Legal Counsel

Many of our engagements involve disputes of one type or another. These disputes often fall into three categories: breach of contract, torts, and taxation. Accordingly, we are recognized for our thought leadership in forensic analysis services.

Our forensic analysts provide both consulting expert services and testifying expert services. Our forensic analysts have provided expert testimony in federal and state courts, international courts, arbitration hearings (both international and domestic), and other venues.

This expert testimony generally involves either business, security, or intangible asset valuation opinions or lost profits and other economic damages opinions.

We serve tax counsel.
We perform valuations of close corporations, fractional business interests, restricted public securities, and intellectual property for gift tax, estate tax, and income tax purposes. We value tangible property and intangible property for intercompany transfer price purposes. And, we value special purpose and income-producing property for state and local ad valorem property tax purposes.

Tax disputes related to the reasonableness of shareholder/executive compensation may affect both C corporations and S corporations. And, such disputes may also involve not-for-profit entity private inurement allegations. We use all generally accepted reasonableness of executive compensation analyses (including the independent investor test) to document a range of reasonable shareholder/executive compensation.

We serve commercial litigation counsel.
Our forensic analysts quantify lost profits and other economic damages related to either a breach of contract or a tort. Our forensic analysts have testified in federal, state, and international courts with respect to antitrust, shareholder disputes, breach of contract, eminent domain and condemnation, interference with business opportunity, securities fraud, lender liability, and other commercial litigation matters.

We serve bankruptcy counsel.
We perform valuations of the secured creditors' collateral interests in debtor assets; we analyze the price and structure of Section 363 property sales; we opine on the fairness of debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing  transactions and other DIP proposed transactions; and we quantify income tax attributes (e.g., net operating loss carryforwards) that are based on the value of the debtor. We perform solvency and insolvency analyses. We review the reasonableness of proposed plans of reorganization. And, we perform fresh-start accounting valuations for debtors emerging from bankruptcy protection. 

We serve intellectual property counsel.
We conclude the fair value, license royalty rate, ALP intercompany transfer price, economic damages, or remaining useful life of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. We analyze intellectual property values, damages, and royalty rates for infringement and other tort claims and for breach of contract, joint venture, development agreement, license, franchise, or other types of agreements.

We serve securities law counsel.
We perform forensic analyses related to claims of breach of corporate noncompetition or nondisclosure agreements, antitrust, fraud and misrepresentation against the market, acquisition earn-out disputes, accounting fraud and misrepresentation, failure to disclose, dissenting shareholder appraisal rights, shareholder oppression, dissipation of corporate assets, officers and directors breach of fiduciary duty, and other reasons. We calculate lost profits, cost to restore, or other economic damages measurements.

We serve family law counsel.
We value the business assets of the marital estate, including closely held business interests, restricted public stock, stock options and warrants, professional practices, and professional licenses and other intangible assets. We perform forensic accounting analysis related to tracing hidden assets. And, we perform owner/employee reasonableness of compensation analyses related to business value normalization adjustments and to reasonableness of spousal support.

We serve ERISA legal counsel.
We serve the legal counsel for the ESOP trustee with regard to fairness opinions (and other transaction opinions). These independent financial adviser opinions relate to the purchase of sponsor company stock, the sale of sponsor company stock, and the assessment of unsolicited tender offers related to sponsor company stock.

We serve M&A transaction legal counsel.
We provide fairness, solvency, and other transaction opinions to boards of directors and other parties with fiduciary duties. These independent financial adviser opinions relate to the purchase or sale of business units, financings, restructurings, the declaration of dividends, and other corporate finance transactions.

We serve corporate general counsel.
We provide special investigations, due diligence analyses, fraud investigations, and other forensic accounting analyses. These analyses are typically performed in response to "whistleblower" allegations of fraud, abuse, or other management wrongdoing.