November 2022 The importance of consumer protection laws can seem unfathomable when you see a label on a sweater reminding you to remove the child before laundering, but laws prohibiting deceptive trade practices and false advertising exist because the incentives to run roughshod over consumers are significant. Since the individual harm resulting from consumer fraud is often small, those laws often provide for statutory damages to give consumers an incentive to pursue their claims and for producers to refrain from defrauding customers. For businesses selling and promoting their products nationally, statutory damages can mount quickly. This article discusses Monera v.…
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September 2022 This article summarizes Agnelli v. Lennox Miami Corp., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125346, 2022 WL 2788875 (S.D.Fl. July 14, 2022). This state of Florida case shows that nepotism does not always work out so well. The case involves misappropriation of corporate money, fair value valuations, the use of discounts for lack of control and marketability, and statutory interpretation. As Garry Marshall famously said, “When in doubt, you bring in relatives. Nepotism is a part of my work.” Agnelli v. Lennox Miami Corp., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125346, 2022 WL 2788875 (S.D.Fl. July 14, 2022) shows that nepotism does…
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July 2022 This article focuses on Partner Reinsurance Co. v. RPM Mortgage, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94244 (S.D.N.Y. May 25, 2022). This is a case of buyer’s remorse. The target’s financial condition changed dramatically after the LOI and buyer attempted to renegotiate the acquisition terms. This case illustrates how damages were calculated. Buyer’s remorse: everybody’s experienced it at one point or another. For me, it was a very ugly Hawaiian shirt; for Elon Musk, it appears to be Twitter. Partner Reinsurance Co. v. RPM Mortgage, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94244 (S.D.N.Y. May 25, 2022) was a case of…
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May 2022 For more than 400 years, the limited liability protection of corporate entities has been perhaps one of the greatest accelerators of economic growth and capital formation in the industrialized world. Despite the benefits, corporations have also been used as vehicles to cheat creditors with bad guys hiding behind the “corporate veil.” Over time, courts have developed a strategy for creditors to “pierce the corporate veil” to satisfy their claims from the personal assets of malicious shareholders, but until recently, creditors have been unable to pursue recovery against other affiliated entities. For more than 400 years, the limited liability…
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April 2022 Two cases from Delaware and New York provide guidance to financial forensics and valuation professionals on the fiduciary duties that managers and directors owe to enterprises. The first case, In re: Multiplan Corp. Stockholders Litigation, is a class action arising from allegedly inadequate disclosure of a merger between a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and a privately held operating company. The second case, The People of the State of New York v. The National Rifle Association, et al., is a civil action brought by the state attorney general against a nonprofit corporation and certain of its…
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The Bankruptcy Court Weighs-in In Re: Body Transit, Inc. The Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania In re: Body Transit, Inc. addressed how COVID-19 impacts valuations. On August 7, 2020, the Court heard and decided the case. This case proceeded under the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA) whereby the debtor’s objection to a creditor’s election to have its claim treated as fully secured under 11 U.S.C.S § 1111 (b) was sustained, and the claim was bifurcated into both secured and unsecured components to be treated according to the reorganization plan. The question of how to value a fitness…
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The Court Opens to Tax-Affecting In Estate of Jones, the court addressed the tax affecting issue along with several other issues discussed in the valuation world today, including the proper approach for valuing an operating timber business (income vs. asset-based), the reliability of management projections, and the appropriate discount for lack of marketability. For the first time in 20 years, a valuation expert who tax-affected the earnings of a pass-through entity has had a receptive audience in the Tax Court. This article summarizes this controversy and highlights the valuation issues. In Estate of Jones,[1] the court addressed the tax affecting…
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Reflections on the Ninth Circuit’s Decision in Amazon.com, Inc. v. Commissioner What is included when valuing intangibles assets for transfer pricing purposes? This is an issue that was addressed once by the U.S. Tax Court and more recently, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a unanimous decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (issued on August 16, 2019) the court of appeals affirmed the decision of the U.S. Tax Court in Amazon.com, Inc. v. Commissioner, 148 T.C. 108 (March 23, 2017). The court held that intangible assets under the U.S. transfer pricing regulations, under Section…
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Theory into Practice In our literature and at professional conferences, we often discuss the theoretical aspects of our work. For lost profits this includes discussions on the best method for valuing lost profits (before and after, yard stick, but for) or the optimal discount method (ex ante, ex post, or hybrid). Occasionally, these become academic debates with little impact on our “real life” work. This year, I received an assignment that allowed me to apply some of these theoretical ideas to real life circumstances. This case involved stolen intellectual properties and three separate loss categories: lost royalties, lost profits, and…
