News Category: economic damages & lost profits


American Society of Appraisers (ASA) 2024 International Conference

I had the pleasure of attending the 2024 ASA International Conference in Portland, Ore., September 15 to 19. This was my first time to visit Portland, Ore., and I found it to be a very pleasant and attractive place to be. The conference was held at the Downtown Hilton in Portland. Read more >>

Caesars Entertainment sues over COVID-19-related economic damages

On March 19, Caesars Entertainment joined the long list of businesses that have filed lawsuits against their insurance companies for refusing to pay business interruption losses stemming from COVID-19-related government shutdowns of economies across the nation and world. Whether Caesars, which asserts that losses its various business entities incurred may exceed $2 billion, succeeds where a lot of other plaintiffs have failed will be worth monitoring. Read more >>

Professional Standards for Certified Public Accountants, Economists, and Other Financial Experts

Financial experts may be subject to standards of professional practice from a number of sources when they measure lost profits damages and give related expert testimony. The sources can include governmental regulators as well as professional membership organizations and societies. In addition, a technical community may establish professional standards of practice in other ways. Read more >>

Seven Techniques to Consider When Calculating Damages for Early-Stage Companies

Measuring lost profits damages for new or early-stage businesses can be a daunting task. Traditional damage analyses that rely on historical results are often meaningless since, by definition, startup companies usually lack a track record of operating results. Without an historical operating history for measuring lost profits, the damages expert walks a thin line between speculation and a reasoned analysis. Under most circumstances, to be admissible evidence, damage analyses require relevant and reliable factual bases. These legal and evidentiary requirements are often heightened when measuring damages for new businesses. Read more >>

Top Expert Answers for Today’s Tough BV Questions

In BVR’s recent webinar, Power Panel: Live Expert Answers for Today’s Tough BV Questions, experts Jay E. Fishman, Michelle Gallagher, Ken Pia, and Jeffrey Tarbell covered various hot topics that affect the business valuation profession. These questions ranged from the basics, such as “What will 2021 look like?” to “What are your thoughts on the current state of the ESOP litigation environment particularly with the new administration coming in?” Here, we summarize five of the questions and answers. For more information, be sure to check out the complete recording and transcript of the session. Read more >>

Business interruption cases and the role financial experts can play

Filing a business interruption claim has become one of the go-to moves for businesses as they try to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. A discussion of two cases that were adjudicated just before the COVID-19 crisis came into relief explains the trajectory many claims, including claims arising out of the COVID-19 crisis, may take and points to opportunities for damages experts. Read more >>

Business interruption and other legal claims arising out of COVID-19 crisis

Just as the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19 brought businesses and economic activity to a sudden halt, an ABA panel discussed the grave effects on businesses and the legal doctrines available to business owners to mitigate the economic injury stemming from business interruption and unforeseeable circumstances. Read more >>

2018 key valuation and damages cases

At year-end, Sylvia Golden, BVR’s executive legal editor, provides a roundup of the key business valuation and damages cases. Here are her choices for 2018. Some of the courts’ decisions have changed the legal landscape and are must-know cases. Other rulings are confined to the specific case, but they contain important lessons for appraisers of how to, and, more often, how not to, perform as a financial expert. Read more >>

Failure to explain inputs gets expert excluded under Daubert

If more proof is necessary to show that courts across all legal fields dive deep into the details of valuation testimony, a recent damages case that arose in the context of a condemnation proceeding should do the trick. Read more >>

Do you know the common elements of lost profits damages cases?

Among a dynamic array of other topics, BVR’s newest publication, The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages, covers the common elements of lost profits damages cases. This excerpt from the guide discusses how a plaintiff typically must establish three elements to recover lost profit damages: proximate cause, forseeability, and reasonable certainty. Read more >>

Lost profits case awaiting Supreme Court decision

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a patent infringement case on the scope of damages. The issue is whether a patent holder may obtain lost profits for actions that occurred outside the United States, where the patentee has proven a domestic act of infringement. Read more >>

Don’t assume causation, AICPA panel warns damages experts

Causation presents one of the most vexing problems for damages experts. But ignoring causation and simply working off the assumption that it exists may end up being the biggest problem for an expert. Read more >>

In unusual business tort case, court exhibits flexibility in terms of calculating damages

The 8th Circuit recently upheld a sizable damages award in an unusual business tort case litigated under Nebraska law. One noteworthy aspect in terms of determining economic damages was that the court allowed expert testimony regarding the loss of value to the plaintiff even though the plaintiff did not fail completely upon the wrongdoing. Read more >>

Federal Circuit drills down into Panduit, apportionment, and lost profits

The Federal Circuit recently examined a paramount damages issue that comes up in patent cases: whether, in terms of calculating lost profits, the patent holder’s ability to meet the Panduit factors makes a separate apportionment analysis unnecessary. Read more >>

Federal Circuit reacts coolly to ‘pseudo’ lost profits argument; royalty analysis may consider profits

The Federal Circuit recently found a reasonable royalty calculation that took into account the plaintiff’s profit margin was not a lost profits analysis in disguise. The plaintiff’s expert did not try to circumvent the “but for” causation requirement that applied to a lost profits claim. Read more >>

Flop film poses unique valuation challenge

A recent bankruptcy-related case in front of the California Court of Appeal raises important questions about how one quantifies the value of a dated piece of art, a film, for which there never was a market in the first place. Read more >>

Flawed yardstick analysis sinks lost profits award

A drawn-out damages case in which a startup compression sportswear company sued the defendant "private label" manufacturer over an abandoned licensing deal promised to make the plaintiff rich but ultimately ended with nominal damages. Read more >>

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