Of Fiduciary Duty in Financial Disputes Forensic accountants are frequently brought into litigated disputes to examine whether individuals in positions of trust, such as business partners, executives, or agents, have breached their fiduciary duties. While this article concerns legal issues, the author intends to express no legal conclusions and/or opinions. Forensic accountants should consult the counsel th ...

Are My Draft Reports and Notes Discoverable? The purpose of this article is to explain the author’s understanding of certain issues impacting the discoverability of documents of forensic accounting, economic damages, and business valuation expert witnesses. This article is not intended to provide legal opinions, advice, or conclusions. It merely reflects the author’s current understanding of certain legal i ...

In Litigation and Business Environments As digital interdependence and geopolitical fragmentation grow, ensuring data authenticity, security, and regulatory compliance is more crucial than ever. Trust in data has eroded due to the opaque nature of AI systems, varying regulatory regimes, and governance gaps, reinforcing a critical need for transparency and accountability. The authors of this article discuss ...

Business Valuation Standards and the Substance and Principles of USPAP In this 25th article of the Unimpeachable Neutrality series, the author wants to make a case that he believes is both technically accurate and practically necessary: the business valuation standards of NACVA, ASA, and the AICPA do not merely conform to the substance and principles of USPAP in a passive or derivative sense. They are built ...

Federal and State-by-State Guidelines that Expert Witnesses Should Know (Part II of II) Navigating the maze of discovery rules in economic damage cases can be daunting. Professionals often face a patchwork of regulations across jurisdictions. This two-part article provides an overview of key discovery rules applicable in federal courts and each of the 50 U.S. states. Read Part I here. In this second part of ...

Figuring Out if Your M365 Licensing is Ready for AI Microsoft Copilot is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about AI tools in the workplace, but many organizations discover that enabling it is not as simple as flipping a switch. The biggest hurdle is often licensing. Different versions of Microsoft 365 include different capabilities, and not every plan supports Copilot. This article explains how to qui ...

When 409A Valuations Differ from Funding Rounds In early‑stage and growth‑stage companies, it is common, and often surprising to founders, when the per‑share price established in an IRC §409A valuation does not match the price investors paid in a recent financing round. This difference can feel counterintuitive, especially when the company has just completed a successful raise and the preferred share price ...

Federal and State-by-State Guidelines that Expert Witnesses Should Know (Part I of II) Navigating the maze of discovery rules in economic damage cases can be daunting. Professionals often face a patchwork of regulations across jurisdictions. This two-part article provides an overview of key discovery rules applicable in federal courts and each of the 50 U.S. states. Navigating the maze of discovery rules in ...

Overview of an Expert’s Testimony in a Precedent Setting Texas Court Case The author had the opportunity of being the economic expert for the plaintiff in the initial case in the Business Court of Texas Eighth Division. This assignment provided the author with an opportunity to argue the modern new business rule as the basis for the lost profits calculations prepared in connection with the case. It provided ...

A Process As valuation professionals, we sometimes serve dual roles. In this article, the author shares a step-by-step listing of his vetting process. This checklist is meant as his guide but is also used to help clients start the projection process. The guide is for anyone using a projection as a guide to a valuation analysis. Business valuators are typically provided with a client’s budget or financial pr ...