Impact on Expert Witness Testimony Expert witness testimony has played a vital role in both criminal and civil trials in the United States. Testimony from expert witnesses constantly helps judges and jurors reach conclusions in controversial and complex cases. Therefore, the Daubert Standard is important to know and understand in general, and especially as an expert witness. The Daubert Standard helps court ...

Marketplace Platform for Aspiring and Experienced Litigation Support Professionals Until now, a lawyer could not put out a call for help with a single case description and submit that to one, a dozen, or an entire community of relevant subject matter experts simultaneously with the single push of a button. Until now, an expert might have to choose between paying for advertising to be listed in a directory a ...

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. ...

In Measuring Trustee Breach of Fiduciary Duty Damages (Part II of II) The second part of this article focuses on the methodologies employed to quantify the economic damages when a fiduciary breach is claimed. ...

In Measuring Trustee Breach of Fiduciary Duty Damages (Part I of II) The prudent investment of trust assets can minimize the potential for trustee fiduciary litigation risk, in addition to maximizing the trust beneficiaries’ economic interest in the trust. However, trust beneficiaries may initiate a breach of fiduciary duty tort claim when they feel that the trustee has breached any investment management fi ...

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 Circ ...

What is Your Case Worth Today? What is the value of a contested estate? In this article, the author shares her insight and discusses two leading U.S. Tax Court cases in this area, Estate of Lennon and Estate of Foster. ...

Case Study of a Real Estate Developer For most lost profits cases, the losses begin at the date of the harmful act and end when the injured party is returned to the position it would have had “but for” the alleged damaging act of the defendant. However, not every lost profit matter is a breach of contract where beginning and ending dates can be easily defined. Sometimes losses may not occur until a period i ...

Debunking Myths and Getting the Numbers Right The author discusses various methods used to trace property; techniques that are used in connection with marital dissolutions. ...

Factors to Consider Finding the Right Mediator Mediation is a dispute resolution process that is now more popular than arbitration. Many contracts require parties use mediation, if a dispute arises; and courts have adopted the use of mediation to help reduce the number of cases headed to trial. Yet with all this popularity, there remains a significant problem with using mediation: getting the "wrong" mediat ...

As the temperature drops and the holidays creep in, case after case either settles or, even better, is granted a three-month continuance. Now you finally have the time to take a long hard look at the lessons you have learned this year, lessons you have applied from years past, and start defining next year’s conquest(s), whatever they may be. This fourth article of the Unimpeachable Neutrality series discuss ...

Unsecured Creditors: Risk and Cramdown Rates (Part II of II) This is the second of a two-part article, read Part I here. In October 2017, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision on cramdown interest rates in the matter In re: MPM Silicones, LLC. This decision has already stirred a great deal of discussion regarding cramdown interest rates to be paid secured creditors in Chapter 11 bankr ...

Unsecured Creditors: Risk and Cramdown Rates (Part I of II) This is the first of a two-part article. In October 2017, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision on cramdown interest rates in the matter In re: MPM Silicones, LLC. This decision has already stirred a great deal of discussion regarding cramdown interest rates to be paid secured creditors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy matters. Numer ...

The Case of the Delayed Real Estate Development In a situation where there is a claim of wrongdoing and one party suffers pecuniary damages, it is incumbent on the economic damages expert to precisely define the period of such claimed damages to properly quantify them. The outcome is largely dependent on the expert’s processes for determining damages, the components of the Expert Report, and the ability to ...

Practical Applications in Unimpeachable Neutrality Expert witnesses in the fields of forensic accounting, matrimonial litigation, and business valuation must possess a thorough understanding of the applicable standards, case law, evidentiary rules, and regulations specific to each engagement to effectively help the court understand the facts and evidence. The already daunting task of interpreting these rule ...

A Unique Assessment of Commercial Damages Business interruption is a form of commercial damages that may include both breach of contract and torts. While it is not common for financial experts to be hired in business interruption situations, some claims require their expertise. Unlike a traditional lost profit analysis, business interruption calculations are unique. Any expert asked to make such an analysis ...

When Calculating the Exemplary Damages Cap In a recent Texas Court of Appeals case, the jury awarded plaintiff $15,000,000 in exemplary damages; the Court reduced this amount citing section 41.008(b)(1) of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, which caps exemplary damages at two times the amount of "economic damages," plus up to $750,000 in non-economic damages.  The question on appeal was whether t ...

in Light of LIBOR’s End Appraisal and litigation support professionals consider various rates to use as part of a financial model, including LIBOR. Near the end of July 2017, British banking regulators made waves in the business world by announcing the end of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, by the end of 2021. LIBOR’s end will mean the loss of a financial benchmark that is not only ubiquitous i ...

Understanding Another Person’s Point of View—A Fundamental Tool of Communication Empathy, when used appropriately is truly amazing. It strengthens and enriches our understanding of others, and enhances our ability to motivate them. Though there is no scientific way to measure the power of empathy, you can feel it when you use it, especially during mediation-type proceedings, when the opposing parties are fr ...

Why Attorneys Tend to Overvalue Their Cases and What to Do! Research indicates that most lawyers over value their cases, and what is even more fascinating, it does not matter how long the attorney has been in practice! There are a number of reasons over valuation occurs; sometimes the answer is just that the attorney did not spend enough time reviewing the case, or failed to consider getting a second opinio ...