Contract Disputes and Economic Damages

Hymel & Ready has experience calculating lost profits and other damages for clients across a wide variety of industries including wholesale, retail, manufacturing, maritime, construction, real estate development, hospitality, health care, non-profit, technology, and more. We are skilled at calculating lost revenues, lost profits, lost opportunities, and unjust enrichment. We can also analyze a company’s operating history and current industry conditions, including an evaluation of economic conditions of the market, as well as other factors that may or may not contribute to financial losses.

Internal Investigations, Fraud, and Embezzlement

We conduct independent internal investigations for companies with potential violations of criminal, civil, regulatory, and internal compliance and ethics policies. We can provide companies with an objective, unbiased analysis of allegations of fraud. 

Suspected frauds, particularly those committed by executives and upper management, need to be investigated by an experienced forensic accountant. Hymel & Ready can examine cases of fraudulent financial statements, embezzlement or employee theft, purchasing and procurement schemes, kickback and bribery schemes, fictitious vendors or shell company schemes, theft of accounts receivable or accounts payable, pay-and-return schemes, excess charges by subcontractors, personal use of company resources, and expense reporting fraud.

Professional Liability

Our firm can analyze the work of Certified Public Accountants in cases when the professional standards were not followed or when fraud was not uncovered. Our services leverage our auditing and accounting experience, along with fraud knowledge, to aid in evaluating the work done by auditors and accountants during financial statement audits, financial statement reviews, and compilation engagements. We can evaluate your case to determine whether a malpractice claim is viable, render opinions on whether the CPAs complied with applicable professional standards, and give expert witness testimony.

Our understanding of fraud and the various methods used to commit fraud provides a solid basis for examining cases when auditors and accountants may be at fault.  We can examine engagement agreements to determine the scope of work of the accountants or auditors, review work papers and analyze deficiencies, and consider relevant accounting standards, auditing standards, and other applicable rules and regulations.

Shareholder Disputes

When shareholders of closely held businesses disagree about the numbers, someone has to sort them out. Having an expert is imperative in evaluating the claims and documentation, specifically when fraud allegations arise. Hymel & Ready can assist in quantifying the damage sustained and with related financial matters during buyouts or shareholder litigation, including allegations of misappropriation or theft of company assets and misappropriation of fiduciary duty.