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Ex Post and Ex Ante Standards in Damages
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Brattle Principal Ben Sacks explains the ex post and ex ante approaches to calculating damages through two intuitive examples.
Mr. Sacks has over 20 years of experience assisting corporations, investors, US government agencies, and foreign governments, to develop and present economic and financial testimony in complex litigations and arbitrations. He serves as a testifying expert in both international arbitrations and US court matters.
Benjamin Sacks
Principal | Washington DC
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Ex Post and Ex Ante
1 Standards in Damages
Mr. Sacks defines ex post and ex ante standards and explains what they mean for damages.
4 minutes and 14 seconds
What are Damages?
But-For Value
Actual Value
Damages
Claimant wealth if "bad acts" had
not occurred
Difference in the claimant's wealth caused by the bad acts
Claimant wealth given bad acts
did occur
Past
Bad Acts
Interim Period
Hearing
or award
Future
timeline: Past vs. Future
In the past (known)
in both ex post and
ex ant
Past (known) or future (unknown) depending on ex post or ex ante
In the future (unknown) in
both ex post and ex ante
{
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Ex Post and Ex Ante
2 Expropriation of Publicly Traded Shares
Mr. Sacks provides an applied example of ex post and ex ante standards in damages through the expropriation of a publicly traded firm.
3 minutes and 29 seconds
The Value of Expropriated Shares
But-For Value
Bad acts
Actual Value
Damages
$100M
$0
$100M
$140M
$100M
$60M
Market Cap
Hearing
July 2015
September 2019
But-For Value
$141M
$0
Actual Value
$141M
Damages
Hearing
Bad acts
Ex Ante
Ex Post
Ex Post
Ex Ante
Ex Post and Ex Ante
3 Approaches to Historical and Forecasted Prices
Mr. Sacks applies ex post and ex ante standards to an example of a private firm using discounted cash flow (DCF) and focusing on prices.
3 minutes and 38 seconds
Approaches to Historical and Forecasted Prices
Past / Known
Future / unKnown
Prices
Ex ante data
Ex ante projection
Time
Ex Ante
Ex Post
Ex Post
Past / Known
Future / unKnown
Ex post data
Ex post projection
Also ex post data
Ex Ante
Ex Post
Ex Ante
Ex Post
Ex Ante
Learn more about Ben
Bad Acts
Interim Period
Hearing
or Award
Future
Past (known)
or future (unknown) depending on ex post or ex ante
In the future (unknown) in both ex post and
ex ante
Benjamin Sacks
Principal | Washington DC
Hearing
Bad acts
But-For Value
$100M
$0
Actual Value
$100M
Damages
Time
Prices
Ex Ante
Ex post
But-For Value
$141M
$0
Actual Value
$141M
Damages
Benjamin.Sacks@brattle.com