The need

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in their case against a municipal power agency needed an expert in municipal finance to develop their case. The defendant had made a deal to finance a new power plant via swap contracts, or agreements between two parties to exchange cash flows or liabilities. When the power plant plan fell through, the agency was unable honor the terms of the swap contracts, resulting in $100M in termination fees. The plaintiffs felt these fees were an excessive debt for the municipality to shoulder and argued that it was inappropriate for the agency to pursue such risky financing. Therefore, the expert would need to be able to opine on whether the financing scheme was, in fact inappropriate.

Our approach

From conversations with the client, we understood that the ideal expert would have prior litigation experience. We went to work to find the precise fit.

The expert

We found an expert with over 25 years of experience with municipal and public finance. He founded a firm that provided swap portfolio services and its clients included energy and utility companies as well as state and local government entities. In his career, he had been responsible for valuing, recommending, and procuring investment products such as municipal bonds and had a thorough understanding of swap contracts and bond issues. Finally, he had previously been retained as an expert witness in litigation matters.