Vident Partners provides vetted lost profits expert witnesses for cases involving breach of contract damages, business interruption claims, unfair competition losses, and commercial litigation requiring profit projection methodology. Request a referral today.
Find a Lost Profits Analysis Expert →Overview
Lost profits experts calculate the profits a business would have earned but for the defendant's conduct. They apply accepted methodologies including the before-and-after method, yardstick method, and but-for analysis to project what profits would have been absent the wrongful conduct. 1 The AICPA Forensic and Valuation Services (FVS) Section publishes a dedicated practice aid on calculating lost profits, providing non-authoritative guidance on methodology selection, causation, and the reasonable certainty standard that courts require before awarding lost profits damages. 2 All expert testimony on lost profits must satisfy Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which requires the opinion to rest on sufficient facts or data and be the product of reliable principles and methods reliably applied to the facts of the case. 3 These experts are essential in breach of contract cases, business interruption claims, unfair competition litigation, and any commercial dispute where lost business profits are claimed as damages.
The AICPA FVS practice aid on calculating lost profits addresses methodology selection, causation requirements, and the reasonable certainty standard that courts require before awarding lost profits damages.
Case Types
Breach of contract lost profits claims
Business interruption and lost revenue analysis
Unfair competition and lost market share damages
Franchise termination lost profits claims
Construction delay consequential damages
Qualifications
Related Specialties
FAQ
Lost profits experts commonly use the before-and-after method, which compares actual performance to pre-incident performance; the yardstick method, which compares to similar businesses; and the but-for method, which projects what performance would have been absent the wrongful conduct. The appropriate method depends on the available data and case circumstances.
Lost profits experts are needed in breach of contract cases, business interruption claims, franchise disputes, unfair competition litigation, trade secret misappropriation, construction delay cases, and any commercial dispute where a business claims it lost profits due to the defendant's conduct.
In general, financial expert fees are determined by the expert themselves, based on a variety of criteria. Among those criteria are professional experience, forensic experience, professional certifications, industry specialization, and publications. Vident does have some influence over expert fees by comparing experts within a specialty, but ultimately it is a personal decision by the expert.
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