Dr. Estery Gilaz-Ran, CPA
Commercial & Cross-Border Arbitration · Business & Family Mediation · Intergenerational Transition · Expert Opinions for the Courts
Partner disputes, control battles, deadlocked transactions and family succession call for professional authority that understands both the people and the numbers. Arbitration and mediation in full confidentiality (in Hebrew and English), and economic expert opinions that carry decisive weight before the courts.
Serving as an independent director with financial expertise: Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank · Blue Square Real Estate · Yochananof · Kamada · Orda Print · Aminach · Overseas Commerce · G.T. Real Estate
Empirical precision, deep regulatory insight and extensive executive experience.
Conducting domestic and international arbitration proceedings (in Hebrew and English) in commercial disputes, breaches of contract, derivative claims and partner conflicts. Deciding disputes over valuation, shareholder rights and separation mechanisms following mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Delivering reasoned arbitral awards, grounded in financial evidence and legally sound.
Court-appointed or party-appointed expert opinions: valuations of companies and assets, quantification of economic damages, division of assets in complex divorce proceedings, and due diligence for legal disputes.
Leading financial negotiations and mediation in deadlocked transactions, founder conflicts and control battles. Mediation of stalled disputes over investor entry, capital raising or dividend distribution. Defusing accounting and tax pitfalls to reach a separation framework or a comprehensive, sustainable partnership agreement.
Structuring the transfer of control and wealth from the founding generation to the next. Managing interpersonal sensitivities alongside legal, tax and financial arrangements: a family charter, a future holding structure and decision-making mechanisms.
Every case is handled within a confidential setting and a defined method, designed to reach a well-founded resolution and spare the parties lengthy court proceedings.
An in-depth meeting, under a confidentiality undertaking, to map the parties, interests and the economic and legal questions in dispute, and to choose the right track: arbitration, mediation or an expert opinion.
Systematic review of financial statements, shareholder agreements, holding structures and tax implications, isolating the points where the dispute is economic in nature.
An arbitration or mediation agreement setting out procedure, timetables, confidentiality rules and terms of engagement, so the parties know the rules in advance.
Conducting the arbitration or mediation, or preparing the expert opinion, in close cooperation with the parties’ attorneys and at a pace independent of the court calendar.
A reasoned arbitral award, a settlement agreement that can be given the force of a judgment, or a signed expert opinion ready for submission to the courts.
Most economic disputes stall because each side sees only part of the picture. Combining professional expertise, executive experience, service as an independent director with financial expertise, legal-economic experience and a human approach makes it possible to see all of it.
Unlike theoretical experts or lawyers without a financial background, my experience was built leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A), guiding family companies through intergenerational transitions, raising capital and sitting at senior decision-making junctures in the economy. This is the experience that makes it possible to break a deadlock and build a workable economic framework that protects the value of the business.
A business dispute is never only about numbers. Behind it lie capital, control, relationships and sometimes a family’s life’s work. Four principles shape how I approach every case, from the first conversation to the final decision.
Disputes over value, ownership and control are sensitive by nature. Premature exposure can damage reputation, the trust of banks and investors, and relationships within the family and the company. All information entrusted to me is kept strictly confidential, and the process is conducted away from public view. This quiet is not a luxury: it is what allows the parties to speak openly and reach agreement.
I handle every case personally, from diagnosis to implementation, without passing it to intermediaries. The parties know who they are dealing with and who is accountable for the result. For many of my clients, what is at stake is decades of work and the future of the next generations, and I approach every case with that full weight.
Most business disputes are, at their core, disagreements about numbers: company value, profit distribution, tax consequences, cash flow and liabilities. When the economic picture is broken down and presented clearly and rigorously, the points of contention narrow, and what looked like a deadlock becomes a question that can be decided. That is what I bring to the room: the depth of a CPA and researcher, together with the tools of a mediator and arbitrator.
A court-appointed expert, arbitrator or mediator is measured by the ability to stand above the parties’ interests. My opinions and decisions rest on professional analysis alone, are thoroughly reasoned and built to withstand judicial review and cross-examination. That independence is what allows both sides to trust the outcome.
The goal in every case is the same: a sound decision, reached quickly and at a lower cost than prolonged litigation, while preserving business value and whatever can still be preserved in the relationship between the parties.
In arbitration, the parties authorize an arbitrator to decide the dispute, and the decision is binding on them, in a private and confidential process. In mediation, the parties reach agreement themselves with the help of a neutral mediator. An economic expert opinion analyzes a professional question, such as value or damages, and is used in negotiations, arbitration or court. The preliminary review determines which track suits the case.
Yes. The opinions are written in the structure and with the reasoning required for submission to the courts, and are based on a full analysis of the data.
Yes. Arbitration proceedings are conducted in Hebrew or English, including disputes where one of the parties is foreign or the transaction crosses borders.
Yes. All details and documents are kept strictly confidential. Arbitration and mediation are conducted privately, away from the publicity of the courts.
Certainly. The work is carried out in full coordination with the attorney handling the case, and provides the case with its economic, accounting and tax foundation.
The duration depends on the scope and complexity of the case, and timetables are set in advance within the agreed procedural framework. Arbitration usually reaches a decision in a shorter time than litigation in the courts.
The terms of engagement are set in writing after the preliminary review, according to the scope of the case and the chosen track.
Schedule a professional, discreet meeting to review the dispute and the right track: arbitration, mediation or an expert opinion.
