Delaware litigation head Joseph Larkin was featured in an article, “How Valuation Shapes High-Stakes Litigation,” published by Corporate Disputes magazine. In the piece, Mr. Larkin discussed why valuation has become a central focus in major commercial disputes.
“The stakeholders in these disputes — institutional investors or creditors, private equity sponsors, public companies and strategic acquirers — are highly sophisticated,” said Mr. Larkin. “They tend to approach litigation commercially and use it as a lever in a broader strategy to maximize the value of their investments or recover losses. … Valuation lies at the heart of virtually every material determination in the case, and the court is tasked with determining whether the entity was solvent at the time of a challenged transaction, whether a transfer was made for reasonably equivalent value and how the distribution pie is divided among competing creditor classes.”
Mr. Larkin also shared what makes valuation evidence persuasive, the importance of the factual narrative surrounding valuation and the role of professional judgment in valuation disputes.
“Professional judgment is the bedrock of expert valuation testimony and credibility is everything. … In a close case, successfully discrediting the opposing expert can be the single most important event at trial.” Mr. Larkin said.
Read the article: “How Valuation Shapes High-Stakes Litigation,” June 2026.