Testimonials from our clients.

“Jay and Megan were instrumental in helping with the sale of my business to two internal buyers.  The price was set and agreed upon by all parties very quickly, as the buyers accountants commented on how clean everything looked and a deal was made shortly thereafter.  The process was simple, fast and professional allowing everyone to focus on the structure of the deal, instead of the price.

 In looking to determine a fair price, I wanted a firm with experience and expertise that could back up their numbers.  The valuation proved to be the cornerstone of the deal.

 I cannot recommend Cogence Group highly enough.  They were a pleasure to work with.”

— Jim Consolo, President, Integrated Power Systems, Inc.

“Jay and Taylor are true pros. They helped our client to resolve a complex federal court litigation matter by providing expert analysis, testimony, and by assisting our team’s effort to take cross examine the opposing parties and experts. 

The analysis provided was spot on and objectively untouchable. Most importantly, the Cogence team was always in line or one step ahead in preparation. We could depend on timely deliveries without fire drills. And the product delivered was exceptional. Jay and his team understand that complex litigation is full of moving parts, and they were never in a position to slow the machine. To the contrary, they aided in our effort to keep it well oiled and aggressively moving forward. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.”

— Joel Parker, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt

“A multi-billion dollar tenant of ours breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing with regard to their lease. And calculating the present value of lost income was very complex. Our attorney hired Cogence Group as our valuation expert. Cogence was able to explain a complicated valuation process in a simple way the jurors could understand. The defense had their own expert and aggressively attacked the Cogence valuation. I’m happy to report we got a unanimous verdict in our favor.  I can highly recommend Cogence Group for expert witness testimony.”

— Jim Atwood, J A Atwood Corporation

“Jay and his team did an excellent job of quantifying our client’s economic damages and persuasively presenting those findings to the jury in our hard-fought federal court matter. Jay continued to support us during the complex and contentious trial, including meeting with us on weekends and late at night. Jay’s economic modeling was sound, accurate, based on generally accepted methodology, and amply supported by assumptions provided by other experts, resulting in a jury verdict of $93.6 million.”

— Jeffrey Eden, Retired Attorney

“Jay and his team were immensely helpful. We needed their assistance calculating an accurate SDE to trigger the sale of some company equity. They provided nuanced attention to detail in analyzing our very unique business and business model. Jay and Chandler were able to answer our questions in a practical and down to earth way helping us navigate a potentially stressful situation seamlessly. The Cogence Group is a high quality firm. We would absolutely recommend them to other companies.”

— Schuyler Lemler, Xtravisible, inc.

“Jay and his colleagues did a tremendous job working through our complex multi-national financials, involving our entities in the US, Brazil, China, and Vietnam.  They had to tediously and meticulously carve out specific segments of our business, related to the economic damages we incurred, for a federal court case that was three years in the making.  Jay took the time to truly understand our operations, how we priced things, and how our competition eroded our market share and revenues over time.  This careful analysis and his personal testimony about it, while effectively rebutting opposing counsel’s expert, was key to our unanimous jury verdict.  I highly recommend Jay and Cogence.”

— Ed McGrath, President & Owner | Marine Lumber

“Jay, Megan, and the team were an absolute pleasure to work with on our company's valuation. As an up and coming company, we had a lot of questions about the valuation process and the Cogence team provided timely and detailed responses to all of our questions. We had an urgent timeline with a hard deadline and the team was up front and clear about the price and all of the action items required to meet that deadline.”

— Ali Ruter, CPA | Blue Ox Films

“As part of the accounting faculty at Oregon State University, I’m continually impressed by the dedication of the Cogence Group and their alumni who give back so generously to our accounting program. Their commitment to supporting students through mentorship, guest lectures, and real-world insights makes a lasting impact on our future accounting professionals. The Cogence team exemplifies what it means to lead with purpose and integrity, sharing their expertise and passion to strengthen the connection between education and industry. We’re deeply grateful for their ongoing partnership and investment in our students’ success.”

— Amy Bourne, Professor at Oregon State University

“Our law firm recommended Cogence Group PC and I’m glad they did.  We needed expertise to help us navigate the highly complex business and share price valuation issues we were facing.  We needed a defensible approach to share valuation and business value in order to craft the most fair and beneficial merger terms for all parties.

The services we received from Cogence Group were, timely, accurate and relevant in all of the matters they addressed. Frankly, they made an extremely complex valuation easy to both understand and communicate. I can comfortably say that we could not have done it without their assistance.

On top of it all, Jay, Erica and the entire staff were a pleasure to work with and served us very well. I strongly recommend their services.”

— Joe Brouillette, Charbonneau Golf Club

“When we hire Cogence Group, we can count on them to be independent experts who strive to look objectively at the facts.  I have no hesitation putting Jay or Eli in front of my clients, and I know that I can count on them to quickly develop the rapport necessary to efficiently understand my client’s business and the problem they are encountering.  Cogence Group’s professionalism and competence has always been outstanding.”

— Kevin Schock, Stoel Rives LLP

“Jay and his team provided excellent, professional, honest and timely work for us in a very difficult and complex dispute over the course of two years.  

Our companies are thankful that due to their work, we were able to reach a favorable settlement.”

