What to Ask and Look for When You Need a Forensic Expert In today’s legal environment, it is not sufficient to present unsubstantiated evidence. Many subject matter experts do not properly substantiate their findings. When hiring a subject matter expert, careful screening is crucial to choose an expert with superior skills and credibility. This article presents methodologies by which you can perform proper ...

“I Should Have Known!” When you hear the news that someone was just arrested for committing fraud at their work, it is usually accompanied by fellow employees or managers saying one of two things. Either, “I never thought they were capable of stealing” or “I should have seen it coming.” Why do employers say that they “should have known” and how exactly is it that they should have known? In my experience, th ...

Can Effect the Outcome of a Case One of the most critical decisions practicing attorneys have to face is the selection of a forensic accountant. The specialized training and expertise of forensic accountants and the role they play, either as consultants or as expert witnesses, can make the difference in the final outcome of a case. However, it is critical that the right person with the right expertise, trai ...

Income of Partners and Owners of Pass-through Entities (Part II of II) This is the second part of a two-part article where the author discusses the methodology for assessing the lost earning capacity of a self-employed person. This article provides an overview for analyzing the lost earning capacity of the self-employed and discusses why this category of work provides unique assessment situations. In this s ...

Income of Partners and Owners of Pass-through Entities (Part I of II) This is a two-part article where the author discusses the methodology for assessing the lost earning capacity of a self-employed person. This, basically, is the same as that for a traditional wage and salary worker. Even though the methodology is the same, assessing the data for the self-employed is different. The loss calculations are no ...

You’re In or You’re Out (Part VII of VII) Will your testimony be admissible? Inadmissible? This series was written to help newly minted (and experienced) experts be mindful of Daubert, or a state’s own variation of Daubert or Frye throughout the litigation process. The key points made include: remember to only accept cases that you are qualified for, ensure you have a sound methodology in which to form your ...

What You Say and How You Say it Matters (Part VI of VII) Anticipate that opposing counsel will challenge some aspect of the report and suggest flaws notwithstanding the hard work. How you present yourself and testify is of utmost importance. In this article, the author shares her views on how to prepare and address the criticism that will be leveled at you and your report. ...

Consideration for Closely Held Securities—DLOM Theoretical Models (Part II of II) This article summarizes the factors (and the empirical evidence) that the analyst may consider in the measurement of a discount for lack of marketability (DLOM) valuation adjustment associated with non-controlling securities of a closely held company. This security-level DLOM is different from the entity-level DLOM that is app ...

Consideration for Closely Held Securities, Part I of II Valuation analysts may be asked to value closely held company securities for various reasons. These reasons include transaction pricing, financial accounting, taxation planning and compliance, and litigation (related to both breach of contract and tort claims). Depending on: 1) the business valuation approaches and methods applied; and 2) the benchmark ...

How do Sponsorships Rank as a Strategy for Business Development? How effective are sponsorships developing business leads? Sponsorships provide visibility to a captive audience and ideally convey the firm’s commitment to the cause or event. In this article, Dr. Frederiksen shares his findings on this subject, as well as discusses findings involving the pay to play sponsorships and the community sponsorship ...

Could that Opinion Survive a Daubert Challenge? (Part III of III) This is the third and final article of the series. Part I provided background for this thought exercise and identified the size of the hole the 76ers had to climb out of to make the playoffs. Part II addressed the path an expert might take to arrive at his or her opinion. This part addresses the implications of the thought exercise on valuati ...

Could that Opinion Survive a Daubert Challenge? (Part II) This is the second article of a three-part article. Part I provided background for this thought exercise and identified the size of the hole that the 76ers had to climb out of to make the playoffs. Part II addresses the path an expert might take to arrive at his or her opinion. This part of the article has two objectives. First, it attempts to use a ...

Could that Opinion Survive a Daubert Challenge? (Part I) This article is comprised of three parts. Part I provides background for this thought exercise and identifies the size of the hole the 76ers had to climb out of to make the playoffs. Part II will address the path an expert might take to arrive at his or her opinion. Part III will address the implications of this thought exercise on valuation-related D ...

Studies in the Closely Held Company Valuation (Part II of II) In the first part of this two-part discussion, the author identified six transaction risk factors attempting to sell a controlling (including 100 percent) interest in a closely held company. Those included: 1) an uncertain time horizon to complete the offering or sale; 2) “Make ready” accounting, legal, and other costs to prepare for and execute ...

Six Transaction Risks Owners Face Selling a Company that May Explain DLOM (Part I of II) In this first of a two-part article, Robert Reilly reviews the various models analysts use to estimate the DLOM and factors analysts consider in the DLOM selection. Valuation analysts often value closely held companies for transaction, taxation, financing, accounting, litigation, and other purposes. Depending on: 1) the ...

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have continued growing since 2008’s financial crisis.  Through the first three months of 2016, the value of worldwide M&A totaled nearly $750 billion.  Cross-border M&A activity totaled $308 billion—accounting for a quarterly record-high 41% share of global M&A value.  As in previous years, M&A in industries with hefty intangible assets—such as pharmaceutic ...

The Case of Trademarks and Brands Since the adoption of fair value accounting governed by SFAS 141 (in 2001) and IFRS 3 (in 2004), hundreds of thousands of different intangible assets have been valued, audited, and reported in financial statements of public companies all over the world. After fifteen years of fair value accounting, the debate about the accuracy of such values and their relevance for readers ...

Nuances Valuing and Normalizing an Auto Dealership There are many reasons an auto dealership may require a business valuation; buy-sell agreements, shareholder disputes, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and estate planning and gifting strategies. In many instances, there will be an opposing party that questions the validity of the final value, whether it be a dissenting stockholder or the Internal Re ...

FLPs Remain a Viable Intra-Family Transfer Option, But Act Now The Internal Revenue Service has floated the idea of making regulatory changes to the implementation of section 2704, in this article the author gives us an update on the subject and underscores the need to facilitate intra-family transfers of businesses. ...

Tell-tale Signs that the Engagement is Risky This article describes, using a purely hypothetical scenario, some of the considerations that an economic damages expert should be aware of during initial telephone calls with a prospective retaining counsel—in order for a lost earnings engagement to proceed effectively and efficiently—and to control engagement risk. ...