For an appraiser to be a good expert witness, he or she must be able to explain highly technical and complex financial concepts in a simple way. Forget about presenting a pile of spreadsheets—you need to boil it all down to a few effective pictures, graphs, charts, or other visuals. Don’t have too many exhibits or it will be hard for the court to digest. And they must be simple—if they’re loaded with too much information or jargon, the court may not grasp what you are trying to say. Should your chart use the label “EBITDA” or “earnings?” Instead of using technical terms, use simple and commonly understood words.

Chris Mercer (Mercer Capital) has testified in many complex valuation cases and will present a session, How to Present Complex Finance to Judges: KISS, at the upcoming AAML/BVR National Divorce Conference May 8-10 in Las Vegas. He will draw from over 30 years of experience presenting complex valuation and damages issues to judges and juries, including the powerful use of exhibits.