Home » Economic Damages – Civil Litigation

SITUATION: FSS was hired to compute reasonable and reliable estimates of economic damages and lost profits for an unestablished business, then to effectively present the findings of economic loss to a federal court jury.

A business consortium of 15 individual charities and a gaming operator filed a civil suit in federal court alleging the defendant competing gaming operator conspired with local law enforcement to withhold a gaming license. Without the license to operate, the plaintiff alleged monetary damages from lost opportunities as a direct result of not being allowed to open the planned establishment (which was never opened).

STRATEGY: FSS used a generally accepted methodology for calculating damages by collecting relevant data from many sources. FSS leveraged accounting models; estimates prepared by the plaintiff’s lenders; and defendant’s financial records to create reasonable and reliable, fact-based assessments of the plaintiff’s losses. FSS provided expert testimony of the findings and analysis.

RESULTS: The plaintiff’s case was bolstered by the financial analysis and economic damage calculations presented to the jury by FSS. The jury agreed with the FSS model of lost profits and awarded the plaintiff more than $44 million in compensatory damages plus an additional $20 million in punitive damages.