会计师团队

我们在美洲、亚洲及欧洲组建了一支全球性的会计法专业人士团队，以满足会计客户的国际业务需求。透过本行位于世界各地的办事处，我们拥有了必要的资源，能够针对领先会计师事务所遇到的任何争讼或非争讼问题迅速作出回应。

我们与诸多会计师事务所建立了长期工作关系，并且团队中若干律师曾就职于会计师事务所总顾问办公室，由此对会计网络及独立事务所的结构、文化及业务惯例有着全面、深入的理解。该等理解使得我们能够在充分考虑会计行业适用的商业、监管及其他现实因素的基础上提供法律意见，并因此受聘为会计网络更广阔的全球需求提供支持。

我们不仅代理美国及英国的会员事务所（member firms）处理发生在美国及英国的诉讼，还就世界各地的索赔提供战略监督，包括对香港、新加坡、曼谷、开曼群岛、韩国及印度的会员事务所提出的索赔。在某些案件中，我们不仅与本行在当地的既有团队合作，还与其他律师行的当地团队合作。

本行美国律师多次代理领先的会计师事务所及个人审计师处理诉讼及监管事宜。我们还经常就风险管理、事务所政策等事宜提供法律意见，在相关专业标准的应用及解释方面亦经验丰富，上述标准包括：一般公认会计原则（GAAP）、一般公认审计准则（GAAS）、公众公司会计监督委员会（PCAOB）制定的审计准则及规则以及美国证券交易委员会（SEC）的规定及解释。

本行伦敦保险及再保险团队经常受聘为在伦敦保险市场投保的会计师事务所提供辩护服务。我们专攻这一领域长达二十余年，与会计师事务所及其保险商及经纪行均建立了牢固的工作关系。我们擅长处理税务及破产事宜、监管调查、复杂的因果关系以及可能对会计业务产生影响的所有问题。本行伦敦办事处凭借在该领域的专长获得各个法律指南的高度认可。

咨询团队

知名咨询公司面临重大的法律问题时，往往寻求本行的帮助，包括专业疏忽诉讼、商业秘密纠纷、雇佣诉讼以及依据联邦及州证券法提出的索赔。无论对手方是政府机构、竞争对手抑或客户，我们均具备必要的经验及资源妥善处理问题。本行的全球律师团队确保我们能够在任何地方满足国际咨询公司的法律需求。

律师团队

对于不满的客户或前员工、监管机构、联邦及州检察官发起的诉讼，律师行亦不能免疫。我们明白，对律师行的指控，无论是否具有法律依据，均有可能对律师行精心培育的声誉造成阻碍或伤害。本行一贯向各主要的律师行就其各类重大事务提供咨询及代理服务，包括：就某个特定的客户项目潜在的失职风险进行评估，解决客户利益冲突及其他道德问题，以及解决合伙及雇佣纠纷。

此外，我们受聘于律师行及律师，处理以下类型的诉讼：

• 就客户、投资者及其他当事方主张律师行对其负有谨慎责任而提出的不当执业索赔进行辩护。
• 美国证券交易委员会质询，联邦及州大陪审团调查。
• 涉及律师行当前客户或前客户的案件中的宣誓证词、大陪审团或庭审证词。
• 州及当地律师纪律委员会。
• 就非法解雇、违反信托义务及其他雇佣诉讼进行辩护。
• 涉及提供特殊类别法律服务的谨慎标准的专家证词。

本行业务范围广泛，在为不当执业索赔进行辩护时采取多学科方法。通常，我们为该类案件配置的团队包括不当执业律师（经验丰富且对索赔涉及的业务领域具备专业知识）、电子举证律师（便于有效采集并制作文件）以及上诉律师（确保保存法院在审理案件的过程中存在的错误并用于上诉）。我们深知，律师行是最成熟的法律服务消费者，我们乐于与律师行客户合作制定并执行成功的辩护策略。

许可、命名及其他风险管理事宜

我们经常就风险管理及监管合规事宜咨询专业服务公司。本行专业责任律师在为各行各业以及风险及管理部门制定、实施记录保留政策及程序方面具有丰富的经验。他们还与电子举证及记录管理团队合作，以最佳实践及其他极富成本效益的方法制定高效的数据收集政策。此外，该团队熟悉联邦及州关于广告及营销的法令法规，经常就上述规则的合规事宜向专业服务公司提供法律意见。

