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 the first Daubert (Robinson in Texas courts) challenge in business court and the first judge’s ruling on a motion to exclude an expert’s testimony for the business court. This article reviews the…
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Modern New Business Rule and How it Has Been Applied by the Courts Earlier this year, the author published two articles that appeared in QuickRead discussing calculating lost profits and defense responses for lost profits calculations in cases falling under the modern new business rule. The foundation for the article on defense strategies was an article published by Victor Goldberg. Following publication, the author was contacted by Mr. Goldberg, who recommended additional reading on this topic. That has led to this article. Under the new business rule, a new or unestablished business could not recover lost profits. This rule was…
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and Defense Strategies Beyond Reasonable Certainty Experts estimating lost profits under the modern new business rule know that lost profit estimates in these cases are held to a higher reasonable certainty standard than calculations for lost profits in cases with established businesses. Failing to meet this higher standard may cause an expert’s calculations to be ruled as speculative. To this level of greater scrutiny, Victor Goldberg has introduced additional defense strategies for reviewing new or unestablished businesses claims. His strategies move the focus away from assessing what revenues and profits would have been “but for” the wrongful act to non-cash…
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While the vast majority of jurisdictions have moved away from the new business rule and adopted the modern new business rule, by which new/unestablished businesses can recover damages, such adoption does not diminish the requirements under the reasonable certainty standard. Given the lack of historical financial performance data and under the lens of the reasonable certainty standard, estimates of lost profits damages to new/unestablished businesses are subject to a higher level of scrutiny. This article focuses on new/unestablished businesses and the importance of post-incident business-specific data/facts to isolate the effects of the disputed event, and to establish a measure of…