EXPERT WITNESS
For over 20 years, The Beck Group has been assisting clients by providing expert witness services. Based upon The Beck Group’s expertise and varied experiences in the forest products industry, the cases for which the company has provided expert opinions have included issues related to timber contracts, insurance claims and settlements, monopolization of raw materials supplies, claims by Tribal entities, and more.
A key reason The Beck Group is frequently considered for expert witness work is the company’s credibility within the industry and within the legal community. In addition, staff members have excellent written and oral communication capabilities with the capacity to help judges and juries understand complex matters through the use of layman’s terminology and the presentation of clear, easily understood charts, graphs, and other visual aids.
CASE STUDIES
Expert Witness—The Beck Group was retained as an expert witness to assess the value of a forest products manufacturing operation that had been destroyed by fire. Our staff used a combination of the revenue and EBITDA multiplier approaches to estimate the value of the business. That value was used to great advantage in a negotiation process with the company’s insurance provider.
In addition to the valuation approaches, Beck maintains a database of mill transaction prices that is useful in valuation projects. The client gained a much stronger negotiating position relative to the insurer.
Legal Claim Against the United States—Assisted by other Beck staff members, Mr. Tom Beck served as an expert witness in the White Mountain Apache Tribe’s legal claim against the United States for mismanagement of Tribal resources, including Tribal timberlands. This multi-year project helped the White Mountain Tribe demonstrate how a lack of BIA funding for various forest management and related programs had resulted in a variety of negative impacts on the Tribe, including lack of thinning of the forestlands and the associated reduction in growth and increased risk for fire and insect attack; lack of road maintenance; and many other monetary and environmental impacts. As a result of The Beck Group’s assistance, the Tribe was able to negotiate a significant, multi-million dollar settlement with the United States.
The Beck Group staff have served as expert witnesses for several other Tribes in similar claims for lack of fulfillment of the United States’ trust responsibilities and the resulting mismanagement of Tribal assets. The Beck Group’s diverse backgrounds and forest industry experiences, as well as our analytical and communications skills, have been invaluable to these Tribes in pursuing their claims.
Expert Witness for a Biomass Fuel Supplier—Beck was retained by counsel for a biomass fuel contractor involved in a contracting dispute with a biomass power plant. Beck assisted the mediation process by analyzing supply contracts, historical delivery volumes and prices, and various other discovery documents. From that analysis Beck provided summarized information to counsel, which was used to negotiate a mutually agreed-upon settlement to the dispute.
BECK staff members have assisted many clients in contract disputes related to forestry and forest products. Our firm has a reputation as being knowledgeable on a variety of forestry and forest products-related subject matter; having excellent analytical abilities necessary to assess damages; and excellent communication skills to present findings in a manner that is easy for a judge and jury to understand, using a combination of written and visual/graphical evidence. Beck staff members are considered highly credible witnesses.
Expert Witness for a Timberland Owner—The Beck Group assisted a confidential timberland owner in an arbitration case related to its specialty timberland holdings. The company was facing a legal claim related to the alleged breach of contract of a supply agreement. The alleged damages included the cost of relocation of manufacturing operations; the cost for raw material replacement including freight costs; and losses related to alleged grade-related defects in the materials that were provided. With Beck’s assistance, the client was able to negotiate a much lower-cost settlement than they had anticipated, saving the company many millions of dollars.
BECK staff members have assisted many clients in contract disputes related to forestry and forest products and have a reputation within the industry as being knowledgeable regarding the subject matter; having excellent analytical abilities necessary to assess damages; and possessing excellent communication skills to present findings in a manner easy for a judge and jury to understand, using a combination of written and visual/graphical evidence. The Beck Group staff members are considered highly credible witnesses.
Expert Witness—The Beck Group provided expert witness services to a lumber producer in the U.S. West that was locked in a dispute with an equipment vendor that had not lived up to promised performance. Beck’s tasks included multiple on-site visits to the sawmill to observe equipment in operation, documenting ongoing problems with the equipment in question, traveling to other sawmills using similar equipment to document manufacturing problems, reviewing historical company financial and operating records, developing estimates of damages attributable to the faulty equipment, testifying in depositions, and observing depositions of opposition expert witnesses.
Beck staff members have assisted many clients in contract disputes related to forest products manufacturing. We are known in the industry as knowledgeable regarding the subject matter, skilled in analytical damages assessments, and having excellent communication skills to present findings in a manner that a judge and jury can understand using a combination of written and visual/graphical evidence. The Beck Group staff members are considered highly credible witnesses.
Legal Claim Against the United States—Headed by Chairman Tom Beck as the expert witness, The Beck Group assisted the San Carlos Apache Tribe in a legal claim against the United States for mismanagement of Tribal resources, including Tribal timberlands. A primary issue in the case was the lack of Bureau of Indian Affairs funding and the negative consequences for the Tribe, including lack of sufficient thinning of Reservation timberlands resulting in reduced timber growth, increased risk of wildfires and insect infestations, and failure to assist the Tribe in ensuring harvest objectives were fully achieved. With the assistance of The Beck Group, San Carlos was able to reach a multi-million-dollar settlement with the United States.
The Beck Group staff have served as expert witnesses for several other Tribes in similar claims for lack of fulfillment of the United States’ trust responsibilities and the resulting mismanagement of Tribal assets. The Beck Group’s diverse backgrounds and forest industry experiences, as well as our analytical and communications skills, have been invaluable to these Tribes in pursuing their claims.
Legal Claim Against the United States—The Beck Group was retained by the Yakama Nation as a part of a team of expert witnesses in a legal claim against the United States for failure to fulfill its Trust responsibility regarding management of Tribal assets. The Beck Group’s focus was on Reservation timberlands and timber utilization. Specific areas of damages included the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA’s) inaccurate timber supply projections; failure to maintain an adequate backlog of timber sales; lost log export market opportunities; and issues related to the development and performance of sawmilling operations for which BIA had oversight responsibility. With the assistance of legal counsel and the expert witnesses, the Tribe was able to achieve a multi-million-dollar settlement.
The Beck Group staff have served as expert witnesses for several other Tribes in similar claims for lack of fulfillment of the United States’ trust responsibilities and the resulting mismanagement of Tribal assets. The Beck Group’s diverse backgrounds and forest industry experiences, as well as our analytical and communications skills, have been invaluable to these Tribes in pursuing their claims.
Legal Claim Against the United States—The Beck Group was retained for expert witness services by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in a legal claim against the United States for failure to fulfill its trust responsibility in managing various Tribal assets, including Reservation timberlands. With the assistance of Beck staff members, the Tribe was able to reach a multi-million-dollar settlement with the United States. The primary issue of this case involved the damages the Tribe had experienced because of a lack of enforcement of on timber sale contracts, as well as failure of the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) to achieve timber harvest objectives included in the BIA-approved forest management plan.
The Beck Group staff have served as expert witnesses for several other Tribes in similar claims for lack of fulfillment of the United States’ trust responsibilities and the resulting mismanagement of Tribal assets. The Beck Group’s diverse backgrounds and forest industry experiences, as well as our analytical and communications skills, have been invaluable to these Tribes in pursuing their claims.