Bill Black CPA Logo William H. Black, CPA, PC
 

Home   
Professional Profile   
Litigation Consulting   
Business Valuation   
Intellectual Property   
Management Strategy   
Forensic Accounting   
Fraud Investigation   
Divorce   
Expert Testimony   
Industries Served   
Articles and News   
Links to Resources   
Site Map   
Latest Update
July 16, 2009 

William H Black, CPA, PC   
7040 Hunters Knoll   
Sandy Springs, Georgia 30328   
telephone 770.698.8020   
fax 770.399.6731   
whb@billblackcpa.com   

 

Litigation Consulting

Most business disputes that reach litigation involve questions of quantifying and proving damages. Valid and defensible damage claims require seasoned professional judgment to assess the economic circumstances of the subject before and after the damaging events, analyze and evaluate relevant factors, and estimate what operating results should have been "but for" the damage. Modern litigation frequently involves sifting through immense volumes of data to figure out what has happened, and the time pressures inherent in the litigation environment mandate efficient and effective action.

Bill Black has extensive experience in proving or rebutting business damage claims in a variety of industries and situations. In more than forty lawsuits and alternative dispute resolution proceedings, he has delivered business valuation testimony, created financial models related to businesses and individuals, including detailed incremental cost and profitability analyses, and used the models to demonstrate or rebut damages from breach of contract, unfair termination, and other actions leading to claims for lost profits or business damages. Black has demonstrated substantive skills in analyzing and summarizing large volumes of financial and operating information. He has directed and performed successful efforts to reconstruct missing information, including identification of additional sources of information, design and implementation of cross-checks and validation procedures, and development of structured deposition questions to substantiate conclusions drawn from available documentation.

Sample engagements include:

Cable manufacturing company

  • Served as lead expert witness on financial matters in a suit alleging accounting errors and fraudulent misrepresentations in the sale of a manufacturing company for more than $150 million.
  • Directed analytical efforts and delivered testimony to rebut opposing experts on GAAP and financial statement presentation, and assessed the accounting theory and support for disputed items.
  • Performed computerized analysis of thousands of inventory transactions over several years to highlight deficiencies in plaintiff's claims.
  • Key issues involved proving what information was available to plaintiff and when it was available

Regional medical practice

  • Analyzed pre- and post-acquisition financial and operating performance
  • Developed business valuation estimates
  • Rebutted claims by dissenting minority shareholders regarding business value

Employment Damages litigation

  • In a tortious interference case involving a medical practitioner seeking an academic position, calculated expected earnings over the practitioner's productive horizon
  • Developed damages estimates
  • Trial testimony assisted jury in finding $750,000 in damages for client

Chemical catalyst manufacturer

  • Designed, directed and performed analysis in support of a claim for damages from violations of an agreement to distribute industrial products in the Middle East.
  • Major issues included transfer pricing and cost allocation, LIFO inventory concepts and application, and market definition for lost sales (including size, duration, competition, and technical factors).
  • Arbitrator awarded claimants more than $5 million for transfer price violations and lost sales.

Specialty engineering firm

  • Analyzed damages and business valuation testimony in a business dissolution
  • Developed testimony that convinced jury that damages were less than $250,000, not the $7 to $12 million claimed by opposing expert

Restaurants

  • In lender liability and breach of contract actions, investigated operating history of
  • restaurants and food service operations,
  • Analyzed performance compared to industry standards
  • Developed financial models of expected future operating results

 

 

 

Home | Up