WHEN IS A VALUATOR APPRAISER AN EXPERT?

A valuator (business or IP) or appraiser (hard asset: real estate, equipment or inventory) is considered an “expert” when one or more of the following occurs:

1. He is qualified by a court of law or similar tribunal, such as an arbitration panel, to provide credible deposition or testimony evidence as to his findings and opinions.

2. He has performed substantive analysis that results in his client receiving a positive outcome or reward.

3. He has demonstrated that his qualifications and credentials have been applied to a particular engagement, such that the parties accept his conclusions of value.

4. He can simply and clearly, and without bias, explain his process and assumptions to interested and disinterested parties. And his conclusions are understood and accepted.

5. He has performed numerous engagements in a particular industry, or niche within that industry, that the metrics and nuances are second nature to him.

6. He is so well endorsed by his peers that they ask him to participate on expert, panels and serve as a third party to mediate disputes, especially complex ones.

7. The IRS contacts him to opine, either privately or as their expert on new regulations, value approaches, and complex court cases.

8. He continually questions and provides alternative arguments to the valuation or appraisal issues/techniques that are debated among the more scholarly technicians.

The Mentor Group professionals clearly fulfill each and every one of the above criteria for defining an expert in his field of endeavor.