Expert Determinations

It is common for Sale and Purchase Agreements, Shareholder Agreements or other contracts to refer disputes between parties for Expert Determination, as an alternate dispute resolution mechanism, avoiding legal proceedings.

Often understanding the nature and details of the dispute, is as important as ensuring there is a proper process for the parties to ventilate and respond to each other’s claims and for the Expert Determiner to properly address the parties’ submissions. Additionally it is important to efficiently effect the engagement in accordance with the agreement between the parties.

You can benefit from my experience in conducting Expert Determinations and assisting parties with preparing their submissions to the Expert Determiner.

Loss Analysis and Quantification

As important as it is to prove liability for a contractual breach, tort, contravention of a law or statute, the effort to run an action will be wasted if damage or loss cannot be established or quantified. Similarly, actions are often defended on the basis that no loss or damage was actually incurred by the aggrieved party.

The analysis and quantification of loss is often not straightforward. Evidence will need to be gathered and assessed. A framework will need to be considered and documented to assess the loss. Research will need to be undertaken to support key elements of the analysis. A report will need to be prepared setting out the facts, assumptions, methodology and findings. The report will need to clearly communicate complex financial issues in an unbiased manner and the author must be prepared and able to give evidence in court and be cross examined.

At other times (on a consulting expert basis) the expert will need to support the legal team with the preparation of their case – identifying the key issues likely to impact loss and damage, provide preliminary assessments of key information, assisting the legal team’s preparations for instructing their experts and assisting the barristers prepare for cross examination of experts.

My experience in and out of the courtroom provides a valuable resource for any loss analysis and quantification.

Owner Disputes

Whether you are a shareholder, partner or joint venturer, the nature of business means at times you will disagree with the conduct and direction your business activities. Sometimes your mutual responsibilities will be governed by a legal agreement, other times it won’t.

If these issues cannot be negotiated between the parties, dispute provisions may be activated in legal agreements or legal action may be initiated to determine differences between owners. Other times you may just need an independent view on a financial issue to resolve an ambiguity so the parties can move forward together. Where the relationship is irrevocably damaged you may need a valuation to separate financial interests.

I have many years of experience assisting in such disputes and the common issues encountered.

Family Law

When a marriage or relationship comes to an end, a necessary part of the process is to value and separate the financial interests of the parties.

I have been called upon by the parties’ lawyers and the Family Court to undertake the Single Expert Valuation role to assist with the settlement between the parties. I can also assist a single party with the submissions to the Single Expert Valuer to ensure all valuation matter are properly brought to the attention of the valuer.

Compulsory Acquisitions

Compulsory acquisitions of land and leasehold interests by governments are common place today as infrastructure projects are initiated and developed to meet the growing needs of our modern cities.

Businesses may suffer interruption as they relocate as a result of the compulsory acquisition of land, in other cases where relocation is not possible or exceeds the value of the business, an assessment needs to be made of the value of the business which has been lost.

My experience includes acting for both governments / government authorities and affected landowners and business owners in such cases.

Insurance and Claims

Insurance is great to have when you have suffered a loss. Alternatively in certain scenarios a scheme may be established by a corporate entity, authority or pursuant to settlement terms arising from legal proceedings to compensate affected parties.

In my experience, preparing the claim is often distracting and time consuming for business owners and management who prefer to focus on continuing to run their business. Any claim will need to be properly supported, estimates will need to be made where relevant data is not available or difficult to separate from other activities, and the loss claimed will need to meet the insurance criteria or the scheme terms.

Critical elements, such as does the policy respond on a claims made or claims incurred basis, what are the policy limits per claim and per insurance period, when did the insured become first aware of the claim and was the insurer notified, need to be considered.

From an insurer or underwriter perspective or someone charged with effecting the scheme settlement terms, confidence will need to be established in claims methodologies or claims models when claims are numerous and it is not economic to review each individual claim. In other cases claim circumstances may be unique or claims for loss of earnings will need to be reviewed in the context of a claimant’s historical and future earnings potential.

My experience in assessing claims in a variety of contexts, can provide valuable input to dealing with claims efficiently and independently.