Court cases added to BVLaw this month:

Great Lakes Business Trust v. M/T Orange Sun, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27262 (March 1, 2012)

Court adopts lost profits calculations by the plaintiff’s damages expert for a deep harbor dredger, accepting higher utilization rate than historic rates based on evidence of “robust” market and lack of competition.

Rickert v. Dakota Sanitation Plus, Inc., 2012 N.D. LEXIS 24 (Feb 17, 2012)

Fair value for dissenting shareholder does not include the actual profits of the company after the effective valuation date, in this case the dissolution of the corporation.                                     

Estate of Kelly v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2012-73 (March 19, 2012)

Tax Court excludes the value of family limited partnership assets from the decedent’s gross estate, finding that her desires to ensure an equal distribution of the assets to her heirs as well as manage the properties were legitimate, nontax reasons to transfer the assets.                                     

Taylor v. Taylor, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 304 (March 6, 2012)

North Carolina court of appeals affirms application of discount for lack of marketability to value of marital business (hospital pharmacy), as substantiated by the evidence.                                     

Pulse Medical Instruments, Inc. v. Drug Impairment Detection Service, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32467 (March 12, 2012)

Court admits expert’s “lost opportunity value analysis” for calculating damages, finding that Georgia-Pacific reasonably royalty damages and lost profits are not exclusive remedies in patent infringement cases.                                    

Hubbard v. Phil’s BBQ of Point Loma, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41884 (March 27, 2012)

Unanimous agreement among three appraisers persuades court to adopt their fair market value for a new restaurant, including deductions for reasonable compensation and rejection of DCF approach.                                     

Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc., No. C 10-03561 WHA (April 10, 2012)

Federal district court strikes portions of its own expert’s report on patent damages for failing to apportion damages among the patented and unpatented features of the in-suit IP.                                     

In re El Paso Corp. Shareholders Litigation, 2012 Del. Ch. LEXIS (Feb. 29, 2012)

Despite a disturbing record of questionable valuations and conflicted financial advisors and principals, the Delaware Chancery Court declines to enjoin the billion-dollar merger of Kinder Morgan with El Paso.

DeFazio v. Hollister, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9063 (April 6, 2012)

Federal district court finds that ESOP trustees breached their fiduciary duties by failing to determine whether permitting the company to repurchase plan stock at book value was “adequate consideration,” but dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims for lack of any expert testimony on damages or material harm to the plan.