New approaches and methodology in business valuation should be encouraged to advance the profession. But be careful about bringing a new idea into a court setting. A judge may not be so receptive.

Too off-beat: An expert valuing goodwill explained to a court that the methodology he used was “self-designed” and that he knew of no other economist or business valuation expert who had ever used it. The court, while acknowledging that the expert was otherwise qualified, ruled that the method was “too innovative and new to be given any weight.”

Read the digest of In re: American Suzuki Motor Corporation, 2013 Bankr., LEXIS 2276 (June 4, 2013) in the September issue of Business Valuation Update. The full opinion of the case will be available soon at BVLaw.