Engagement begins with a conflicts check and a scope conversation. Counsel should expect to be asked what the disputed issues are, what the valuation date is, and what has already been produced by the other side — the answers change the scope of work materially.
Fee arrangements are hourly for testimony and consulting, and fixed for the underlying valuation. Fees contingent on the outcome or on the value concluded are prohibited under USPAP and would render the opinion worthless on cross.
Disclosure obligations vary by jurisdiction and forum. The appraiser's workfile is generally discoverable, and drafts may be. Counsel should raise this early so that the engagement is structured with it in mind.
At deposition and trial the expert defends the reasoning, not the number. A report whose logic can be followed step by step survives cross-examination; one that presents a conclusion with thin support does not, however carefully the number was chosen.
Written by
Jeremy C. Johnson — President / Valuation Specialist. AQB Certified USPAP Instructor, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, 21+ years and 7,000+ valuation assignments. Statement of capability →
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What the work actually looks like
Real assignments, client details removed — what each engagement actually turned on, rather than how it felt.
A house, a workshop of machine tools, a forty-year firearms collection and a stake in the family company — four disciplines that three appraisers had only partly covered. One engagement, one effective date, one set of assumptions.
A donation the regulations would have aggregated past the appraisal threshold, which the donor had assessed item by item. One qualified appraisal covering the group, itemized, signed inside the window the regulations allow.
An opposing report whose number was not obviously wrong — which is what made it dangerous. It failed on its own certification, and was answered section by section with an independent valuation to the correct definition of value.