Can I use Opagio valuations in court?

Full Explanation

In litigation, expert evidence (including valuations) must meet legal standards of reliability and expert qualification. In the UK, experts must: 1) be qualified to provide expert opinion, 2) declare they understand their duty to the court, 3) base opinions on reliable methodology. An Opagio valuation produced by an AI tool doesn't satisfy (1) because the tool is not a qualified expert. However, if a qualified valuer uses Opagio as a tool and then adds their professional judgment and opinion, that's admissible. Courts have specific rules on algorithmic evidence: if the algorithm is proprietary (black box), courts often exclude it; if the methodology is transparent and expert-reviewed, courts may accept it. For Opagio specifically: the methodologies are transparent (Relief from Royalty, MPEEM, etc. are academic) but the specific implementation (model calibration, assumption selection) is algorithmic. For litigation risk, the safest approach: use Opagio for initial estimates, then engage a qualified valuer to review and opine. Their opinion, supported by Opagio's analysis, is more defensible in court than Opagio alone.

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