Lost Profits in Commercial Litigation: Proving and Defending Damages
Calculation Methodologies, Documentation, Expert Evidence
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Class Action and Other Litigation
- event Date
Thursday, March 20, 2025
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
-
This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE webinar will show litigators how financial experts quantify lost profits so that trial counsel can understand the framework, bases, and aspects of a lost profits damages calculation and then use those figures and calculations to prove or defend against a lost profits damages claim. The panel will examine this complex issue both in the context of general business damages and in the specific context of patent litigation.
Mr. Poorbaugh’s practice covers a wide variety of areas, ranging from personal injury to intellectual property. He has extensive experience working for the courts, during which he advised judges regarding a wide variety of legal issues. Prior to joining DBL, Mr. Poorbaugh served for several years as a staff attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He has also interned for both a federal district judge and the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Dr. Needham has been a partner and testifying expert at Shipp Needham Economic Analysis, LLC since 1997. During that time he has testified in cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, employment matters, commercial damages, business valuation, and matters relating to Chapter 11 bankruptcies. For personal damages litigation, Dr. Needham has expertise in calculating lost earning capacity, lost expected earnings, lost economic support, lost household services, and the present value of future medical expenses. For commercial damages, he has estimated lost profits, past and future out-of-pocket expenses, and lost business value. Dr. Needham has testified on behalf of attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants in both state and federal courts and FINRA arbitrations. He has testified at trials or hearings in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi, California, Alaska and Washington D.C.
Ms. Frederick's practice focuses on client counseling, opinion work, and patent and other intellectual property litigation with a particular emphasis on Section 337 proceedings before the International Trade Commission (ITC). She has experience in a broad range of technologies including cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, semiconductor chips and packaging, mobile telephones and digital cameras. She also has extensive technical experience in polymer processing through her previous employment with Mobil Chemical, Films Division where she worked as a R&D engineer and a process engineer.
Lost profits are often the single most substantial aspect of the plaintiff's claim as well as one of the most contentious, challenging types of damages to prove and are particularly susceptible to attack.
In the duel of experts over lost profits damages, both sides will want to analyze and present complex financial documentation as clearly and concisely as possible. Plaintiff's experts must put forth damages studies that are credible and can withstand cross-examination from the opposition. Plaintiff’s theory of recovery influences which methodology for calculating lost profits is most persuasive.
In determining how best to counter the plaintiff's damages claim, defense counsel faces a delicate balancing act between defending against liability and discrediting the plaintiff's numbers as presented through a defense expert.
Listen as our panel discusses the framework, bases, and aspects of lost profit damages calculations and how to prove or defend against lost profit damages.
- Framework for lost profits damages
- General business cases
- Patent cases
- Evidence/documentation
- Quantification of lost profits damages
- Presentation of lost profits damages
- Defending against lost profits damages
The panel will review these and other crucial issues:
- What evidence and documentation are necessary to prove and defend lost profits damages claims?
- What methodologies can be used to establish lost profits damages in general business cases and in patent cases?
- What is the most recent case law about lost profits?
- Does it matter whether the damages alleged are general or special?
