Chartered Business Valuators (and other financial experts) are
often retained to provide their professional opinion as to the
quantum of a financial gain or loss in the context of litigation or
a dispute. One or more experts are generally retained by each of
the opposing parties and as a result, at least two differing
opinions are often presented to the Court. In most cases, the
differences in opinion often arise as a result of the assumptions
underlying the experts' analysis.
Quantifying the financial impact of an event that did not (or
will not) occur, by its very nature, requires the adoption of
certain assumptions. However, drawing conclusions of fact and
making unreasonable or unsupportable assumptions may result in an
expert's report being granted little weight by the Court and
therefore being of limited use. It is essential that Counsel and
their client understand the differences between the facts that the
expert relied upon and the assumptions that the expert
