The recently-reported divorce case involving Dragons Den and Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec is a cautionary tale as to the dramatic waste of resources when partners in relationships gone sour decide to “lawyer up” and fight to the finish.
After 20 days in court with 10 lawyers involved plus a battery of valuation witnesses on each side, the judge decided she couldn’t trust the “hired gun” valuation experts so decided on her own what the couple’s house and the husband’s business were worth. Imagine that – after several millions of dollars are spent on all kinds of professionals, at the end of the day a judge who was trained to be a lawyer and then a judge but who is NOT a valuator is now making decisions about what assets are worth. How is that for justice?
The judge noted that “the real conflict between the parties lies not in the historical facts of their case or who did what, but rather on the considerable difference in the expert opinions of their experts. She went on to say that “it would be preferable to require the parties to jointly retain a single expert” to decide what the assets are worth.
This is what parties to a business divorce do when they hire Equitas to resolve their business disputes. They know they could hire their own lawyers and valuators to argue their cases and take extreme positions on their behalf. They also understand that eventually the process leads to resolution somewhere in the middle of those extreme positions. So instead they cut to the chase by hiring one lawyer and one valuator between them to resolve the matter at a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time without having to air their dirty laundry in a public court proceeding.
Now how is that for equitas?! (Latin for justice or fairness)
- Contact us to learn more about how we can assist you and your company.