Economic Damages – Complex Measurements & Theories

Measuring damages in litigated disputes is a complex endeavor. Determining with reasonable certainty the measure of economic harm suffered requires an understanding of the business in which the harm has occurred, the ability to create and measure alternative economic scenarios in constructing a so called but-for world, the evaluation of theories of lost profits, the analysis of the reasonableness of discount and capitalization rates, and the evaluation of causation issues. An expert must possess not only the skill and expertise to answer the issues that confront him or her, but also the ability to explain those answers with candor, truthfulness and believability. Once again, our references speak to our technical, communication and client service skills.

The following anecdotes illustrate the types of damage-related matters in which we have provided expert assistance.

• On behalf of the US Department of Justice, Veris provided analysis and expert testimony in several engagements related to the costs of storing and removing spent nuclear fuel. We assisted in defending the Department of Energy against claims involving hundreds of millions of dollars, providing expert testimony in federal court.
• In litigation involving asserted contractual breaches related to global positioning satellite systems in the US aviation industry, we constructed a lost-profits model and presented that model at trial. The jury awarded damages based entirely on our model.
• In connection with disputes involving insurers and offshore reinsurers, we conducted an analysis of underlying claims and developed a model to project the population of valid claims as well as the cash flows related to those claims. We provided testimony at arbitration of this matter; the arbitration finding resulted in a monetary award matching the results of our analysis.