Valuation and Litigation Insights (curated by Grobstein Teeple, LLP)

Hello

Welcome to the first issue of Valuation and Litigation Insights. Our mission is to provide interesting and useful content designed to help litigators and advisors help their clients make informed decisions and achieve favorable results.

To kick things off in this first issue we will address the elephant in the room -- you guessed it -- the coronavirus pandemic. I am hoping some of the information in this issue will help you contend with, and hopefully succeed in, the current landscape.

News and Trends

Michigan court decides COVID-19 business interruption claim; many more cases in the pipeline | Business Valuation Resources

What does the future hold for business interruption claims in the wake of COVID-19? A recent court decision in Michigan, considered the first substantive dispositive ruling on a Covid-19 business interruption claim, handed the victory to the insurer. However, over 140 cases are in process across the nation. See BVWire's summary for more information.

Market Rebound May Curb Securities Class Actions, Damages

Think your client may be due a damage award as a result of COVID-related securities fraud? Think again. The recent stock market rebound may curtail or altogether eliminate any such awards. Check out Winston and Strawn's analysis for more detail.

State Responses to COVID-19

Each state has had a different approach to handling COVID-19. Wiley regularly updates this breakdown of how each state is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 Litigation Report – July 2020 #1 | Blank Rome LLP - JDSupra

Each week the professionals at Blank and Rome highlight the latest cases and trends relating to coronavirus litigation.

Things to Know

A COVID-19 Timeline Including Financial Impact through April 1, 2020

An important part of building a damages case in the COVID-19 world is understanding when the markets were impacted by the pandemic. This timeline developed by Valuation Products and Services provides an excellent framework, albeit through April 1, 2020.

Another Useful COVID-19 Timeline

Another financially-oriented timeline that is more up-to-date can be found from the people at Valuation Research Corporation. Graphs that present stock market indices and stock volatility measures over time provide additional context regarding how and when financial markets were impacted by the pandemic. This site requires some clicking to see the full timeline.

COVID-19 and Proximate Cause

A credible lost profits calculation requires establishing causation - i.e., proximate cause. This can be challenging in normal situations, but is especially daunting during the coronavirus pandemic.

Allyn Needham has written a useful article for NACVA's QuickRead detailing the factors a damages expert will want to consider in developing a calculation that holds up to "reasonable certainty." The checklist in the article might provide a useful useful list of topics to discuss with your client or to use in the cross-examination of an opposing witness.

COVID-19: Which critical choices should businesses make next? | EY - Global

A basis for successfully representing a client is often simply understanding where it is and where it is going, especially in tumultuous world of COVID-19. EY presents a clear framework discussing what companies need to do to adapt to and thrive in an erratic economy and fast changing environment.

Tools and Tips

Best Practices for Working with Experts Remotely

Those of us working in information-based industries are fortunate to able to continue working remotely, albeit with some adaptation. This mode of working and collaborating will likely be with us for some time, and may in some form represent a permanent shift in the way we do things. This article provides some guidance regarding how to best work remotely with experts.

Tracking COVID-19 Litigation

Want to know the level and type of COVID-19 litigation activity in your state? Check out Hunton Andrews' COVID-19 Complaint Tracker.

In Closing

That's it for now. If you found this issue of Valuation and Litigation Insights useful, please forward to a friend or colleague.

Talk to you soon!

Will Thomsen
Director of Valuation and Litigation Services
Grobstein Teeple, LLP

Connect with me on Linkedin
Call me at 818-502-4950
Email me at wthomsen@gtllp.com