Expertise
Real-World Business Expertise for Litigation Support and Corporate Governance
H.S. Grace & Company, Inc. brings specialized business expertise and real-world senior management and board experience to business litigation support, expert witness engagements, corporate governance advisory, and complex business consulting matters.
Our advisors and consultants bring more than 1,000 years of combined senior management and board experience across a wide range of industries. HSG professionals include former CEOs, CFOs, COOs, senior financial executives, corporate directors, CPAs, attorneys, academics, and other experienced business leaders who have spent their careers addressing many of the same types of business issues our clients face.
With this depth of experience, HSG provides business litigation support and advisory services grounded in how businesses operate, make decisions, manage risk, oversee financial and operational performance, and respond to complex challenges.
For each engagement, we assemble a focused team whose experience and expertise match the particular issues involved.
What Areas of Expertise Does HSG Bring to Business Litigation and Advisory Matters?
Corporate Governance
HSG professionals bring extensive corporate governance experience from their roles as senior executives, corporate directors, advisors, and expert witnesses. Their expertise includes board and management responsibilities, governance structures, oversight and control, board committees, decision-making processes, organizational checks and balances, and the relationship between boards and senior management.
HSG applies this experience in business litigation support and advisory matters involving the structure, processes, responsibilities, and effectiveness of boards and management.
Business Conduct & Practices
HSG professionals draw on decades of senior management and board experience to evaluate business judgment, management decisions, contractual relationships, organizational practices, internal processes, standards of business conduct, and the circumstances surrounding disputed business decisions.
This real-world perspective can be particularly valuable in complex commercial disputes involving breach of contract, negligence, bad faith, conspiracy, antitrust and restraint of trade, and other allegations in which the conduct and practices of businesses, executives, directors, or other participants are at issue.
Fiduciary Duties
HSG professionals bring extensive business and governance experience to matters involving the responsibilities of corporate directors, officers, trustees, and other fiduciaries.
Our work has involved questions concerning duties of care and loyalty, board and management oversight, conflicts of interest, decision-making processes, corporate governance practices, financial reporting, investment decisions, and other conduct relevant to alleged breaches of fiduciary duty.
HSG evaluates these issues within the context of the facts, governance structures, business circumstances, and decision-making processes involved.
Causation & Damages
Complex business disputes frequently require determining not only whether losses occurred, but what actually caused them.
HSG professionals analyze the relationship between alleged conduct and claimed economic harm, considering the actions of relevant parties as well as business conditions, management decisions, industry factors, financial performance, and other potential causes of loss.
Our causation and damages expertise helps counsel evaluate claims, examine causal relationships, challenge unsupported assumptions, and assess whether claimed damages are supported by the underlying business and financial facts.
Accounting & Valuation
HSG’s team includes CPAs and senior financial executives who have served as chief accounting officers, CFOs, treasurers, controllers, auditors, and other financial leaders in public and private companies.
Their experience encompasses accounting and financial reporting, business and going-concern valuation, financial analysis, financial controls, financing arrangements, investment decisions, and other complex financial matters.
This combination of technical accounting knowledge, valuation experience, and senior-level business perspective can be particularly valuable in litigation support and advisory matters where financial issues must be understood within the broader context of how a company operated and made decisions.
Fraud & Financial Reporting
HSG professionals have experience supporting matters involving allegations of commercial fraud, financial reporting irregularities, securities violations, white-collar misconduct, disclosure issues, revenue recognition, internal controls, financial restatements, investment decisions, and SEC-related matters.
Our professionals draw on experience in public accounting, corporate finance, senior management, and board service to evaluate the responsibilities of the individuals and organizations involved, the processes surrounding financial reporting and disclosure, and the business circumstances in which disputed conduct occurred.
Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures
Many HSG advisors have substantial firsthand experience with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and other significant corporate transactions as senior executives and corporate directors.
Their experience includes due diligence, valuation, financing, transaction structure, financial and operational analysis, integration and separation issues, transaction oversight, and the responsibilities of officers and directors involved in major corporate transactions.
