I Lost My Customers and It’s Your Fault!

Claims for economic losses arising out of failed real estate developments can be complex to prove, requiring evidence concerning many different aspects of the proposed construction project. There can also be different approaches to quantifying losses. Both of these issues...

Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) factors have gained increasing importance in recent years as society has become more aware of how corporate conduct affects stakeholders, the environment and humanity at large. From issues such as climate change to socially responsible...

This past summer’s heatwaves and wildfires served for many as alarming reminders of climate change. Hotter summers, colder winters, and more hurricanes are amongst the symptoms of a changing global climate[1]. These climatic effects will impact different businesses in different...

What used to be considered an illicit drug in most countries is now a decriminalized plant with some medicinal potential. Cannabis is in the midst of a global transformation into a major industry with massive investment and growth potential. Canada...

On 17 October 2019 large numbers of protesters began appearing in Martyrs Square, Nejmeh Square, and Hamra Street, as well as many other areas of Beirut and throughout Lebanon.  The reasons for the protests are wide reaching from a social,...

In this two-part series, we write about the claim considerations related to the Beirut port explosion on 4 August 2020. On 4 August 2020 at approximately 18:00 local time, an explosion measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale ripped through Beirut...

This is the second blog post co-authored by MDW Law Partner, Christine Doucet, and MDD Forensic Accountants Partner, Jarrett Reaume, addressing various aspects of COVID-19’s impact on business owners and family law issues.  Their first blog post was “Guideline Income...

I hope this will be the final installment in this series, but one never knows. Back in the summer of 2018, I wrote a short piece questioning a sensational Forbes magazine article claiming that Kylie Jenner was worth $1B, based mainly...

A little over a year ago, I wrote a short blog post taking issue with a Forbes magazine article that had concluded that Kylie Jenner's net worth was around $900 million. In light of last week’s news that Coty Inc., a publicly traded cosmetics firm, is...

In this article we provide a brief overview of how to calculate losses under business interruption coverage. Broadly speaking, business interruption (“BI”) insurance coverage is meant to indemnify the insured for the loss of profit it suffers as a result...

In my last post, I argued that an investor in Kylie Jenner’s cosmetics company was essentially investing in Ms. Jenner’s personal brand, and that the earnings stream for that brand was of a finite life. The post got me thinking:...

The below article first appeared in THE STANDARD, New England’s Insurance Magazine. It features excerpts from a presentation given by MDD partners Paul McGowan, CPA, CVA and Jon Ducey, CPA, CVA on the topic of liability claims and other key...

Regrettably, individuals can experience a temporary or permanent diminishment in their ability to perform certain functions due to a tortfeasor. Forensic accountants and economists are regularly retained in matters involving the injury or death of an individual for the purpose...

A few weeks ago, Forbes created a social media storm when it proclaimed that Kylie Jenner was poised to become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. Many thumbs were worn out debating the appropriateness of the term “self-made”, and apparently a GoFundMe page...

As a global forensic accounting firm, we at MDD have a “boots on the ground” mentality when it comes to quantifying economic damages for catastrophe (“CAT”) claims. The busy hurricane season in 2017 meant that I, along with many of...

Valuing a franchise system, or “franchisor”, is in many ways very similar to the valuation of any other type of business; it is a function of the forecasted levels of cash flows that the business will generate, and the risk...

As a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV), almost every business owner I meet wants to know the answer to this question: “How much is my business worth?” There can be many reasons for asking this question: they may be planning to...

In this briefing we focus on mining claims, and share our knowledge and technical expertise on one of the loss measurement issues regularly encountered in mining claims, production bottlenecks. What you will learn from reading the article include: How the...

In my previous article, I discussed the critical need for business owners to have their business valued by a professional appraiser. In this article I will discuss the two types of business appraisals that you might want to consider. Calculation...

What's so important about having a valuation of my company? Small business owners spend most of their time IN THEIR business and not ON THEIR business. Further, they view expending money on getting a professional valuation performed as a completely...

What have we really lost? One of the most common issues that arise from short-duration interruptions, those measured in days as opposed to weeks or months, is whether the business actually suffered a permanent loss of revenue or whether the...

The number of food product recalls reported in the UK through the FSA (Food Standards Agency) rose 78% in 2015. With many UK businesses operating internationally, a product recall situation can impact many countries and cost millions of pounds in...

As business structures become more complex, companies often need more sophisticated insurance products to properly manage their business interruption risks. For example, narrow vertical integration makes risk management more difficult and increases the demands placed on insurers regarding correct risk...

In the event of a devastating catastrophe (“cat”) be it an earthquake, hurricane, flood, or tornado, the first and foremost priority is to ensure the safety all the people involved. Once this has been established, business owners can then begin...

The Basics Assets have value if they will give rise to future economic benefits.  For businesses, these future economic benefits take the form of either the expected net income stream or the amount that could be realised in the short...

What are lost profits and how are they calculated? Lost profits are economic damages caused by a disruption in business operations. The damages can be the result of a variety of factors, some of which include patent infringement, breach of...

With the busiest season of the year for retail sales upon us, you are no doubt wondering what to buy for that special someone. If you’re reading this blog – and I have every reason to believe you are –...

In Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP v. Werbin, 2015, an action was put forward by Schwartz Levitsky Feldman (SLF) claiming loss of profits due to the departure of Mr. Werbin. The firm contended that they purchased Werbin’s clients when they purchased...

In the previous post, we presented a basic framework for analyzing the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations on quantifying financial remedies. We argued that the treatment of foreign exchange should be consistent with the principal underlying the financial remedy being awarded;...