— Kevin Hogan, Oregrown

“Jay and his team at Cogence provided support to a client of mine in a high profile federal court case in Oregon related to misappropriation of trade secrets, breaches of contracts, confidentiality provisions, and other claims. They delivered world-class results.

Jay and his team have the experience to understand highly sophisticated situations. They took the time to doggedly uncover facts to support the financial claims, pressure tested positions, and provided top-notch and objectively determinable results. They did all of this with an impressive level of client attention and interaction, and were always ready for the inevitable surprises of litigation. Importantly, Jay defended those conclusions with precision, care, and authenticity in an open courtroom. He was an invaluable asset in our litigation.

You won't find a better financial expert. In Portland or elsewhere.”

- Colin Savoy, Inside GC Services, LLC

“Eli Neal handled valuations for several of our 300 unit + apartment communities with complex tenant in common ownership, other assets held by the separate tenant in common LLCs, and recent entity changes. I was impressed that Eli grasped the ownership structure without any corrections and that his report not only supported the valuation, but allowed a reader to trace back to understand the ownership structures.”

— Jeff Chaidez, CPA | AM Hayden Properties, Inc.

“My small, but not simple, retail business suffered a devastating fire. After spending several months working with my insurance company to calculate my Business Interruption claim, I was offered a paltry 35% of the loss.

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

“Jay and Taylor were instrumental in the favorable settlement of an extremely complex insurance coverage action. They analyzed, evaluated, and presented complex costs in a thorough, credible, and air-tight manner for the litigation, and then continued to update their cost analysis for the several years until the case was settled. By the end, all parties accepted the cost analysis. “

— Joan P. Snyder, Stoel Rives LLP

“We could depend on timely deliveries without fire drills. And the product delivered was exceptional. Jay and his team understand that complex litigation is full of moving parts, and they were never in a position to slow the machine. ”

— Joel Parker, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt

“Jay Sickler was instrumental in helping us sell our electrical contracting business… If we were to do the whole deal over again or sell another business, Jay would be the first call we would make to guide us.”

— Ken and Sheryl DeKorte, DeKorte Electric

“When we started the process of looking for a business evaluation our CPA gave us the name of three companies. After interviewing the Cogence Group, we knew they were the right company to do the job.”

— Kaye Youngren, Community Management, Inc, AAMC

“Jay Sickler and his team helped obtain a favorable outcome by building a conservative damages model supporting a $25M damages award. Jay carefully and effectively explained the model in writing and in deposition, and persuasively responded to criticism from our opponents' team of experts. In short, Jay's work is top notch, and he is a pleasure to work with. “

— Steven Olson, Tonkon Torp LLP

“Jay and his team were instrumental in helping us prepare to cross-examine the other side's expert. He not only pointed out the flaws in their report, but helped us craft questions that would show those weaknesses… We ended up getting the prayer, plus $3.5 million of punitive damages. I want Jay on my team whenever a case involves difficult valuation or economic issues. “

— S. Ward Greene, Farleigh Wada Witt

“Our arbitration involved the late addition of a counterclaim for lost profits. On short notice, Cogence helped us review financial records and develop deposition questions and topics. With minimal time to prepare, Jay Sickler then attended the hearing to assist with cross-examination and offer rebuttal testimony. The arbitration panel soundly rejected the counterclaim, in large part because of the work of Jay and his team. We owe our success to Cogence, and wouldn’t hesitate to work with them again.”

— Daniel S. Reynolds, Saalfeld Griggs PC

“I really enjoyed working with Eli Neal on a business valuation for a closely held company. He was always professional while dealing with very contentious litigation. Eli was particularly helpful in responding to unique requests by counsel in order to make the process fair to all parties. His report was detailed and thorough, which was noted by one of my client’s members, who is a licensed CPA. I would not hesitate to work with Eli again and have already recommended him to other attorneys.”

— Allison C. Bizzano, Wool Landon

“I enthusiastically recommend Jay and the Cogence Group, and hope that they are always on our side!”

— Sanford R. Landress, Esq., formerly with Greene & Markley

“Cogence Group reports have ALWAYS been completed within the timeline promised. After working with them numerous times, they are efficient, accurate, and very knowledgeable.”

— Tom K. Stern, Pacific NW Properties

“Jay served as a catalyst and ‘difference maker’ in taking our ownership transition ideas and designing a workable plan that led to success using his extensive experience and analysis. We were impressed with his professionalism, timeliness and results.”

— Roger Spring, former owner and CEO, Evergreen Consulting Group

“The people at Cogence dig deep for facts to support financial claims, they are available to discuss strategy, and their analysis and opinions carry the day in an adversary proceeding”

— Tim Grabe, Attorney, Portland Oregon

“Cogence did an outstanding job of forensic analysis in our case which was very complex with discovery material that was challenging”

— Dave Lowry, Business Owner

“As an expert witness, Jay Sickler has a rare ability to both understand difficult concepts and to be able to teach them to lay people in plain English”

— Matt Levin, Markowitz Herbold PC

“Jay was extremely prepared and was a great witness. He was able to keep the jury engaged and interested about a topic that most people find boring and too complex to understand”

— Trung D. Tu, Portland Office of City Attorney

“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, Wildwood Law