Litigation Cases

A furniture store was closed for four months due to water damage. The CPA hired by the company calculated a loss exceeding $1 million. In addition to a detailed review and analysis of the company’s books and records, we interviewed personnel from other local furniture retailers, talked with the company’s suppliers, researched secretary of state filings, and obtained historical newspaper articles that were pertinent to the matter. We discovered that prior to the damage, the subject company lost key sales people to a newly formed regional competitor, and the company had recently lost key suppliers. In addition, we learned that a number of stores similar to the subject company had recently gone out of business due to increased competition and stagnant demand. By putting it all together, we calculated a loss of $250,000. The company’s CPA, who calculated the million dollar loss, subsequently withdrew from the engagement and our client acheived a favorable settlement.

A restaurant suffered a total loss, as a result of a fire. The company was seeking $640,000 in lost profits from the responsible party.

The CPA hired by the plaintiff predicated his calculations on the assumed continuation of a 13% prior year growth rate. By looking behind the numbers, our professionals determined that the prior year “growth” was merely the result of changing to a 7-day operating week. Furthermore, we noted that prior to the fire, the restaurant reverted back to a 6-day week. So not only would sales not have grown during the suspension period, they would have declined. Accounting for the operational changes drastically reduced lost sales. The plaintiff was awarded the amount calculated by us of around $340,000.

A crop grower alleged that actions of a pesticide company resulted in a major decrement in crop production. The crop grower sued for lost profits of around $500,000.

Our team was engaged to review the calculations made by the plaintiff’s economist. We noted inconsistencies between the production records and the former field manager’s testimony, gaps in the sequence of sales invoices, a number of large unexplained cash receipts, and a large amount of proceeds from federal crop insurance. A member of our team was deposed in the matter. Subsequently, the plaintiff withdrew its suit and was indicted for insurance fraud.