American Academy of Economic
and Financial Experts
Statement of
Ethical Principles
(click
here for Acrobat PDF
version)
As a practicing forensic
economist and a member of
the American Academy of
Economic and Financial
Experts, I pledge to provide
unbiased and accurate
economic analysis for all
litigation related
engagements, to strive to
improve the science of
forensic economics, and to
protect the integrity of the
profession through adherence
to the following tenets of
ethical practice:
Employment
While
all forensic economists have
the discretionary right to
accept retention for any
case or proceeding within
their expertise, they should
decline involvement in any
litigation when asked to
take or support a
predetermined position, when
having ethical concerns
about the nature of the
requested assignment, or
when compensation is
contingent upon the outcome.
Honesty and Candor
Forensic
economists shall be honest,
thorough and open in their
analyses and shall not
provide the retaining or
opposing attorney or the
court, any information,
through commission or
omission that they know to
be false or misleading. They
shall exert due diligence,
and at all times strive to
use competent judgment to
avoid the use of invalid or
unreliable information.
Disclosure
Forensic
economists shall clearly
state the sources of
information and material
assumptions leading to their
opinions. Such disclosure
should be in sufficient
detail to allow
identification of specific
sources relied upon, and
replication of the
analytical conclusions by a
competent economist with
reasonable effort.
Neutrality
Forensic
economists shall at all
times attempt to operate
from a position of
neutrality with respect to
their calculations and
analyses. Whether retained
by the plaintiff or the
defense, the approach,
methodology and conclusions
should be essentially the
same.
Knowledge
Forensic
economists shall at all
times attempt to maintain a
current knowledge base of
the discipline and shall
provide the retaining
attorney with the full
benefit of this knowledge
regardless of how it may
affect the outcome of the
case.
Responsibility
Forensic
economists shall at all
times strive to practice
within the boundaries of
professional and
disciplinary honesty and
fairness. To this end, they
must assume the
responsibility of holding
their colleagues in the
profession accountable to
the ethical principles
promulgated herein.
