DAMAGES ANALYSIS – PROCESS, METHODOLOGY AND CHALLENGES
CD: Could you outline a few of the key challenges parties face when assessing the scope of damages pertaining to a corporate dispute case?
Ratner: There are many complex business relationships that large corporations have with customers, business partners, joint venture partners, vendors and service providers to name a few. Many of these relationships are documented in complex and voluminous contracts and operating procedures. In some cases, business relationships operate in a manner that is not always consistent with their documentation. One of the biggest challenges in a complex damages case is truly understanding or forecasting from a financial point of view the impact or result from a change in the situation or a breach. The challenge of assessing what would have happened but for some critical event can be very difficult in dynamic business relationships. The basic question sounds simple enough: “What would have happened but for X or Y or Z?” The challenge is that knowing where to look and how to measure the damages is different in most cases and can become very complex when there are multiple business dynamics that have to be considered and measured.
CD: What factors can influence the calculation of damages in dispute resolution cases? How does the establishment of ‘real’ value guide case strategy?
Jul-Sep 2015 issue
GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group LLC