7/7/2005
Challenges and Creative Solutions: The Life of a Litigation Support Specialist

By KRISTIN MATTHEWS, BA, Specialist, Claims Valuation & Litigation Support

The role of an expert litigation accounting specialist is to present a fair and reasonable opinion of the losses sustained, if any, in an economic loss claim.

To be seen as a leader in this field, one must think beyond the numbers and explore many different perspectives to ensure that the most realistic and strategic approach to any file has been adopted. Further, challenges often arise during the course of completing a report.

So, what are some of the attributes required to be successful?

Resourcefulness and Creativity

Resourcefulness is one key requirement in this field. Often, information necessary to form an opinion in a loss claim can be missing or incomplete.

I was recently involved in a commercial fire loss claim made by an aluminum parts manufacturer and most of the source financial information was destroyed in the fire.

To start to fill in the gaps, we researched very specific Canadian aluminum industry statistics and provided our client, the defence counsel, with a report demonstrating the industry’s declining annual revenue growth, before and after the date of the fire. We showed that the plaintiff had also experienced a decline in revenue in the years before the fire occurred.

Further, we graphed this data against the projected revenue growth presented in the plaintiff's expert report, allowing the reader to clearly visualize the divergence between the Canadian industry statistics and the projections for the years following the fire, presented by the plaintiff's expert.

Strategic analysis and, in the absence of the plaintiff's complete financial information, the resourceful use of industry statistics provided our client with an invaluable report to move forward in the litigation process.

Adaptability

The obstacles sometimes faced during the life of a loss quantification file require the ability to be adaptable. Recently, I experienced a peculiar situation relating to a personal injury claim.

After numerous attempts to gather financial information from the plaintiff, I finally secured a date to meet at the plaintiff's place of business, the storage location of all relevant financial information.

During my morning commute to work on the day of the meeting, I came across a newspaper article stating that the plaintiff's business had burned to the ground during a massive fire the night before and everything inside had been destroyed.

While this situation could impair the ability of a litigation accountant to complete a report, similarly to the previous scenario, we were able to refocus our approach and leverage alternate sources of information to apply our loss quantification finesse.

Analysis and Independence

Whether analyzing the two preceding cases or a new plaintiff or defence file, the initial review has an equal amount of healthy analysis and investigation.

A litigation accounting specialist always evaluates if he or she has enough information to accurately understand the plaintiff's financial position, and requests or seeks out additional relevant information whenever necessary.

Throughout this process, the ability to remain independent while providing a loss assessment is crucial. The trier of fact (such as an arbitrator or judge and/or jury) in a litigation matter must have confidence in the reliability of our opinion. From our initial assessment to our final report, we act knowing that our credibility is of paramount importance.

Conclusion

The amount of ingenuity, adaptability, and “out of the box” thinking required every day, on a variety of income loss situations, makes what we do unique and challenging.

In this field of work, there is also the sense of accomplishment that our accounting reports assist in settling a claim, which allows the people involved in the litigation to move on with their personal and professional lives.

Note: To protect client confidentiality, some details have been changed.

This article has been prepared for the general information of our clients. Specific professional advice should be obtained prior to the implementation of any suggestion contained in this publication.