| 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
|
William
H. Black, CPA, PC