This practical perspective enables HSG to support litigation and advisory matters by evaluating transactions not only through the documents involved, but also through an understanding of how complex corporate transactions are evaluated, negotiated, approved, and implemented.
Executive Compensation
HSG advisors bring experience with executive compensation from both sides of the boardroom table.
Our professionals include former C-suite executives who have negotiated employment and compensation arrangements as well as corporate directors who have reviewed, negotiated, and approved senior executive compensation and employment agreements.
This experience provides valuable perspective in litigation and advisory matters involving executive compensation, employment agreements, incentive arrangements, termination, corporate governance, and related questions of business judgment.
Commercial Real Estate
HSG professionals have extensive experience with companies holding significant commercial real estate investments and have been involved in the planning, financing, development, management, operation, and restructuring of substantial property portfolios.
Our team brings knowledge of the business and financial factors affecting real estate value and performance, management practices, financing structures, distressed properties, partnerships, and other issues arising from commercial real estate ownership and investment.
This experience can provide important business and financial context in litigation, restructuring, and advisory matters involving commercial real estate.
Regulatory and Compliance
HSG professionals have extensive experience operating businesses within complex regulatory environments and interacting with federal and state regulatory bodies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Our experience spans regulated industries including banking, insurance, manufacturing, utilities, financial services, and other sectors. HSG professionals evaluate regulatory and compliance issues within the broader context of corporate governance, management responsibilities, internal controls, business practices, and organizational decision-making.
Restructuring and Reorganization
HSG advisors have substantial experience with business restructuring, reorganization, distressed companies, and bankruptcy-related matters.
Our professionals have participated in restructurings of public and private entities, corporate spin-offs, debt and loan restructurings, partnership restructurings, and Chapter 11 proceedings. HSG advisors have also served on creditor and unsecured creditor committees and have worked with bankruptcy trustees and other parties involved in complex restructuring matters.
This experience provides insight into the financial, operational, governance, and business considerations that arise when organizations face financial distress or significant structural change.
Risk Management
Effective risk management is an important component of corporate governance and responsible business management.
HSG professionals draw on senior management, financial, operational, and board experience to evaluate how organizations identify, assess, communicate, oversee, and manage risk.
Our experience encompasses financial and liquidity risk, loan covenants and cash management, operational risk, regulatory and compliance risk, governance risk, reputational risk, and the allocation of responsibility for managing risks throughout an organization.
How Does HSG Apply Its Expertise to Support Business Litigation?
HSG brings its business, accounting, valuation, governance, operational, and industry expertise to support complex commercial disputes. Depending on the issues involved, we assemble a focused team of professionals whose backgrounds and experience are relevant to the facts of the matter.
This multidisciplinary perspective helps counsel examine disputed business conduct and decisions, evaluate causation and damages, understand financial and operational issues, and place the facts of a case within their real-world business context.
HSG applies this expertise through Litigation Consulting, Expert Witness Testimony, Business Case Analysis, and Causation & Damages Analysis.
How Does HSG Apply Its Expertise to Corporate Governance and Business Advisory Matters?
HSG’s expertise also supports organizations facing governance, oversight, risk, operational, and other complex business challenges.
Drawing on decades of executive and board experience, our professionals help clients evaluate governance structures and practices, identify potential weaknesses, assess risk and controls, and address challenging business circumstances from the perspective of experienced business leaders.
HSG applies this expertise through Corporate Governance Consulting, Governance Stress Testing, and Business Consulting.
Experienced Business Leaders with Specialized Expertise
HSG’s business expertise comes from professionals who have spent their careers making and overseeing significant business decisions.
Our advisors and consultants have served in senior management, financial, operational, professional, and board positions across a broad range of industries. Their collective experience allows HSG to match the knowledge and background of individual professionals to the specific needs of each litigation support or advisory engagement.
Let’s Work Together
H.S. Grace & Company brings specialized business expertise and real-world executive experience to support complex business litigation, expert witness engagements, corporate governance, and business advisory matters.