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Lessons on Ill-Conceived Strategies that Companies Should Avoid Doing in Business and in Litigation Being aggressive in business and in litigation is considered an advantage. But, as illustrated in a recent 7th Circuit case, it is possible to be overly aggressive. When this is coupled with some serious mistakes in business and in litigation, it can be disastrous. The cases, 4SEMO.COM Incorporated v. Southern Illinois Storm Shelters, Inc., Ingoldsby Excavating, Inc. and Bob Ingoldsby, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 18-1998 and 18-2095, October 7, 2019) offer experts, lawyers, and business owners lessons on how an unchecked ego and an…
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April 2019 In the first quarter of 2019, there were no reported U.S. Tax Court cases involving either business, estate, or FLP valuation issues. Notwithstanding the above, there were several cases that valuation and litigation support professionals will want to consider. In this article, five recent cases are discussed. One of the leading cases circulating amongst the business valuation community is Kress v. U.S., Case No. 16-C-795 (U.S.D.C. Eastern District of Wisconsin), it has received considerable attention, especially by business valuation professionals. The Veriton Partners Master Fund Ltd. v. Aruba Networks, Inc. (April 16, 2019), a Delaware Supreme Court case…
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February 2019—U.S. Tax Court on Valuation of Conservation Easements and Expert Testimony The U.S. Tax Court issued two valuation decisions in late December 2018 that may be of interest to QuickRead readers. The opinion is 116 pages long and delves into what is a qualified real property easement that qualifies for a charitable deduction, and the 36-page memorandum provides guidance regarding how the court weighs expert witness testimony in this area of easements. On December 27, 2018, the U.S. Tax Court issued two lengthy decisions: an opinion and memorandum decision that focus on what is a qualified real estate easement…
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December 2018—U.S. Tax Court on Qualified Appraisals and Gill v. Gill, Minnesota’s Supreme Court Rules on the Status of Earn-Outs in Dissolution Cases The U.S. Tax Court issued two valuation memorandums in September and October 2018. Each memorandum serves as a reminder of the importance of attaching a qualified appraisal. The issue in Presley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-171 (October 15, 2018) was whether petitioners were entitled to charitable deductions claimed in 2010 relating to land improvements paid before 2010 that benefitted a religious charity. We cite pertinent portions of this decision since it involves tax planning and the importance of…
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Conservation Easements, Attempts to Dissolve a NY LLC, and Valuation of Law Practice The U.S. Tax Court has issued a limited number of valuation cases this past summer. In this article, one U.S. Tax Court case presented is Harbor Loft Associates v. Commissioner. The case underscores that lessees cannot claim a charitable deduction for a conservation easement. The second case discussed is Matter of Goyal v. Vintage India NYC, LLC, which serves to reiterate the importance of executing an operating agreement and shows how difficult it is to unwind and dissolve an LLC in New York State and jurisdictions that…
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Highlighting Recent Delaware Court Cases In this Case Law Update, three recent Delaware Court cases are reviewed. Two cases focus on whether the deal value is fair value and the third focuses on matters discovered following approval of a merger and who has standing to sue and what remedy, if any, is available to the disgruntled plaintiffs. The first two cases also delve into the role of experts, inputs that are used in the DCF (and usually contested), and the role of board members overseeing the process, as well as the value of process itself discovering price. The third case…
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Reliability of Client’s Data This article discusses how experts can handle the unique situation of receiving unreliable data. Litigation and appraisal literature will be reviewed as will the author’s handling of unreliable data in a recent lost profits case. In the end, warning signs will be reviewed to alert the expert to potential problems with the projected data.
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Revenge Porn, Ugg, VirnetX, and Apple This case law highlights a number of patent, copyright, and business valuation cases litigated in the first quarter of 2018. The revenge porn case highlights a distressing but potential opportunity for litigation support professionals. The VirnetX v. Apple and Deckers Outdoor Corporation v. Romeo & Juliette, Inc. cases highlight the perils of patent litigation and fleeting value of patents.
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On Patent Damages and Apportionment In two recent cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit provided important guidance when applying apportionment principles to calculate reasonable royalty damages. See Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc., 879 F.3d 1299 (Fed. Cir. 2018); Exmark Mfg. Co. v. Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group, LLC, 879 F.3d 1332 (Fed. Cir. 2018). The Federal Circuit signaled greater flexibility when apportioning damages, which may permit using the royalty rate and not just the royalty base, to value a patented invention’s contribution to a larger, multicomponent product. The Circuit also reaffirmed, however, that…
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Case Law Update February 2018 In this case law update, we review one U.S. Tax Court case that provides guidance regarding when is a bad debt business loss deductible and whether contributions of money to a business is equity or debt. In addition, we present several Delaware Court cases; one of them, a post-dissolution case where one NACVA member (and another inactive member) testified and the court addressed the S corporation tax affecting and availability of discounts for lack of marketability. The issues raised there are frequently raised in other dissolution actions and the reasoning provided by the court regarding…
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Insights for Your Practice Four cases are presented in this article that provide valuation, litigation support professionals, and M&A advisors insight regarding how courts are addressing damages claims, challenges to experts, appraisal action challenges, and claims of fraud and breach of contract in connection with M&A transactions. Although the cases are from Delaware and California, they provide insight for readers to use in their practices.