Author: David Amdur

Project Nature: Wrongful Death  Claim- Expert Witness (Plaintiff) – Whitehorse, Yukon Canadian Supreme Court  

SIC:  8021 (Dentists, Orthodontists)

Company Size:  Confidential

Assignment Issues:  Engaged by non-US attorneys for an  international insurance firm.  Their client’s husband, an orthodontist, died when his hired airplane crashed while on a Canadian back-woods private trip.  Liability was clearly established, insurance coverages were outlined, and the trial in Canadian Supreme Court focused on damages.

We profiled the deceased orthodontist’s practice versus all others in the U.S., and proved it to be of the highest caliber, from a financial productivity standpoint.  Our report and in-court testimony was cited in the presiding Justice’s Reasons for Judgment as being acceptable without change as the final basis for damages, which were the largest amount  ($4 million)  ever awarded  by that court for a wrongful death action.

 

Project Nature:  Lost Profits Litigation (Plaintiff)

SIC:  5013 (Motor Vehicle Supplies and New Parts)

Company Size:  $8.2 million in sales

Assignment Issues:  The client company had sustained a severe loss of sales, after building to a 55% annual sales growth rate.  Plaintiff attorneys attributed the losses to a component part malfunction, which was supplied by the defendant.  The defense argued that market demand for our client’s products had fallen, without respect to the malfunctions, thus accounting for the loss in sales.  We provided a detailed market share and cost analysis of the client, its industry and of each of its major competitors.  Our exhibits clearly showed that the client’s sales volume drop was only partially the result of the modest decline in market demand.  Our independent analysis substantiated our claimed damages for lost profits related primarily to the subject part’s malfunction , including loss of capital asset value.  Our client successfully obtained a large pre-trial settlement with negotiations beginning within a few days after our final work product was submitted to defense counsel.

 

Attorney Solutions for Business Valuation in planning or dispute resolution settings.

For over 35 years The Ostermueller Group has been collaborating with law firms throughout the United States & Canada to provide consulting, business valuation services and forensic/ expert testimony services. We are experienced at explaining and/or defending our analysis and conclusions to a variety of audiences:

• Attorneys’ & CPAs’ clients,
• tax authorities,
• judges/juries and
• other dissident parties

We have provided these services in planning, mediative/ settlement and litigative settings and we have testified in various U.S. state and federal District & Bankruptcy courts and in the Canadian Supreme courts.   

Further, as Instructor for the AICPA/ Thurgood Marshall Federal Judicial Center’s  joint program for Federal courts’  judges, held at the Center’s Washington, D.C. national training/ A-V facility, Mr. Ostermueller co-developed & co-presented a full day class presentation, Business Valuation & Use of Experts by the Federal Judiciary, to the attending Federal Judiciary there from the U.S. Tax, Claims, District & Bankruptcy courts, including videotapings for distribution to the U.S. Federal Judiciary.

Attorneys contact us for purposes of:

• Planning for ownership transfer
• Mergers & acquisitions and sale negotiations
• Valuing intellectual property for licensing or sale
• Divorce, including joint appraisals and collaborative divorce
• Business litigation support regarding valuation and/or damages
• Business planning
• Buy/Sell agreements
• ESOPs
• Estate planning or gifting, including charitable contributions
• Employee incentives and options
• Enhanced earnings determination
• Financing & SBA loans
• Bankruptcy

Damage analysis and expert witness testimony for:

• Patent, copyright, trademark and
• Shareholder disputes
• Insurance claims
• Breach of contract
• Loss of key person
• Malpractice
• Lost earnings
• Loss of business opportunity
• Termination of dealership

Other Services We Provide to Attorneys and CPAs:

• Examination and critique of opposing valuation reports and opinions
• Forensic accounting/tracing
• Calculation of reasonable royalty rates
• Executive Compensation Reasonableness determinations in litigation settings
• Defense of IRS & Dissident Stakeholder challenges to Exec Comp Reasonableness

Building our business around these specialties gives attorneys, CPAs and business owners confidence in the outcomes we provide because we independently arrive at our onclusions and can clearly explain them to all parties involved.

Contact Us to discuss your client’s needs today.