OCA Litigation Support Providing Financial Expertise in Litigation and Corporate Damage valuation.
3 OCA Litigation Support About OCA Our firm : Our Litigation services : OCA provides multi-disciplinary services in Audit, Financial Advisory and Accounting Outsourcing. For more than 25 years, we assist companies at every stage of their life in managing their current business and implementing their strategic decisions. Our services are gathered around 5 areas of expertise : Contractual and legal Audit ; Litigation support ; Accounting outsourcing ; Insolvency and Business Recovery ; Process, strategy and performance improvement. In each of these areas, our highly-skilled professionals implement OCA s philosophy of action : Excellence, Accuracy, Openmindness and Availability. OCA is frequently appointed by Courts as Legal Expert : in commercial or financial litigation cases, in Bankruptcy or debt restructuring cases. With a strong experiences both in legal procedures and damages valuation, OCA works in close cooperation with companies' legal counsels by providing technical assistance and support. Valuation of corporate damages (economic loss, loss of opportunity, indirect loss, etc.) following disasters, negligence, counterfeiting, financial misstatements, misappropriation of assets, physical deterioration, etc) ; Realization of accounting and financial reports supporting legal memorandums ; Critical review of valuations made by the other party ; Expert Testimony or coaching of our client Experts to communicate effectively in a courtroom setting ; Technical assistance in cases of post-deal acquisitions (price adjustment and earn-out clauses).
3 OCA Litigation Support Our approach of damage valuation Our approach is based on three principles : 1. The concept of "Damage" which can be described as : the physical cost of the compensation or the replacement of the impaired assets ; the Intangible losses that vary according to the nature of the assets which have been damaged ( "loss of use" for damage on an asset which does not generate any revenue, and more frequently "income losses" for damage on revenuegenerating assets) 2. The concept of "Full Compensation" which consists in replacing the victim in the situation where it should have been in the absence of damage ; 3. The concept of "Loss of Opportunity" which is very frequent in business life (for example, when a ready-to-be-signed contract is finally lost because of wrongful acts). A close analysis of the damage must be done in order to understand and appreciate the probability of the lost opportunities and their financial impacts on the company's business plan. Claimant's side action The concepts presented above need to be applied through a strict methodology, including the following steps : Identifying the different natures of damage, together with the client and in close cooperation with his legal counsels ; Valuating the costs incurred and collecting the relevant documentation ; Determining the loss of profits : in accordance with the principle of total compensation, a business plan of the company must be prepared, considering a scenario "without damage". This retrospective approach implies a rigorous analysis taking into consideration the business evolution before the damage, the market trends, the level of operating expenses, as well as the flexibility of incomes and expenses. Assessing non-material damage: loss of use, loss of brand image, loss of reputation, etc. Capitalizing the historical cash flows and discounting the future cash flows Defendant's side action We aim at identifying the flaws in the damage claim report presented by the opposing party. These vulnerabilities include: arithmetic errors ; lack of documentation ( lack of evidence, use of unverifiable information...) Inconsistencies: duplications, conflicting valuation, omissions).
5 OCA Litigation Support Relevant experience MIKAEL OUANICHE Partner Litigation practice CPA Certified legal auditor mo@oca-audit.com Automotive industry (a CAC 40 index company). Post-acquisition litigation: following fraudulent actions commited by the sell side, we assisted the buy-side in the valuation of the damages. Research Foundation: Assistance in the framework of a legal expertise. Critical analysis of the claimants damage valuation. International Hotel Group: Assistance to a luxury hotel (150 rooms) in valuating their operating loss valuation following nuisances from construction works. Industrial group (a CAC 40 index company): ICC Arbitration. damage valuation assistance following an accident on a shipyard. Construction group : Damage calculation ( during a pre-arbitrary negotiation procedure) in a litigation related to the amount of exploitation fees asked by a dam operator to several electric companies. Airline group: damage valuation related to an accident in an airport terminal ( legal expertise). Real estate development: damage valuation following a real estates program failure for technical reasons. Mikael OUANICHE worked for several years as manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers, within the Litigation and Investigation department. He joined OCA in march 2009 as the head of the Litigation and Arbitration department. Mikael Ouaniche is the author of various publications about Fraud and Damage valuation. He is also an intern member of Compagnie Nationale des Experts- Comptables de justice, the association of CPA recognized by French court as Expert. 2009/2010 Publications Litigation and Financial compensation: User manual article published in ECHANGE magazine (France's leading magazine for Financial Executives) July 2010 «Damage Valuation in Counterfeiting cases» article published in Revue Française de Comptabilité ( France's leading magazine for accountants) - March 2010 «Assistance in damages valuation» Article published in Revue Française de Comptabilité - April 2009 «Corporate Fraud : how to prevent, detect and fight against it» Book published in June 2009 Maxima Editions «Fraud perpetrated by excutives» Article published in Revue Française de Comptabilité - September 2008
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