Week 6: Civil Law and Forensic Investigation

 Week 6: Civil Law and Forensic Investigation


(News, n.d.)
It is not a forensic accountant’s role to determine whether the opposing party is innocent or guilty, however they can assist with providing evidence that someone is guilty while also investigating the qualification of loss and damages to be paid to their client. I read a case, label makers  v LL Force, which saw two forensic accountants analyze and calculate profit margins, discount rates etc. of both parties. They were also required to give their expert opinion on the account of profits which is alternative to damages claim. The account of profits investigates weather there’s been a breach of trust of IP rights. In this case where the opposing parties both believe each other are in the wrong, the two forensic accountants assisted in proving there was an investment gain in LL Force shares (Labelmakers Group Pty Ltd v LL Force Pty Ltd).

(Singh Thakur, 2019)

Forensic accountants are also required to give their expert opinion on damages, in this situation I’ll be talking about general damages. ‘General damages are damages which the law will presume to be a direct, natural or probable consequence of a breach of contract or breach of a duty of care in tort’ (Ong, 1999). Talking about the measurement of damage of goods, forensic accountant look into; increased profits, lost profits and decrease in value of investment, when considering the losses made after damage (House, 1984). 

At work we’ve had clients cargo come in damaged, I’ve seen what costs of delays to deals this damage can cause. First hand, I know it’s clear how important forensic accountants are in working out losses when it comes to damages for clients.

Word Count - 274

References:

Labelmakers Group Pty Ltd v LL Force Pty Ltd (No 3) [2013] FCA 1059

House, R. (1984). Forensic Accounting and the Expert Witness. Random House College Dictionary.

Ong, T. H. (1999). EQUITABLE DAMAGES: A. DEAKIN LAW REVIEW.

News, P. P. (n.d.). Labelmakers Group Pty Ltd. Retrieved from PKN: Packaging News: https://www.packagingnews.com.au/online-directory/labelmakers-group-pty-ltd

Singh Thakur, A. (2019, April 30). Damages under Tort Law. Retrieved from IPleaders: https://blog.ipleaders.in/damages-under-tort-law/


 


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