By Howard Flack (June 13, 2017, 12:21 AM EDT) -- Diligence is a fact of life that cannot (and certainly should not) be avoided. In an M&A transaction, the parties understand that a certain degree of diligence will be requested of both parties. In some cases, a good part of the diligence may be front loaded so that the parties are on a more level playing field when they negotiate terms. In other cases, particularly when competitors are involved, both parties might prefer to delay as much of the diligence as they can (at least as to the most sensitive data) until many of the significant contingencies have been dealt with. Regardless, participants often spend hundreds or thousands of hours on the diligence process to ensure that they have negotiated the best deal and have positioned themselves to realize its intended benefits....