Blog: Weak claims
This may include somewhat of a legal commentary, but as a financial expert witness I am often asked if a claim has a likelihood of success in court. I’m asked sometimes by a hiring lawyer, before I begin an engagement. I’m asked at the deposition phase, as a way to diminish my findings or for other purposes. And I might ask myself the same question-after all I can be an advocate for a very wide variety of things, even if I could also argue/advocate for/analyze the opposite.
Sometimes it’s a limiting condition or assumption-that is, I assume that abc happened, then in that scenario what are the damages (or the value etc). This is common, nothing to be surprised about.
However, I have seen or been engaged on cases that are either so small that it’s not financially viable to pay lawyers/experts or others that seem extremely hard to win. Perhaps there is very little evidence or the claims are unclear or lacking evidencce.
Some examples are a recent lending case I had-the claim was so small it didn’t seem financially logical for it to be pursued. I looked into it and plaintiff was a former employee for counsel, so this seemed to be the reason for it being undertaken when plaintiff probably couldn’t pay full legal fees on the case. Not to say there wasn’t a valid claim or the amount wasn’t material to them, but it definitely raises some eyebrows by outsiders.
The term ‘elder abuse’ has wide meanings, and can be physical or emotional, or even financial. I have a current case where it did become physical-but is this a crime or does it relate to a business. And if it somehow relates to a business then what is the penalty-is it personal, is it criminal or does the business get fined? I’ve had other cases in this area and some attorneys frown on this cause of action being used to often.
There are forensic cases which either seem so complex or with only circumstantial evidence or which require an internal CPA to organize that at first they either seem overwhelming, flimsy or otherwise.
It is important for expert witnesses to critically evaluate the merits of a case as they perform their analysis. This will help them be a better advocate for their position/analysis. Understanding the overall case is also important in calculating damages/valuation/forensic analysis.