Methodology
Quantitative where the data supports it. Qualitative where it does not.
Every opinion is built on the same four-layer framework. Scoring instruments carry the layers the data can carry; structured professional examination carries the rest.
Layer 01 — Firm
The firm as an operating business.
Origination economics, fee structures, cost discipline, case management infrastructure, financial controls, and the firm's capacity to prosecute its inventory to resolution. A strong docket inside a weak firm is a weak asset.
Layer 02 — Attorneys
The attorneys as the asset behind the asset.
The partners driving case outcomes: trial and settlement record, judgment under pressure, disciplinary and conduct history, bench and opposing-counsel reputation, and succession risk. This layer is examined, not scored — it is where the deepest work in every engagement is done.
Layer 03 — Litigation
The cases on their merits.
Claim strength, procedural posture, damages theory, defendant solvency and insurance, expected duration, and resolution pathways. Individual case assessments roll up to portfolio-level concentration and duration profiles.
Layer 04 — Market
The conditions surrounding all of it.
Venue and judicial trends, defense-side behavior, settlement market liquidity, mass-tort and practice-area cycles, and the regulatory environment bearing on fee recovery.
Principles
- An opinion that cannot be defended line by line is not an opinion.
- Independence is structural. We hold no positions and take no side of any trade.
- The mark is only the conclusion. The reasoning is the product.