Vedder is an international business-focused law firm serving sophisticated clients of all sizes and industries from offices across the U.S. and in the UK and Asia.

A Business Focused Law Firm With a Global Reach | Vedder

The Vedder Accounting Law group has been representing and advising accounting firms and individual accountants for more than 30 years. With their understanding of, and experience with, accounting and professional standards, Vedder attorneys have a unique, multifaceted approach to the liability, regulatory and transactional issues encountered by accountants and accounting firms. Vedder provides a complete spectrum of legal services fundamental for the success of an accounting practice.

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Litigation, Risk Management and&nbsp;Disciplinary Matters

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Vedder 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 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.

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Vedder 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 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 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.

Vedder 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.

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 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 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 uniquely suited to manage and defend all forms and types of governmental inquiries and investigations.

Vedder provides a broad spectrum of legal services to accounting firms and accountants, including particular support for matters involving professional liability and risk management, corporate and structural issues, transactions, regulatory requirements, compliance with professional standards, interaction with governmental agencies, and employment arrangements and issues.

You can expect timely and practical advice concerning the various unique legal matters related to your practice. Our accounting law attorneys have helped shape many of the legal principles that affect the accounting profession. Our decades of experience in counseling accounting firms of all sizes, and our commitment to responding promptly to requests for assistance, help our clients minimize their risks and maximize their opportunities.

Broad accounting profession credentials. We advise and represent a significant number of accounting firms and individual accountants in a variety of matters related to conducting their practices.

Our attorneys understand the unique needs of the accounting profession and have long been advocates for it. We participate extensively in professional accounting organizations and societies and regularly speak and write on issues of importance to the profession.

A full range of legal services to support accounting firms. We help accounting firms manage their practices and comply with the rapidly changing laws and regulations governing professional competence, independence, integrity and structure.

Our attorneys have substantial accounting profession experience in these and other areas:

Employment matters, including employment contracts, severance arrangements, anti-harassment training, office policies and procedures, and employment practices

Litigation, including serving as defense counsel in litigations, arbitrations, disciplinary proceedings and enforcement proceedings involving accounting firms

Regulatory matters, including state accounting laws and regulations, PCAOB and SEC regulations and proceedings, securities law matters, and investigations and disciplinary proceedings before licensing authorities, the AICPA and state accounting societies

Corporate matters, including partnership and shareholder agreements, acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances, withdrawals and dissolutions

Risk management, including providing real-time advice regarding issues that arise in the daily practice of the accounting profession, advising on the terms and interpretations of professional liability insurance policies, and communicating with insurance companies with respect to claims and potential claims

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