Gallagher & Gailor share tips on how to present your CV in court

BVR's good friends Carol Gailor, JD (Wallis & Hunt PLLC, Raleigh, NC) and Michelle Gallagher, CPA/ABV/CFF (Gallagher & Associates, Lansing, MI) together dissected the “perfect” weaknesses they see in BV reports and offered up a checklist of easy fixes at a session at the AAML/AICPA meeting last week. Certainly none of these are new to appraisers--but reminders are always helpful.

“On average I find 20-30 errors in every valuation report I read” shared Gailor, who puts plagiarism – specifically the omission of data source citation – the lack of a site visit and an outdated CV at the top of her “most common mistakes” list.  Gallagher and Gailor advise appraisers to keep their CV’s short – “There’s no need to list your every conference participation, but it is smart to mention your attendance if it’s directly relevant to the case” observed Gallagher.  One of her best tips (based on sudden furious notetaking in the session!) was to contain the CV to one page and include a small but recent photo towards the bottom: “Remember, it’s likely been a month or more since the judge or trier of fact has read your report.  The picture connects the face with the work.”