Accounting Matters

• Representing Moore Stephens in the SDNY and the Second Circuit against Section 10(b) and Section 11 claims. Plaintiffs claimed that Moore Stephens should have uncovered fraud at Puda Coal, a US holding company, involving the transfer of its operating subsidiary to a company executive. On summary judgment, SDNY’s Judge Forrest excluded Plaintiffs’ expert witness as unqualified to testify on the relevant PCAOB standards, while refusing to exclude Moore Stephens’ PCAOB expert. Accordingly, the district court ruled that there was no material issue of fact on Section 10(b) scienter and that there was no evidence of and no triable issue on Section 11 subjective falsity. All other defendants settled following Moore Stephens’ dismissal. On appeal, the Second Circuit affirmed the prior rulings striking the plaintiffs’ expert and granting summary judgment on Sections 10(b) and 11 claims, holding that plaintiffs failed to put forth an expert on the standard of care and failed to show audit failures. Critically for accountants, the Second Circuit held that audit reports involve significant subjective judgment and are statements of opinion subject to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Omnicare.
• Representing Crowe in two actions filed by the trustee of Colonial BancGroup, Inc. and the FDIC as receiver for Colonial Bank in the Middle District of Alabama. The actions allege that Crowe breached its contract and/or was negligent in providing outsourced internal audit services to Colonial. This litigation represents the first public instance of the FDIC pursuing suit against an accounting firm that had provided outsourced internal audit services. Plaintiffs claim damages in excess of $2 billion.
• Represented Ernst & Young in a purported securities class action under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 brought by debt and equity holders of Overseas Shipholding Group. We obtained early summary judgment for our client after Overseas Shipholding Group filed for bankruptcy after disclosing that it owed nearly $500 million in tax liability under Section 956 of the Internal Revenue Code. Judge Scheindlin, of the SDNY, entered judgment after concluding that the alleged corrective disclosure did not disclose any information about Ernst & Young and that the case could not be saved by relying upon a materialization of a risk theory. All of the other defendants settled the case following Ernst & Young’s dismissal.
• Represented Ernst & Young in the Regions Financial Corporation litigation filed by securities purchasers in the SDNY. The action alleged that Ernst & Young consented to the incorporation into a registration statement and prospectus of its audit report on the company’s materially misstated financial statements, thus violating Section 11 of the Securities Act. We obtained dismissal of the Section 11 claim. We successfully represented Ernst & Young before the Second Circuit on plaintiffs’ appeal and obtained an important ruling establishing the requirement that plaintiffs plead subjective falsity as to statements of opinion in Section 11 securities claims. We recently secured confirmation of this ruling in the Puda Coal litigation.
• Represented Deloitte & Touche LLP in Florida state court against common law fraud and negligence claims related to the audits of Grand Court Lifestyles, a publicly traded senior living company. We obtained partial summary judgment in Deloitte’s favor on claims filed by a committee of unsecured creditors, and thereafter negotiated a favorable settlement.
• Represented Ernst & Young in all matters relating to the firm's audits of Superior Bank. Prior to its failure in 2001, Superior was a major sub prime lending institution. In November 2002, the FDIC, acting in its corporate capacity, filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Ernst & Young. We successfully moved to dismiss the FDIC's claim for lack of standing and successfully defended the district court's decision on appeal to the Seventh Circuit.
• Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers International in the securities class action pending in federal court in New York relating to the confession of the Chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. that he had falsified Satyam’s accounts by more than $1 billion.
• Represented KPMG LLP in an action filed by securities purchasers in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The action alleges that KPMG consented to the incorporation into a registration statement and prospectus of its audit report on the company’s materially misstated financial statements.
• Represented Ernst & Young in a series of matters concerning Bally Total Fitness, including securities class actions and shareholder derivative suits.
• Represented Crowe in a securities class action pending in federal court in Colorado relating to the bankruptcy of United Western Bancorp. The case alleges a claim under Section 11 of the Securities Act against Crowe.
• Represented Grant Thornton in litigation and related matters arising from the OCC's closure of First National Bank of Keystone, West Virginia, because of management fraud. The FDIC, bank shareholders and other plaintiffs filed claims against Grant Thornton.

Consulting Matters

• Representation of Deloitte & Touche in connection with disputes arising out of a consulting engagement. We quickly assessed the claims and advised on options for a resolution of the dispute. We prepared position papers and achieved a successful resolution of the disputes through mediation.
• Representation of Accenture in connection with disputes with another vendor arising during a multi-year outsourcing engagement. We investigated multiple complex claims and defenses in the context of an ongoing engagement while minimizing any disruption to Accenture's client. The matter was successfully resolved through arbitration.
• Representation of Ernst & Young in connection with a dispute relating to a consulting engagement on a computer ordering system. The case settled on favorable terms after discovery.

Law Firm Matters

• We represented a national law firm in its defense of misconduct allegations related to a criminal investigation of suspected fraud by corporate insiders. The matter was resolved without charges against the law firm.
• We defended an international law firm in a securities class action alleging that the firm was negligent in its preparation of a private placement memorandum. The case was settled on terms favorable to the law firm.
• We represented a law firm partner in a professional misconduct case arising out of a litigation matter. The law firm had successfully defended its client in a civil case, securing the entry of summary judgment against the plaintiff on all claims. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a new lawsuit—this time against the law firm—alleging that the firm had committed a fraud upon the court in its handling of the underlying case. We filed a motion to dismiss, in response to which the plaintiff withdrew the complaint.
• We represented national law firms in a series of malpractice suits alleging that the defendant firms failed to draft joint venture agreements in a manner that would have allowed the clients to take advantage of government preferences for disadvantaged businesses. These cases were settled on terms favorable to our clients.