case studies

 

Davis Wright Tremaine

Assignment

  • Buy-out of a family member owning a portion of a closely held business

  • Statutory Fair Value determination

  • Assess value impact of oppression and breach of fiduciary duties allegations

Challenges

  • High level of contentiousness

  • Near certainty of going to trial

  • No clear and consistent definition of Fair Value

Result

Simply, Jay and his team were the most valuable resource we had throughout the course of our case, including through trial. From working with the client to develop our strategy, to digesting the other expert’s report, to presenting a compelling narrative at trial, the Cogence team was with us every step of the way. Jay’s trial presentation was top notch, and it led the judge to adopt in her opinion Jay’s methodology and nearly every conclusion he reached. We were lucky to have Cogence on our side.

Nicholas Kampars, Davis Wright Tremaine

April 2019

 
 
 

Tails & Trotters

Assignment

  • Analyze and compute economic losses in a business interruption claim

  • Assist the insured in its negotiations with carrier

Challenges

  • Relatively complicated small business

  • Initial offers by carrier did not take into account the true variable nature of the business expenses

  • Expert for the carrier was entrenched in their typical way of analyzing losses, making it difficult for them to look at the facts differently

Result

My small, but not simple, retail business suffered a devastating fire in late February 2017. After spending several months working with my insurance company to calculate my Business Interruption claim I was offered a paltry 35% of the loss by the insurance company's accounting representation. The offer was made with no documentation by my insurance firm's accountants, and all communications ceased when I challenged the offer.

Cogence was able to bring the insurance accountants back to the table to complete the calculations. They worked to understand the intricacies of my business and were able to present my financial information in a manner that the accountants were better able to accept.
In the end, we were successful in convincing the insurance company to pay the full amount of the Business Interruption claim. Although it certainly would have been better had the insurance company & their accountant worked through the process in a more honest manner to avoid additional expense, Cogence's work was instrumental in ultimately getting the claim funded in full - absolutely critical for my business to be able to survive the catastrophe.

Cogence was wonderful to work with, and I highly recommend them to anyone unfortunate enough to require their services!

Aaron Silverman, Tails & Trotters

January 2018