The Milwaukee Justice Center (MJC) is a collaborative project between the Milwaukee Bar Association, Milwaukee County, and Marquette University Law School. The underlying philosophy of the project is that self-represented litigants have a fundamental right to access the justice system even if they cannot afford an attorney or do not qualify for legal aid.
Not a how-to-calculate-damages book, but a process that The BERO Group calls
"The Pragmatic Solution" which can help you manage your damages case.
From start to finish, learn to work effectively and efficiently with your damages litigation team. This book will guide you through the steps to achieve success, offering a structure to engage fully with your damages analysis as you move from early preparation up to and through trial.
The Pragmatic Solution method will guide you through your work with your damages expert and help you develop a well-reasoned analysis that aligns with your liability case.
This new edition, edited by Nancy J. Fannon, Jonathan Dunitz, Jimmy Pappas, Bill Scally, and Steve Veenema, features 49 chapters drawing on the expertise of nearly 70 financial experts and attorneys.
The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages (6th Edition) combines the economic expert’s knowledge of damages calculations and methods with legal and case analysis. It provides a deep and rich resource for financial experts and attorneys seeking guidance on appropriate remedies and related damages calculations, and addresses many of the problems that may arise in any case. The breadth and depth of topics discussed, along with 300 court case digests, makes the Guide the most comprehensive body of knowledge relating to economic damages available.
You can find Rick Bero's contributing chapters in Volume One,
Part IV. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAMAGES
Chapter 28. Patent Infringement Damages: Lost Profits and Royalties
By Richard F. Bero, CPA/ABV, CVA, CLP, and Autumn N. Nero, Esq.
Chapter 29. Design Patent Damages
By Richard F. Bero, CPA/ABV, CVA, CLP, and Christopher V. Carani, Esq.
Chapter 30. Trade Secret Damages
By Richard F. Bero, CPA/ABV, CVA, CLP, and Jon Margolies, Esq.
May 18, 2021 | NEWS
The BERO Group is excited to welcome Emily Yahnke as the newest member
of our team.
Emily is a financial analyst, and she is returning to The BERO Group after previously interning with us in 2016. In her role, Emily will consult on cases involving economic damages, with a focus on intellectual property and commercial damages.
Emily graduated from Carroll University with degrees in Accounting and Finance. She joins us after working at a Top 15 public accounting firm, where she focused on audits of manufacturing and distribution companies.
By Ronald A. Bero, Jr., CPA/ABV, CVA, CFF
May 2021
The majority of economic damages experts I am aware of are either CPAs or academics.
Why are economic damages experts often CPAs?
What makes some CPAs uniquely qualified to be good economic damages expert witnesses?
This question has been stuck in my head for a while. As a not quite retired ultra-runner who spends hours alone in the woods, I have a lot of time for these stuck-in-my-head kinds of thoughts. On a recent run, it seemed I had solved this question when I thought about a bowl of ice cream.
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Why Are Lost Wages Certain?
They Aren’t.
By Ronald A. Bero, Jr., CPA/ABV, CVA, CFF
April 2021
I remember years ago my first wrongful death, lost wage (w-2 employee wage) claim. The economist quantified lost wages through the Social Security Administration’s retirement age and “discounted” them back to the present using the total offset method.
I understood the concept of the total offset method. What bothered me, however, was the idea that wages, through retirement age, were as certain (riskless) as a U.S. Government Bond.
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Proximate Cause, Foundation and Alignment
By Ronald A. Bero, Jr.,
CPA/ABV, CVA, CFF
March 2021
While damage experts are usually aware of connecting damages with proximate cause, I am sometimes surprised by how misguided some experts' understanding of it is. Damage experts and attorneys should know that any claimed damages must be proximately caused by the alleged wrongdoing(s). The concept of proximate cause dates back to at least 1858.
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Sunk Costs, Capital Obsolescence and COVID-19
By Ronald A. Bero, Jr., CPA/ABV, CVA, CFF
January 2021
In the Capitolism Newsletter, I learned that Josh Hawley berated Walmart in a Twitter Tweet: “… for the pathetic wages you pay your workers as you drive mom and pop stores out of business.”
Mr. Hawley is ignoring the concept of sunk costs and perhaps knows most of us forget the concept often… I can’t sell my house – I have too much sunk into it … The “mom and pop stores” are the sunk costs of the populist right. Mom and pop stores equal Capital Obsolescence as spotlighted and amplified by the COVID crisis, the rule of sunk costs dictates, we ignore them and move on.
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COVID-19 Impacts Discount Rates, Which Impacts Some Damage Calculations
By Ronald A. Bero, Jr., CPA/ABV, CVA, CFF
August 2020
I had a discussion with an attorney recently wherein the topic of COVID-19 and foreseeability arose. In the hypothetical being discussed, the claimed wrongdoing occurred mid-2019 and its economic impact continues today. In mid-2019, COVID-19 was not reasonably foreseeable, so my initial thoughts included the consideration of minimizing or correcting for the COVID-19 economic impact. COVID-19 is novel (you caught the pun there, reader, didn’t you? )
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COVID-19 Impacts Damage Calculations — as may any major macroeconomic factor
By Ronald A. Bero, Jr., CPA/ABV, CVA, CFF
August 2020
I had a discussion with an attorney recently wherein the topic of COVID-19 and foreseeability arose. In the hypothetical being discussed, the claimed wrongdoing occurred mid-2019 and its economic impact continues today. In mid-2019, COVID-19 was not reasonably foreseeable, so my initial thoughts included the consideration of minimizing or correcting for the COVID-19 economic impact. COVID-19 is novel (you caught the pun there, reader, didn’t you? )
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MLC Intellectual Property, LLC v. Micron Technology, Inc.
On June 11, 2020, Jim McGovern, a Senior Director of The BERO Group, along with David Long of Essential Patent LLC, gave a presentation to the IPO Damages Committee. Jim and David discussed damages issues addressed in MLC Intellectual Property, LLC v. Micron Technology, Inc., No. 3:14-cv-03657 (N.D. Cal.), No. 2020-1413 (Fed. Cir.). In 2014, MLC Intellectual Property, LLC (“MLC”) sued Micron Technology Inc. (“Micron”) for patent infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,764,571 (the “ ‘571 patent”). The ‘571 patent generally related to non-volatile memory devices. MLC alleged that certain Micron flash memory products, that could be used in consumer products including tablet computers, personal music players, smart phones and other wireless devices, infringed the ‘571 patent.
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