The National Conference on Divorce is uniquely geared to lawyers and CPAs, business valuators and other professionals working in divorce-related fields.
Family Lawyer Magazine spoke to several prominent experts who will be presenting at the AICPA/AAML 2014 National Conference on Divorce. This Conference is uniquely geared to lawyers and CPAs, business valuators and other financial professionals working in divorce-related fields, and focuses on complex financial, litigation, and settlement-related issues common to divorce lawyers, accounting professionals, business appraisers, and others. Held at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas on April 24th and 25th, 2014, the Conference presents opportunities for valuable networking and a highly enjoyable forum to earn CLE credits. To register into the conference, click here.
Nancy Fannon on Divorce Valuation Hot Topics
Nancy Fannon has 25 years of professional valuation and damages experience. Nancy says that the experts at the National Conference of Divorce always have well-prepared presentations and put together sessions on very important topics specific to a divorce niche practice. She will be discussing important issues that come up often in valuations for divorce purposes, as well as the latest research and related court cases. As a bonus to attendees she is offering a white paper on valuation of corporations at the Conference, and a subscription to her newsletter. Nancy will give advice on hot topics in divorce valuation, such as what professionals should do when the court doesn’t accept certain valuation methodologies that the appraiser may think is relevant, and other specific divorce valuation-related issues, such as:
- Tax affecting and calculating discounts for lack of marketability
- Using fair value or fair market value in particular states
- How to calculate the increase in value due to marital effort
- An expert witness session geared towards lawyers
- How to use experts most effectively in court or in settlement process
Nancy Fannon is a partner in charge of litigation services at Meyers, Harrison & Pia, a firm specializing in business valuation, economic damages, and litigation support services. She published two professional reference books on valuation and was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Business Valuation Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement. www.mhpcpa.com
To read or listen to the full interview visit: www.familylawyermagazine.com/articles/nancy-fannon
Jay Fishman on Valuation Controversies
Jay Fishman, one of the most highly respected valuation experts in the country, has been actively engaged in the appraisal profession since 1974. He has co-authored several books including the highly acclaimed Guide to Business Valuations and Standards of Value. Jay says that everyone at the AICPA/AAML Conference is a teacher and that the formal and informal learning opportunities provided are invaluable. He is offering material from recent speaking engagements and copies of the second edition of his book, Standards of Value, as giveaways to attendees. Jay’s presentation will be focusing on controversial and ambiguous areas in valuation for divorce purposes, including:
- The issue of separating personal assets from enterprise assets
- The difference between saleable personal goodwill vs. enterprise goodwill
- The models used in business valuation
- The pitfalls to look out for when valuating
- How to conduct yourself with an expert in a business valuation issue
Jay Fishman, Managing Director of Financial Research Associates, specializes in the valuations of business enterprises and their intangible assets. He has taught courses on business valuation around the world, is editor of the Business Valuation Review and vice-chair of the Appraisal Practice Board of the Appraisal Foundation. www.finresearch.com.
To read or listen to the full interview visit: www.familylawyermagazine.com/articles/jay-fishman
James Hitchner on Business Valuation
James Hitchner, a repeat presenter at the Conference, founded Valuation Products and Services, a company devoted to business valuation education. He has over 33 years of valuation experience and is the co-author and editor of several publications, as well as the Editor in Chief of Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert, a bimonthly journal featuring views and tools from experts in the field. Jim will be offering attendees a free sample of the journal and some published articles, as well as a newsletter subscription discount. Jim will be moderating an open-forum session on business valuation between Jay Fishman, Chris Mercer and Nancy Fannon. He will also be presenting on mistakes and biases in valuation as well as on discounts for lack of marketability and S corps. His topics include:
- Business valuation mistakes and how to avoid them
- How to detect intentional and unintentional biases
- How to detect a rigged business valuation
- Discounts for lack of marketability and S corps
- Hot areas in business valuation
James Hitchner is Managing Director with Financial Valuation Advisors, a firm specializing in valuation, financial and litigation forensic services. He is also the president of Financial Consulting Group, the nation’s largest organization of business valuation and litigation service firms. Visit his website at www.finvaluation.com
To read or listen to the full interview visit: www.familylawyermagazine.com/articles/james-hitchner
Christopher Mercer on the Five Big Valuation Issues in Divorce
Christopher Mercer, a fourth-time returning speaker at the Conference, says that the big advantage of attending the event is the opportunity of meeting with some of the best divorce attorneys and a variety of experts, from valuation to forensic, which no other conference offers. Chris has been engaged in divorces around the country from California to New York to Florida, and places in between, when a substantial business is involved. Chris maintains that family lawyers with a greater understanding of valuation principles will have a real competitive advantage. His presentation will look at:
- The build-up discount rates and components of discount rates
- Valuation confusion in using control premiums and minority interest discounts
- Valuation adjustments to the income statement to normalize for excess owner compensation
- The guideline public company method and the guideline transactions method
- Fundamental adjustments of public multiples that apply to a private company
Christopher Mercer has prepared, overseen or contributed to more than 1000 valuations for purposes related to mergers and acquisitions, litigation and tax, among others. He is also a contributing editor to An Estate Planners Guide to Revenue Ruling. Chris is a frequent lecturer and author of 9 books. www.mercercapital.com
To read or listen to the full interview visit: www.familylawyermagazine.com/articles/christopher-mercer
Sharon Nelson on Smartphone Spyware
Sharon Nelson, president of Sensei Enterprises, a digital forensics information technology and information security firm, talks about the developments of technologies being used when spouses or lovers spy on one another, and the benefits of up-to-date information from a competitive advantage for family lawyers. The most striking change in technology is related to smartphones, where texts have increased dramatically as evidence. Sharon says that the knowledge she’ll share will help ensure family lawyers avoid looking for social media and smartphone evidence themselves and leave digital forensics to the professionals. Some of her topics include:
- The improved ability to retrieve deleted text messages
- The spyware that causes phones to call another or remotely turn on the microphone
- Clients implicated in social media evidence, including Facebook “friending”
- How social media evidence is admissible in court
- The ethical implications when attorneys are involved in gathering and using evidence
Sharon Nelson is president of the Virginia State Bar and serves on the ABA Cyber Security Legal Taskforce. She is the author of Electronic Evidence and Discovery Handbook Forms Checklist and Guidelines, Lockdown: Information Security for Lawyers and Law Firms, and the annually published Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guides. www.senseient.com
To read or listen to the full interview visit: www.familylawyermagazine.com/articles/nancy-fannon
For more information on the conference, and an agenda, click here.
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