Your Divorce Or Business Litigation Case: Why Lawyers Need An Expert Witness
by Joey N. Friedman, CPA, ABV, M.Acc, MIB
Joey N. Friedman, CPA, ABV, M.Acc, MIB is an expert witness for divorce and business litigation cases. He delivers reports, opinion, and testimony anout business valuations or damage valuations for his clients and attorneys to present in their cases.
Direct Line: 954-290-5657
Office: 954-282-9615
1 SW 129th Ave, Suite 408 Pembroke Pines, FL 33027
“As expert witness-
es, we are educated
in a specialty area,
and we can take
what is presented
by the lawyer and
build on it. We con-
sult the documents
and relevant aca-
demic or industry
literature and ob-
jectively interpret
the facts…”
“DO YOU SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT ¥OU WILL TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, 50 HELP YOU GOD?”
The Sworn Testimony is a power- ful statement. but in reality, it holds no power over the person who ver- balizes it. While we would all like to believe that truth is always told in court, this is unfortunately not the case — even if the person taking the stand intends to be honest. As the American writer Patricia Maclachlan explains, “Fact and fiction are differ- ent truths,” and humans have differ- ent maral codes and subjective per- ceptions of reality. This is especially true in divorce or business litigation cases where emotions run high and often cloud a person’s testimony.
To cut through the noise and get down to the facts, an expert witness is an invaluable addition to these cases, While a witness solidifies a convincing case, a forensic account- ing expert witness cements it. Most attorneys know the law, but they are not familiar with financial state- ments, math, accounting knowledge, and financial information. Investing in an expert witness frees up attorneys to deal with the law and helps them figure out the case’s financial end based on concrete facts.
Only with expert witnesses is a sense of objectivity and credibility provided and seamlessly integrated within a legal team, strengthening the case overall. Important to all divorce and litigation cases, expert witnesses help attorneys and jurors understand nuanced and complex in- formation while grounding opinions into specialized knowledge. When combined with background informa- tion, scientific principle, and contex- tual understanding, this plays well with juries.
Often, an expert witness can also identify additional elements of a case that need to be considered. One
of my clients, for example, went to court to recover the damages from angther driver who had collided with one of his company vehicles. | determined that the damages value included more than just the repairs and income loss from the unusable vehicle. There was also a logo on the side of the vehicle, 50 my client had lost advertising value.
Even when an expert witness states an opinion, it is connected to general principles and is not considered a per- sanal perspective. Sound explanations back these opinions in accordance with a relevant field. By building a bridge between perspective and the jurors’ “real world! a powerful, per- suasive testimony becomes rooted in objective reality. Misunderstood issues are understood by exploring the issue in different expert domains.
For example, in a divorce case, when a couple finds themselves bat- thing it out for equal financial gain and a fair share of an individuals business, a forensic accounting ex- pert witness is needed to establish the business’ precise worth. Often, the couple and their attorneys will present a biased case. However, an expert witness will solidify the facts and present the financial information in a non-biased way.
As expert witnesses, we are edu- cated in a specialty area, and we can take what is presented by the law- ver and build on it. We consult the documents and relevant academic or industry literature and objectively interpret the facts and develop an analysis of the liability to base the testimony. An expert witness work- ing with an attorney is a powerful combination,
Numbers are not biased. nor is the expert accountants opinion. With these cases, its evident that you can’t divorce the importance of an expert witness and a favorable case outcome.