Working with an Economic Damages Expert: A Practical Guide for Counsel

Introducing the Series

Most people do not think about engaging an economic damages expert until it is too late.

At Cogence Group, unfortunately, we see this scenario play out too often, which can catapult into even bigger problems: A case that looked like it might settle heads toward trial. Discovery closed before all documents were requested. A damages model gets built on assumptions under limiting conditions. An expert report gets drafted under time pressure and ends up with gaps that opposing counsel and their expert are happy to exploit.

None of these scenarios are inevitable, but avoiding them requires an understanding of how the process actually works.

This series is our attempt to pull back the curtain on what we do at Cogence Group, from the moment we are retained to the moment we step off the witness stand. Whether you are an attorney building your litigation team, a business owner navigating a dispute, or simply someone who wants to understand what goes into a damages analysis, we wrote this for you.

We will cover everything: the importance of timing, how the level of access to financial records shapes the entire case, what it takes to build a damages model that holds up under scrutiny, and what separates expert testimony that lands from testimony that falls flat.

There is a lot of ground to cover, which is why we are doing it in multiple focused posts rather than one overwhelming one.

We think by the end of the series, you will have a much clearer picture of what we do and how to get the most out of working with us.

Let's get into it! Start with Part 1: Getting Ahead of the Case: Why Early Expert Involvement Matters.