Emily Yahnke Joins The BERO Group

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.

 The Damages Report

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.

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.

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.

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? )

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? )

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.

By James L. McGovern, CPA/CFF, CVA, Fellow
May 2020

Mandatory state shut down orders may trigger business interruption coverage if a Pennsylvania Court’s interpretation is widely accepted. With thousands of businesses around the world being shutdown pursuant to government mandates designed to slow transmission of to the COVID-19 virus, many business owners are looking to their insurance policies for a lifeline.

By James L. McGovern, CPA/CFF, CVA, Fellow
April 2020

In a unanimous decision on April 23, 2020, ruling in the matter of Romag Fasteners Inc. v. Fossil Inc. et. al., case number 08-1233, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Lahnam Act does not require a finding of willful infringement in order for a trademark owner to receive an award of lost profits.