2018 Key Business Valuation and Damages Cases
Choices for the most interesting and pivotal court cases of 2018 involving business valuation issues.
Three different court rulings on the use of discounts in the divorce context
Case law matters. Every month, BVLaw analyzes the most noteworthy court decisions dealing with valuation and damages issues. Subscribers should check out digests of three recent divorce rulings different state courts issued. All the cases dealt with the issue of whether it was appropriate to discount the owner-spouse’s interest in a closely held business.
Top five business valuation tips from recent training webinars
As a busy business valuation professional, you may not always have the time to attend training events. We’ve compiled the top five tips from recent BVR webinars on the most timely and important topics in the profession.
BVLaw Case Update
Case law matters. Tune into BVLaw Case Update to deepen your understanding of the business valuation and damages litigation landscape. Knowing what goes on in court and what the law is makes you a more effective and sought-after expert. Join veteran valuator, speaker, and teacher Jim Alerding (Alerding Consulting LLC) and BVR’s own legal editor, Sylvia Golden, for a review of a number of significant recent court decisions, including key statutory appraisal rulings from the ...
Business Valuation Case Law Yearbook, 2018 Edition
February 2018 PDF
BVR (editor)
Business Valuation Resources, LLC
2017’s Top Business Valuation and Damages Cases
BVLaw’s selection of the most educational cases of 2017.
Business Valuation Update Yearbook, 2018 Edition
February 2018 PDF
BVR (editor)
Business Valuation Resources, LLC
BVLaw Case Update
Every month, BVLaw analyzes and digests federal and state court decisions (including opinions from the United States Tax Court) that focus on valuation and damages issues and feature expert testimony. A BVLaw subscription is an efficient way for financial experts to keep up with developments in their areas of expertise and with the various courts’ takes on valuation methodology, Daubert and the art of presentation, and policy concerns.
BVLaw Case Update: A One-Hour Briefing
In BVR's second legal briefing, BVR Legal Editor Sylvia Golden and expert appraiser Jim Alerding team up to once again provide appraisers with the most pressing court decisions presented in BVLaw™ and Business Valuation Update™. From the vast and growing compilation of case law procured throughout the United States, Golden and Alerding examine the legal decisions that carry the most weight for appraisers and appraisals, as well as the lessons taught by each decision.
Damages testimony undergoes Daubert treatment in class certification stage
Class actions have their own rules, including when it comes to expert testimony. An unresolved issue is whether damages expert testimony is subject to a Daubert inquiry at the class certification stage, before the court has approved the request to proceed as a class action. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to give clear guidance, but defendants are increasingly proactive and move to exclude the testimony at the beginning of the litigation in an attempt to thwart class certification and knock the case out early.
Business Valuation Case Law Yearbook, 2017 Edition
February 2017 PDF (250 pages)
BVR (editor)
Business Valuation Resources, LLC
Business Valuation Update Yearbook, 2017 Edition
February 2017 PDF (349 pages)
BVR (editor)
Business Valuation Resources, LLC
BVLaw Case Update: A One-Hour Briefing
It’s 2017, and BVLaw Case Update is back. Join veteran valuation analyst Jim Alerding (Alerding Consulting LLC) and BVR’s legal editor, Sylvia Golden, for a one-hour discussion of some of most impactful recent valuation and economic damages decisions. This conversation will delve into statutory fair value opinions coming out of Tennessee and Delaware; a Section 1031 Tax Court decision by Judge Laro, one of the court’s most influential voices, addressing methodology and attorney-appraiser communications; and ...
Tennessee dissenters claim Delaware block method is passé
The use of the Delaware block method in Tennessee recently came under attack in a case involving a closely held Nashville, Tenn.-based media company whose controlling shareholders had pursued a squeeze-out merger and later asked the trial court for a judicial appraisal of the dissenting shareholders' interest.
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.
Guidance for valuators on Washington state double dip jurisprudence
Double dipping is a tricky issue because different states have developed different approaches to it. Valuators specializing in divorce issues must know the controlling case law in the state in which they practice. A recent decision by the Washington state Court of Appeals clarifies its state's analytical framework in a case featuring a successful management consulting business the husband had set up and grown during the marriage.
Chancery relies on income approach to determine fair value in problematic bank merger
In a statutory appraisal action, the Delaware Court of Chancery recently found the deal price did not reflect fair value because the sales process was suboptimal. Certain other methods the parties' experts used also were inadequate to the task, the court said.
Healthcare industry hit most by FCA in 2016
Over half of the $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments the government recovered in 2016 under the False Claims Act (FCA) were from the healthcare industry. Allegations often revolve around the measurement of the fair market value of physician compensation.
Compromised Section 1031 appraisal sinks Exelon tax strategy for fossil fuel power plant sale
U.S. Tax Court Judge David Laro frequently has cautioned experts not to give in to hiring attorneys who want to shape the appraisal. Although federal and state discovery rules offer some protection for attorney-expert communication, there is a risk of exposure and with it a risk of damage to the expert’s work product and reputation. A recent Section 1031 case, which Judge Laro handled, illustrates what happens when the communication is discovered.
Chancery says bids in squeeze-out merger are not comparable
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently cut short a challenge to a going-private merger when it dismissed the plaintiffs' complaint. The plaintiffs unsuccessfully argued the defendants breached their fiduciary duties when they favored the controller's lower bid over a third-party bidder's higher offer.
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.
Defense expert testimony supports ESOP valuation and fairness opinions
A recent ESOP decision involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and engaging in a prohibited transaction turned on whether the ESOP trustee’s financial advisor had performed proper due diligence and issued defensible fairness and valuation analyses.
Mock trial highlights ASA’s Advanced BV Conference
All six valuation disciplines were put on the "stand" and cross-examined by an attorney. It demonstrated that even the best valuation report can get skewered in court.
Valuation of key marital asset demands expert opinion
In a Mississippi divorce, the husband's sole-owned fitness training company was the key asset. An accurate valuation was central to achieving an equitable distribution of property, but the parties did not hire experts or even submit much financial information to the trial court.
Daubert tests reliability of testimony, not power of persuasion
The plaintiff, representing the debtor enterprises, sued executives of related family-run consumer lending and retail businesses that had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy over allegedly fraudulent transfers.