Litigation Support & Valuation Disputes

Valuation analysis and expert support for shareholder disputes, divorce, and damages matters.

What this engagement is

When the value of a business is contested, in a shareholder dispute, a divorce, a damages claim, or a partnership dissolution, the number stops being an estimate and becomes evidence. This engagement supplies the independent valuation analysis that supports that evidence: a defensible value, documented to professional standards, prepared by an analyst who can explain every input in plain language under pressure.

Litigation valuation differs from planning valuation in one essential way: everything will be challenged. The opposing side will have its own expert, its own number, and its own theory of the case. The work has to anticipate that scrutiny at every step, which is why the file behind the report matters as much as the report itself.

Who orders it

Attorneys order these engagements, in family law matters involving a closely held business, shareholder and partner disputes, breach of contract and lost profits claims, and dissenting shareholder actions. We also take rebuttal engagements, reviewing the opposing expert's report and identifying where the methodology, the inputs, or the math fail to support the conclusion. Some matters call for a consulting role rather than a testifying one, where the analysis informs strategy behind the privilege line and never appears on a witness list. We do both, and we ask which role you need at the first call, because the answer changes how the file is built.

What standard governs it

NACVA professional standards govern the analysis, prepared as a conclusion of value, the full opinion tier that contested matters require. Where the jurisdiction defines the standard of value, fair market value, fair value, or another statutory standard, the analysis follows the controlling definition, and the report says explicitly which standard was applied and why.

What the deliverable looks like

That depends on the role the attorney needs filled. A full written valuation report prepared for disclosure. A critique of the opposing expert's report, itemized and cited. Consulting support behind the scenes: deposition questions, document requests targeted at the financial records that matter, and analysis of settlement positions. In every role, the deliverable is built on the assumption that a skilled adversary will attack it, because one will.

Timeline

Litigation runs on the court's calendar, not ours. Tell us the disclosure deadlines, the discovery cutoff, and the trial date at the first call, and we will tell you plainly whether the schedule is achievable and what we need from you to hit it.

How the process works

The engagement starts with a conflict check and a scoping call with counsel: the claims, the calendar, the documents already produced, and the documents still needed. Discovery is where valuation cases are won, so we tell you early which financial records matter and which requests are worth the fight. The analysis follows the same discipline as every valuation we prepare, normalized earnings, appropriate approaches, documented reconciliation, with one addition: a working file organized for production, because in litigation the file is discoverable and the file is the credibility.

What makes an expert number survive

Three things, in our experience. Consistency: the methodology would have produced the same answer for either side, and the file shows it. Transparency: every input traces to a document in the record, not to judgment applied off the page. Proportion: the analysis does not stretch past what the evidence supports, because the fastest way to lose a fact finder is to defend one indefensible number in an otherwise sound report. We would rather concede a small point in deposition than protect it and lose the report. Attorneys who have watched the other kind of expert understand exactly why.

Where to start

Contact us for a conflict check and a scoping call. Attorneys evaluating whether a case justifies expert costs can ask for a preliminary read before committing to a full engagement.