Intensity joined Secretariat on February 1, 2023.
Intensity was founded on the notion that combining world-class talent with recognized industry best practices produces the highest quality results possible. We proved this once again by producing a critical valuation for a client in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization within a tight one-week deadline.
The case involved a major international airline with highly recognizable trademarks including logos, words, distinctive signs, and websites. When it comes to intangible assets like trademarks and intellectual property, our experts combine mathematical rigor with real-world judgment to value items that do not trade every day on the open market.
Our team huddled at the outset to develop a strategy for fulfilling the assignment within the deadline. We considered the relevance and feasibility of several methods commonly used to value intellectual property, including the cost, market and income approaches. Our analysis quickly revealed that the income approach was best in this specific case because it provides the most reasonable and accurate estimate of the true value of the airline’s distinctive brand markers.
The income approach measures the net present value of expected cash flows from an asset over its useful life. To derive that value for the trademarks in this case, our experts calculated the expected after-tax cash flows attributable to the brand and discounted them to the present at an appropriate interest rate. Given the particular facts of this case, we used the avoided royalty method, calculating the amount the airline would have to pay to license the trademarks and estimating the present value of “savings” the airline enjoyed by owning the brand outright instead of paying someone else to use it.
Pulling together the data, deciding on a valuation approach, and delivering a highly defensible estimate to the court within one week was yet another example of Intensity’s ability to assemble the right resources in a tight timeframe to deliver a world-class result.
Temporary insolvency is just one of many complications in fraudulent conveyance claims presented by COVID-19. Secretariat’s Paul Marcus, Sangjoon Lee and Brendan Porter examine the potential ramifications on determining companies’ value and solvency in fraudulent conveyance claims brought on by the global coronavirus pandemic.
Force majeure provisions in construction contracts have attained a spotlight perhaps never seen before as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact is it having on the US$10 trillion-dollar global industry. In this article from Secretariat’s Mike Allen, Conrad Bromley and Paul Roberts, we consider in more detail how tendering contractors and employers might seek to manage this risk in the ongoing waves of COVID-19, which are a feature of the “new normal.”
Intensity* was retained on behalf of a company that engages in the development and licensing of a significant patent portfolio pertaining to digital video receiver and interactive guide technology and provides consumer electronics hardware and software pertaining to the same. At the International Trade Commission, the company accused a large national cable provider of unlawful importation of certain digital video receivers and broadband gateways accused of infringing some of the company’s patents. Intensity was asked to perform both an economic domestic industry analysis pertaining to certain of the company’s products claimed to practice the patents as well as to provide an evaluation of the significance of the large national cable provider’s domestic inventory of accused products.
As part of its domestic industry analysis, Intensity researched the significance of the relevant products in the marketplace, quantified the relevant domestic investments, and demonstrated the significance and substantiality of the investments to the company and the marketplace in general. Intensity also provided an evaluation of the domestic industry of one of the company’s licensees for certain digital video receiver products claimed to utilize the asserted patents. Intensity’s domestic industry quantification and results were accepted in terms of accuracy and methodology, and Intensity’s client was able to secure a summary judgment order for economic domestic industry.
Intensity also demonstrated the commercial significance of the large national cable provider’s domestic inventory of accused products by assessing its commercial value and its sufficiency to meet forecasted demand. Based on Intensity’s analysis, the Administrative Law Judge recommended a cease and desist order in the Initial Determination.
*Work performed by individuals while employed by Intensity, LLC. Intensity was acquired by Secretariat in February 2023.
Secretariat is proud to welcome Manus Bradley and Conrad Bromley as the newest Managing Directors in the firm’s Dubai office. Together, they add significant depth to our already impressive construction team in the region, and for the first time, expand our services to include quantum capabilities.
Climate change is an existential threat to the planet. Increasingly, litigation and arbitration are being pursued as a means of forcing governments and companies to take responsibility for their actions and impacts on climate change. In this article, Secretariat Managing Director Andrew Maclay takes a look at some prominent cases in climate change litigation and arbitration and discusses their implications for the quantifications of damages.
Secretariat is proud to announce it has earned the second-place ranking in Global Arbitration Review’s prestigious GAR 100 Expert Witness Firms’ Power Index. According to Managing Director Don Harvey, “GAR’s Expert Witness Power Index is the definitive global ranking of expert firms across the international arbitration industry. Having the Secretariat name included in this class is an honor in its own right.” Mr. Harvey added “This achievement validates the hard work, commitment and sterling reputation our people are dedicated to earning every day and shows how we make ‘Experience Above All’ come to life.”
A full copy of the press release is available by clicking the link below
https://lnkd.in/dhGfnvg
A full copy of the rankings is available on the GAR website
https://lnkd.in/drzJY8n
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COVID-19’s impact on construction projects is immense in numerous ways, but we are only starting to learn what the long-term consequences will be. While some projects came to an abrupt halt, some continued, but with significant delays. Presented as part of Global Arbitration Review Live Construction Disputes at Paris Arbitration Week, Secretariat Managing Director Don Harvey will join an esteemed panel to discuss the effects COVID-19 is having on construction project progress and how delays can be viewed for the purposes of claiming extension of time.
Experts play a crucial role in construction disputes, but the intricacies involved in their role are not always understood by all in involved in a matter. On Wednesday 8 July at 2pm (BST), Secretariat Managing Director and expert George Taft will join a cast of leading speakers from construction and law for a discussion of the role of the expert witness. Presented as part of Limeslade’s Construction Cast series, the discussion will address a number of topics, including:
– Why should people use an expert witness in the resolution of a dispute?
– How can you find the right expert for your dispute?
– How should an expert prepare for cross examination?
– What are common mistakes experts make and how can they be avoided?
Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/2ZmqIHP
We are delighted to serve as the Platinum Sponsor of this year’s 10th Annual Global Arbitration Review Awards Ceremony – going virtual on 9 July as part of Paris Arbitration Week. Every year the event brings together the brightest talent in arbitration. We are excited to be a part of this esteemed community and wish everyone involved the very best of luck. We also applaud GAR’s charitable endeavors as proceeds from the awards support the Swawou School for Girls in Sierra Leone. Learn more about the event at: https://gar.live/awards2020
The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, the bill aimed at addressing a perceived double standard for US-listed Chinese companies that deny access for PCAOB auditor inspections, has passed the US Senate and is awaiting a vote in the US House of Representatives. If the bill becomes law, it may spur US-listed Chinese companies to go private. The going private ramifications for valuations and potential claims made in courts will be important developments to watch, as this article from Secretariat’s Paul Marcus, Eddie Tobis and Brendan Porter (with help from Howard Rosen, Sangjoon Lee and Gigi D’Souza) describes.
