Q: Does Boschan Corp. provide services on a contingency basis?
A: We almost never perform work on a contingency or deferred fee basis for several reasons, including that:
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It introduces some apparent conflicts (e.g., whether we take an aggressive approach for short term gains at the expense of a profitable counterparty-client relationship)
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It often compromises our ability to provide timely service
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Our work may be inadmissible in court since we have a financial stake in the outcome of the case
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Usually it is most cost-effective to engage us on our standard hourly basis
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It is not profitable for us to accept small contingency matters
There are lenders to litigation attorneys' clients who need to borrow money to afford legal costs. We know not whether such lenders cover forensic accounting services such as that which we provide, or if the interest rates are fair, but this may be a potential solution to financing an audit or litigation matter if a party cannot otherwise afford it.
If our fee structure doesn’t work for you, we completely understand.
Q: How long does an audit take?
A: Most audits take one or more years, but once in a while an audit takes less than a year.
Q: Who are Boschan Corp.'s Clients?
A: Most of our clients are law firms.
The reason law firms engage us on behalf of their clients is that as expert consultants we work as an extension of the legal counsel. When an attorney conveys our findings to his or her client, their communication is usually privileged, so our findings and work is not automatically discoverable.
That said, when we are named as expert witnesses in a litigation matter, our work becomes discoverable, so if the parties are already in litigation and want an expert witness and not just an expert consultant, it may not matter who the engaging party is or whether we communicate with an attorney or his or her client.
Also, since most matters on which we work never enter a litigation phase where there is discovery, in nine out of ten cases it does not matter whether our client is a law firm or its client.
Still, the best practice to give clients maximum control is for a law firm to engage us to perform work on its client's behalf.
Q: Do I Need a Social Security Card to Work at Boschan Corp.?
A: Many of our team members at Boschan Corp. have gotten their start here as interns on on F-1 Visas and OPT extensions.
If you are a non-US citizen who wishes to be an employee of Boschan Corp., you will need to get a Social Security number so that we can run a background check and run payroll for you.
For F-1 visa holders, to obtain a social security number, you must provide to your local Social Security office an application including the following:
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A letter from your designated school official that:
a. Identifies you;
b. Confirms your current school status; and
c. Identifies your employer and the type of work you are, or will be, doing.
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Evidence of that employment, such as your offer letter from our firm.
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If you’re an F-1 student authorized to work in curricular practical training (CPT), you must provide us your Form I-20 with the employment page completed and signed by your school’s designated official.
Please review this PDF for all the official rules.
Q: What kinds of audits does Boschan Corp. do?
A: First, two kinds of audits that we do *not* perform are tax or financial attestation audits.
Our audits are all consulting services and mostly focused on contract or other legal compliance, including calculating damages due to non-compliance.
For example, we conduct many royalty compliance audits in order to ascertain whether royalties were calculated properly.
Our team has completed compliance audits in the following industries and sectors:
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Music
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Interactive Games
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Filmed Entertainment
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Consumer Products Intellectual Property Licensing (Copyright, Trademark, Patent, Tradedress)
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Natural Resources (e.g., Gas)
We also conduct audits of clients' licensees and business partners based worldwide, not just in Los Angeles.
Our newest team member is an environmental studies major and we are considering expanding into environmental audits.
However, we are best known for our work in the IP and entertainment sectors.
Q: What does Boschan Corp. charge for its services?
A: We bill clients based on our hourly rates (e-mail ClientService@Boschan.com to request a current rate sheet), either monthly or quarterly depending on the fees incurred.
We also require an up-front retainer of US $5,000-$10,000, which we hold until we apply it to the final invoice(s) (of course if there is a retainer balance at the end of the engagement, we refund it to the client).
We do not guarantee that you will have a successful outcome as a result of our engagement.
Q: Will Boschan Corp. Cap its Fees?
A: At Boschan Corp., we appreciate your desire to know with certainty what your audit or other engagement will cost, particularly the upper limit.
However, we cannot agree to so-called "fee caps" because of the following reasons:
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Boschan Corp. cannot control how cooperative the counterparty is. Counterparties are more cooperative with some clients and less cooperative with others, the latter of which drives up engagement costs.
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Often the scope of the engagement changes during the engagement
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In certain cases, work in addition to what was originally contemplated may be merited based on preliminary findings
Caveat emptor to clients who demand fee caps: when one agrees to a fee cap with a service provider, one is relinquishing control to the service provider to unilaterally decide where to cut corners if the budget cap is too low to cover everything that should be completed. These decisions are nearly always hidden from clients. Or, because the engagement becomes unprofitable, it is de-prioritized by the service provider.
Instead, we like to put the power of knowledge in our clients' hands and work with our clients' teams to make smart, strategic decisions on where to focus limited resources (because all resources are limited).
Therefore, our approach is to work in phases within reasonable budgets, report back to the client team after each phase and agree on what will be done (and what the budget will be for each phase). We believe fees should be fair to both parties - the client and the service provider.