Forensic Accounting
Forensic accounting services are required by individuals or companies for damage calculations, fraudulent activity investigations, expert witness testimony and litigation planning. The estimation of economic damages in the context of a Personal Injury, Wrongful Death or a Wrongful Termination action is intended to measure the income producing capacity of an individual and the costs associated with maintaining them in the best possible condition. In the context of Business Lost Profits action, the estimation of economic damages is intended to act as a remedy to allow a business to recover when a legal wrong or “bad act” has caused it to lose profits.
Economic damage analyses are performed for many reasons, but usually involve the filing of a lawsuit, for these reasons:
- Business transactions gone wrong
- Class-action
- Family disputes over the division of inheritances
- Loss of customers due to unfair competition, libel, or slander
- Medical malpractice or accidents causing permanent personal injury or a wrongful death
- Patent, copyright, or trademark infringements
- Wrongful termination for age, sex, race
- Wage discrimination
- Loss of earning capacity
- Insurance defense
- Damages in commercial litigation
- Breach of contract
- Loss profits
- Marital dissolution
- Bankruptcy
- Shareholder disputes
- Purchase price and earnout disputes
In a personal injury or wrongful death action, the forensic accountant can:
- Identify economic losses
- Determine past and future income losses
- Determine the value of fringe benefits
- Adjust the loss for personal consumption or support factors
- Measure the replacement value of uncompensated household services for income earners and homemakers
- Convert the Life Care Plans of medical and rehabilitation experts into present values
- Select the proper discount rate and convert all future losses to their present values
- Prepare a report detailing the value of all losses
- Prepare a rebuttal report of your opponent’s expert
- Write questions for direct examination and depositions for himself and cross examination and deposition questions for the opposing expert
- Help you prepare a structured settlement or determine the value of an offered structure
- Present a complex topic in understandable language for a trier of fact