International trade is an increasingly important part of the Canadian economy, as this picture clearly shows: As a result, it is not uncommon for litigation to involve the quantification of financial remedies across multiple political and monetary boundaries. How does...

In this post, I touch on a common error I encounter in dealing with a financial analysis of multiple companies owned by the same group or individual. I call this error the “dividend double count”, for reasons that will become...

When a business is destroyed as a result of wrongdoing, there are two commonly used methods by which the plaintiff’s damages may be measured. One method is to appraise the value of the plaintiff’s business at the date of loss;...

The case of Varco Canada Limited v. Pason Systems Corp., 2013 FC 750 (CanLII) involved an award of over $52M based on an accounting of the defendant’s profits. Perhaps more importantly, the decision sheds light on a number of conceptual...

Pre-judgment interest is often the last thing litigants ponder. A recent award of $75 million in pre-judgment interest in Eli Lilly v. Apotex, 2014 FC 1254 (“Cefaclor”) may change that. Cefaclor involved the infringement of patents for an antibiotic. Damages...

Business valuation concepts can be critical for the proper quantification of personal injury damages, particularly in the context of self-employed individuals. Business valuators are commonly called upon to assess the fair market value of small, owner-managed businesses. One of the...

Moore v. Getahun 2015 ONCA 55 is a case that has already generated a lot of discussion and navel gazing in both the legal and expert communities, and I hesitated for quite a while before deciding that I had anything worthwhile to...

I have already written, in another context, about the interaction between physical assets and lost profits. I want to explore the issue from a couple of additional angles. In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character hears a voice telling him...

My practice involves a lot of work for property insurance companies. When damage to property occurs, the property owner may advance a claim against the third party tortfeasor for both the value of the damaged property as well as an...

In the previous post, I discussed the large pre-judgment interest award in Cefaclor. In that case, one of the issues raised by defendant’s counsel was that to award the plaintiff compound interest would result in overpayment; since the damages award is...

This post on pre-judgment interest deals with the basic question: what is the best method by which to calculate a pre-judgment interest rate? The Law Pre-judgment interest is interest that is added to a plaintiff’s monetary award in respect of...

Pre-judgment interest is possibly the least sexy topic imaginable. But there is perhaps no better vehicle for a discussion of the fundamental issues involved in financial loss quantification. A short article of mine dealing with a very large PJI award (over...

Towards the end of the Great War (or World War I as it came to be called), the American president, Woodrow Wilson, proclaimed Fourteen Points outlining his goals for the reconstitution of Europe, and the international state system as a...

In Canada, as a general rule, damages awards are subject to the same tax treatment as the monetary amounts they are meant to replace. For example, awards for lost profits are taxed as business income [1]. Litigation can often take...

Towards the end of its decision in Dunkin’ Brands Canada Ltd. c. Bertico inc.2015 QCCA 624, the Quebec Court of Appeal discussed the issue of whether an award for both a) lost profits up to 2005 and b) loss of business...

In April 2015, the Quebec Court of Appeal released its decision in Dunkin’ Brands Canada Ltd. c. Bertico inc. 2015 QCCA 624. The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge’s ruling (Bertico inc. c. Dunkin' Brands Canada Ltd., 2012 QCCS 2809) that...

During the course of matrimonial disputes, there are often situations where solicitors find it helpful to engage specialist investigators and appraisers. In particular, forensic accountants can help to provide the court with a clearer view of the true financial position...

Damage quantification for livestock losses can be difficult as it often requires consideration of market price fluctuations, age and weight of livestock at the time of loss and the end purpose of the livestock - considering whether they are for...

This article explores the areas of overlap between insurance coverage for inventory loss and business interruption. In the event of physical damage to inventory, different policies provide different valuations, including: replacement cost, actual cash value, historical cost or selling price. ...

The Federal Court’s decision in Merck & Co. v. Apotex Inc. [2013] F.C.J. No. 840, has shed a novel light on to how damages for patent infringement are to be calculated. Previously, in its decision in Monsanto Canada Inc. v....

It is becoming increasingly important for attorneys to understand financial statements and their relevance to various types of business and legal situations. The non-accountant attorney will greatly benefit from a basic understanding of the key principles of accounting. Equally important...

With increasing activity in public works projects in the Greater Toronto Area (e.g. the Toronto-York Spadina Subway extension) and other highway expansions across Ontario, we can expect a large number of businesses to be affected by expropriation. This article will...

Litigation can be a scary and intimidating process.  Preparation is key and includes ensuring that the documentation you need to prove your case is ready at hand. Below are some common forms of litigation and the documentation that should be...

In the US property insurance market, coinsurance, an often-misunderstood concept, refers to the sharing of risk between the insured and the insurer and applies to property damage and business income loss coverage. Coinsurance as it applies to Property Insurance Because...

Plaintiff and Defense attorneys are guilty! Guilty of waiting until the last minute to address areas of damages. MDD is very often retained in litigation engagements when the measurement of damages takes a back seat to liability and causation. Although...

Large insurance claims are almost always complex, time-consuming and in need of a forensic accountant. They are complex because of the secondary impact from the misfortune setting off the initial claim. Take, for example, a fire at a ski hill...

Insurance policies generally state that in determining the Actual Loss Sustained under business income coverage, consideration must be given to actual experience of the business before and the probable experience thereafter had no loss occurred.  Thus, the goal in evaluating...

Foreign exchange risk has been high on the agenda of CFOs of MNCs for many years. With the expansion of the global economy and diverse influences on exchange rates - such as the current climate of economic uncertainty and fear...

Business valuations in one form or another have been around for decades. As a result of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Internal Revenue Service began issuing memorandums and directives relating to methods for determining values and...