Dealing With Economic Damages
If you operate a small business, at some point, you’re going to come up against something called “economic damages,” and it’s not going to be pleasant, no matter the context. That’s because you’ll either be fighting to collect damages – say, trying to recapture lost profits – or you’ll be on the receiving end, for cases like wrongful termination or personal injury.
When a dispute over economic damages arises, a commonsense approach is imperative. So today, we’ll talk about a number of terms you’ll need to know, and how to deal with economic damages litigation.
- Breach of fiduciary duties: A fiduciary acts in the interest of their employer; however, when they act in their own interest – essentially, for their own benefit – this is a breach of their duties.
- Business Interruption: This typically refers to the stoppage of business due to some sort of natural or other disaster, such as an earthquake or a fire. Companies often purchase business interruption insurance to protect against these kinds of losses.
- Contract dispute: This occurs when one party in a contract believes the other party has not fulfilled one or more of the terms of a contract.
- Lost profits: One way of calculating economic damages that emphasizes a shorter, definite period of time. This simply refers to the profits lost by a business for numerous reasons, be it a contract dispute, antitrust matter or other issues.
- Lost value: Another way of calculating economic damages that is more permanent in nature. This applies to cases such as business destruction.
- Personal injury: When an individual suffers physical or mental injury, and another party is responsible for said injury.
- Shareholder dispute: Claims or disagreements by shareholders over business actions, leadership and other issues.
- Wrongful death: A death caused by misconduct or negligence.
- Wrongful termination: An employee termination that breaches the original agreement of employment.
So, what should you do if you’re staring one of these terms in the face? Whether someone has made a claim against you or you’re considering filing your own claim, your first step should be the same: seek legal advice. A legal expert will be better able to determine whether a claim has merit, as well as analyze and calculate any connected damages.
McManamon & Co. offers several economic damages consulting services, including litigation support for analyses of lost profits and value, trial preparation and settlement negotiations. In other words, we can aid your small business from start to finish.
Economic damages claims aren’t a matter of if, but when. When that day does come, give us a call at 440.892.8900 or contact us online. We can put any claims under the microscope, then put together a game plan to get you all the way through resolution.
Tags: economic damages, McManamon & Co., small business | Posted in accounting, McManamon & Co.