With their understanding of, and experience with, accounting and professional standards, Vedder Price attorneys have a unique, multifaceted approach to the liability, regulatory and transactional issues encountered by accountants and accounting firms. Vedder Price provides a complete spectrum of legal services fundamental for the success of an accounting practice.

Litigation, Risk Management and Disciplinary Matters

Vedder Price attorneys have extensive experience in representing accountants and accounting firms in dispute resolution, in litigations, arbitrations and government proceedings. Our firm has been involved in many cases that helped develop legal precedents which affect the accounting profession, including limitations on suits by nonclients, theories of liability and limitations on damages recoverable in claims against accountants. Our involvement in many of the key legal precedents in this field provides us with unique professional and strategic insight. Vedder Price attorneys work with our accounting clients to formulate a plan from the moment the client recognizes the possibility of a claim through the completion of litigation, alternative dispute resolution or settlement.

Vedder Price attorneys have a deep familiarity with accounting principles and professional standards. We provide advice on the application of such principles and standards as they arise in the course of the accountants’ delivery of professional services. We are able to address efficiently the accounting, auditing and tax issues posed by potential claims and asserted claims. We are experienced in understanding professional liability insurance policies and working with professional liability insurers with respect to claims and potential claims.

Our attorneys provide counseling to our clients on risk management techniques both before and during professional engagements, including the drafting of effective engagement letters and implementation of best practices policies and procedures. We are available to advise clients about potentially troublesome issues that arise during the course of an accounting engagement. This type of timely advice can help accountants continue with their work while minimizing the possibility of subsequent litigation.

Vedder Price attorneys have extensive experience in representing accountants in disciplinary proceedings whether brought by federal or state regulators or by self-regulatory organizations such as the AICPA and state CPA societies. We seek to address these inquiries promptly and discreetly in order to minimize the impact on the individual accountant’s practice. Our attorneys’ knowledge and experience of the procedures and substance of such proceedings, combined with our familiarity with the relevant legal, ethical and professional standards, make us a unique provider of legal services in these situations.

Transactions, Governance and Regulatory Matters

Vedder Price provides transactional services to accounting firms, such as partnership/shareholder agreements, practice purchases, mergers and departures (including enforcement of, and advice concerning, restrictive covenants), and retirement agreements. We represent accounting firms of all sizes, from the sole practitioner to large firms, in both buying and selling accounting practices. We structure accounting firms, whether newly formed or combinations of firms, to meet the unique needs of each accounting practice. We are experienced in guiding accounting firms through the dissolution process if such situation should occur.

We advise our accounting firm clients on a broad range of regulatory matters including independence, licensing, PCAOB and SEC regulations, and professional standards. We work with our clients to develop new products and business lines, whether done individually or in joint ventures.

Employment Matters

Vedder Price works with our accounting firm clients on a full range of employment-related matters. We assist our clients in adopting and implementing employment policies and adopting standardized employment agreements, and we conduct training to minimize the likelihood of employment-related litigation. We defend accounting firms in employment-related litigations.

Government Investigations

Situations increasingly arise in which accountants receive subpoenas to provide discovery for litigations in which they are not parties or to provide documents or testimony to government agencies. In these instances, Vedder Price attorneys are well-positioned to assess the risks posed to accounting firms by the underlying litigation, or the possibility that the accountants themselves may become the subject of a government investigation. Vedder Price has attorneys who were formerly litigators with governmental agencies or government prosecutors. Their experience, combined with our deep knowledge of accounting issues and accounting firms, makes Vedder Price uniquely suited to manage and defend all forms and types of governmental inquiries and investigations.