Financial Fluency for Litigators: Interpreting the Numbers that Drive Decisions

The CBA is a professional organization that provides educational and networking opportunities for lawyers. Representing more than 36,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada, the CBA is committed to enhancing the professional and commercial interests of a diverse membership and to protecting the independence of the judiciary and the Bar.

Vern Krishna, CM, QC, FRSC, FCGA, MCIArb, earned a B Comm (Manchester), MBA, LLB (Alberta), DCL (Cambridge) and LLM (Harvard). He is a professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law. He is also of Counsel, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and Execu- tive Director of the Tax Research Centre at the University of Ottawa. Professor Krishna is a member of the Order of Canada, an honourary Doctor of Laws from the Law Society of Ontario, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has been a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada since 1991 and served as its Treasurer from 2001–03. Professor Krishna is the author of The Fundamentals of Canadian Income Tax, now in its 9th edition, Income Tax Law (2012), three volumes on general taxation, corporate taxation, and international taxation in Halsbury’s Laws of Canada, and the Editor of Canada’s Tax Treaties. He is listed in Who’s Who and Lexpert has recognized him in Best Lawyers in Canada in Trusts & Estates and Tax Law.

Natalie Quinn is a Managing Director in the Economic & Financial Consulting practice of FTI Consulting and is based in Vancouver, Canada. Ms. Quinn has specialist experience in the assessment of economic damages and valuation in complex disputes in both commercial litigation and international arbitration settings. A Chartered Accountant for more than twenty years, she has worked in Canada and Australia on a broad range of dispute advisory engagements including class actions, expropriation, post-acquisition disputes, breach of contract, shareholder disputes and other financial disputes. Ms. Quinn has extensive experience across a range of industries, including mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, automotive, financial services, government, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, construction and transport. Ms. Quinn has testified as an expert witness and prepared many expert reports for submission to Canadian and Australian courts and both domestic and international arbitral panels. Throughout her career, Ms. Quinn has assisted many large corporates such as Asahi, Coles, Theiss, Telstra and Qantas, and on matters involving regulators such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Australia Taxation Office. Ms. Quinn holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Monash University and a Graduate Certificate in Business Forensics from the University of Melbourne.

Errol is a graduate of the Ivey School of Business at Western University. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Chartered Business Valuator (CBV) and Certified Fraud Examiner ("CFE"). Errol has received the honorary designation of Fellow from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators and also from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants in recognition of his valued contribution and overall leadership in the profession. Errol currently sits on the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators' Conduct and Discipline Committee. In addition to his broad practical experience, Errol is the author of two books and various teaching materials addressing issues concerning the quantification of financial loss and business valuation, and he has lectured extensively to professional interest groups in Canada, the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Errol is a past instructor at the University of Toronto's diploma in Forensic Accounting program. Among other recognitions, Errol is a Global Elite Thought Leader in Damages Quantification, Business Valuation, and related Financial Advisory Services according to the annual Lexology (formerly Who's Who Legal) survey of lawyers. He is also amongst the most highly regarded damages and arbitration expert witnesses in Canada. Prior to Soriano Mizrahi de Gray Inc., Errol was a Managing Director at a leading boutique valuations and corporate restructuring firm. Prior to that, he worked at an international consulting firm based in Toronto.

Catherine is a Partner leading MNP's Québec Valuations practice. With more than 25 years of experience in business valuation and financial litigation support, she has conducted numerous business, equity investment, securities, and intangible asset valuations over the course of her career. Her expertise supports transactions involving mergers and acquisitions and private investments, as well as corporate and financial restructurings. She also performs fair value measurements for financial reporting purposes (purchase price allocations and impairment tests), in addition to providing valuations for income tax, financing, shareholder disputes, and economic damages quantification engagements, among others. Catherine has worked with public and private companies in a wide array of industries, as well as for government entities. She has been recognized by the courts as an expert witness in business valuation and economic damages quantification. She has written numerous technical articles and lectured at conferences on business valuation and financial analysis. Catherine was a member of the board of directors of the CBV Institute (The Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators) for six years. She also served on the editorial review board of Business Valuation Review, the quarterly publication of the American Society of Appraisers, for four years. Catherine received a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) and a Graduate Diploma in Public Accountancy from McGill University, where she was awarded several prizes for academic excellence. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), qualifying in 1996, a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV 2002), an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA 2006), and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (2014). In 2026, she was awarded the title of Fellow of The Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators (FCBV), a distinction recognizing the excellence of her work and her exceptional contributions to the profession.

Alexander Mosaico has represented companies and individuals in complex litigation matters, prosecuting or defending claims involving contract disputes, shareholder disputes including oppression and derivative action claims, highly contentious matrimonial property matters, bankruptcy and insolvency matters, unjust enrichment, and fraudulent misrepresentation. Alexander has also acted for contractors and owners, including one of Canada's largest producers of crude oil, in complex construction litigation involving highly contested claims under Alberta's builder's lien legislation. He has appeared before the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Court of King's Bench, and the Provincial Court of Alberta and before disciplinary committees of professional colleges. Alexander has volunteered with the Edmonton Community Legal Centre for many years, offering pro bono legal advice to people whose income poses a barrier to accessing justice. Alexander also works, on occasion, in collaboration with Hu Eliot Young on various files, which is facilitated by their sharing space in the historic Hugh Duncan Residence in Old Strathcona. Coming from an immigrant family of entrepreneurs, Alexander knows what it's like forging into unfamiliar territory. With this sense of adventure he left his home in the foothills of Alberta to attend Law School in Edmonton. He fell in love with the city and in particular the spectacular North Saskatchewan River valley, and decided to stay. In summer months he can often be found swimming in, or floating down the river on home-made rafts with family and friends.