future lost profits must be discounted to a present value. This article will review issues relating to discounting future lost profits to their present value. The topics discussed will be ...

May 2023 In the recent case of Munro v. University of Southern California, the issue raised there is when and whether can a Plaintiff proceed to trial on a new damages theory after the discovery deadline has passed. This article discusses FRPC 37, the federal rule of civil procedures that sets forth the standard for admitting or denying the admission of a new theory under the circumstances described above. ...

Part I in a Series Addressing Advances in Forensic Accounting and Financial Forensics The author of this series of articles is co-founder of Valid8 Financial Forensics Software, a Seattle, WA and Boulder, CO-based professional service provider. These articles set forth techniques used to investigate financial fraud allegations and focus on the flow of funds. As 2023 comes into clearer view, it is evident th ...

Client Onboarding Onboarding clients is a critical task. This is a process that enables practitioners to mitigate risks and set client expectations. The author shares his views on the importance of client onboarding. While the experience of a new client or matter can be enthralling, practitioners should consider utilizing a formal, comprehensive client onboarding process to mitigate risk. Accepting a client ...

Relief for the Tenant? Grief for the Landlord? With an anticipated increase in brick-and-mortar retailer bankruptcies, landlords may find themselves with little control over the future of their leases with bankrupt retailers. The Bankruptcy Code was designed to provide a “fresh start” to debtors whose balance sheet was weighed down by too many obligations, too little income, or insufficient cash flow. A deb ...

A Synopsis of Valuation Brief 1 “Understanding the Differences: Conclusion of Value vs. Value Calculations” Valuation Brief 1, “Understanding the Differences: Conclusion of Value vs. Value Calculations” attempts to unpack the differences between that which is a conclusion of value and that which is not. In this 14th article of the unimpeachable neutrality series, the author provides a synopsis of the key ta ...

Indications for 2023 After a record year in 2021 transactional activity, where healthcare mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were up by 56 percent, the market continued to thrive in 2022. Preliminary results revealed that 2022 M&A deals hit a record high of 2,409 deals; 150 transactions over what was observed in 2021. Despite economic challenges (e.g., rising interest rates and borrowing costs, inflatio ...

Tread Carefully Using this Market-Approach In valuation theory, the market-based approach, being one of the three main valuation approaches, can rely on the guideline private comparable transactions method, suggesting that the results obtained in that way should be treated equally with other valuation approaches and methods. However, the disadvantages of the guideline private comparable transactions method ...

Really? How are professional fees determined? What role, if any, does the “market” have on this question. In this article, Rod Burkert shares his views on this matter. You get what you pay for. We hear this cliché most often in a pejorative sense, but is it true? How do we know? Take your practice … how do you determine the fees you set for your professional services? Only one answer makes sense, which you ...

A Review of the Basics for Lost Profits (Part IV) This is the fourth article in a series reviewing the basics for lost profits. Important in any assignment for calculating lost profits is understanding standards set by the courts. The three standards that courts use in assessing lost profit calculations are foreseeability, proximate cause, and reasonable certainty. In this segment, these court standards for ...

COVID-19 Pandemic Deemed Over and Waivers Ending On January 30, 2023, President Joseph Biden announced that the public health emergency (PHE) and national emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 pandemic will finally end on May 11, 2023, after being in place for over three years. This article will discuss the changes that will take place after both declarations cease, and the implications for stakehol ...

Understanding the Fundamentals of the Industry The purpose of this article is to give other experts facing the challenge of completing a valuation of a Bitcoin mining facility some of the fundamental characteristics needed to understand the operations and assign value. A few months back I received a call from a potential client looking for a valuation of bitcoin mining company for purposes of a prenuptial a ...

A Minimalist’s Suggestion on How to Lose the Boilerplate What level of detail should valuation analysts include in a detailed report? In this article, the author shares six practices he follows to answer the above question. You probably remember that college professor who said they graded term papers by throwing them down the stairs and giving the ones the farthest down the highest grade. This is how I feel ...

February 2023 In 1748, Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Time is money.” That concept provides the framework for the Florida Court of Appeals decision in Iarussi v. Iarussi. As often happens in marital dissolutions, the parties resolved many of their issues by agreement, but, when it came to the money, they needed the court’s assistance in dealing with the marital value of a privately owned business and cla ...

Foundations for Prevention and Mitigation This article focuses on the professional expertise, processes, and technologies that are needed to mitigate the ever-increasing risk of cyber-attacks and potential business interruptions on companies, organizations, and individuals. The modern security ecosystem is diverse and ever-changing, a place where cyber risk is top of mind for leaders at all levels, and thre ...

New Year, Neutrality It is incumbent upon those who attempt to become or remain as “thought leaders” to sometimes put some thought into what is written. This said, this 13th article of the Unimpeachable Neutrality Series will cover some of the basics of what exactly “unimpeachable neutrality” is and how it is just as valuable and necessary in 2023. I received a phone call from a distressed member the other ...

There is a difference between a difficult client and a bad client. In this article, the author shares the distinction between the two and shares his views on how a difficult client can provide valuation professionals a professional growth opportunity. Related to who I choose to work with, I just closed out a valuation that I was engaged to perform. As I usually do, I went through my version of an “after act ...