Why you should attend
The ability to identify and appropriately use financial and accounting information is relevant to a wide range of legal and regulatory matters for attorneys and allied professionals. Litigators and transactional attorneys alike will benefit from this practical course designed specifically for non-accountants and taught by members of the nation’s top accounting, tax and advisory firms, leading law firms, in-house counsel and universities.
What you will learn
- Key factors shaping financial reporting
- Foundational finance, accounting and economics terminology and principles
- How to “navigate” and understand the basic financial statements - the balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows and statement of shareholders’ equity
- Practical corporate finance concepts, including financial ratios and analysis
- The use of valuations in business transactions and fairness opinions, as well as in common claims and defenses in litigation
- Strategies for uncovering fraud in financial statements
Special Features
- Earn one hour of Ethics credit
- Earn Skills credit
- Designed specifically for non-accountant attorneys and allied professionals
- Case studies and practical examples employed throughout the program
Who should attend
External and in-house attorneys and allied professionals who work with financial information, whether in the course of litigation or in business transactions, will benefit from this program.
PLI Group Discounts
Groups of 4-14 from the same organization, all registering at the same time, for a PLI program scheduled for presentation at the same site, are entitled to receive a group discount. For further discount information, please contact membership@pli.edu or call (800) 260-4PLI.
Cancellations
All cancellations received 3 business days prior to the program will be refunded 100%. If you do not cancel within the allotted time period, payment is due in full. You may substitute another individual to attend the program at any time.
DAY ONE: 9:00 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Morning Session: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
9:00 Opening Remarks and Introduction
Philip J. Bach, Ziemowit T. Smulkowski
9:15 Key Factors Shaping Financial Reporting
- Objectives of financial reporting
- Basic accounting terms and concepts
- Overview of authoritative financial accounting literature
- SEC-registered and public company vs. private company accounting and reporting
- Compilations, reviews and audits
- Accounting vs. auditing
- Other key factors
Philip J. Bach, Frank Dery
10:15 Networking Break
10:30 A Detailed Look at Basic Financial Statements
- The purpose of financial statements
- Reporting to stakeholders
- Comparability
- Basic Financial Statements
- Income Statement
- Balance Sheet
- Statement of Cash Flows
- Statement of Shareholders’ Equity
- Accounting fundamentals and core concepts
- Matching principle, accrual method
- Historical cost, fair value
- Estimation and judgment
- Case Study: Business Transactions
- The mechanics of accounting
- Impact to financial statements
- Disclosures and footnotes
- How to read financial statements
Philip J. Bach, Frank Dery
12:00 Lunch Break
Afternoon Session: 1:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
1:15 Practical Elements of Finance
- Discounted cash flow (DCF)
- Net present value (NPV)
- Internal rate of return (IRR)
- Discount rate
August “Jamie” H. Schupp, Tom Weidaw
2:30 Networking Break
2:45 Capital Structure
- Overview of capital structure theories
- Common financing alternatives - debt, equity and hybrids
- Factors affecting capital structure
- Sources of funding
- Stock buy-backs
Ryan Buckley, Kimberly T. Smith, Ziemowit T. Smulkowski
3:45 Legal and Accounting Perspectives on Securities Fraud and Financial Accounting and Reporting Irregularities
- The “Dark Side” of Fraud and Earnings Management: the “what,” “how” and “why” of improper manipulation of reported earnings and results of operations
- Recent securities fraud cases and their legal and accounting implications
- Current legal and accounting issues regarding frauds by SEC registrants
- Whistleblowing after Dodd-Frank
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement
- The state of internal corporate investigations
Philip J. Bach, Gil M. Soffer
5:15 Adjourn
DAY TWO: 9:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Morning Session 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
9:00 Valuation Application and Methodologies
- Concept of Value
- Historical Financial Analysis
- Overview of valuation approaches
- What to look for in a valuation
- Valuation applications: M&A, Fairness opinions, disputes, commercial damages, debt capacity, etc.
Larry Levine, Jason W. Levin
10:30 Networking Break
10:45 Managerial Accounting Basics
- Key differences between financial accounting and managerial accounting
- Cost classifications and their impact on managerial decisions
- Cost behavior: understanding variable and fixed costs
- Cost-volume profit analysis
- Critical performance metrics, including ROI and residual income
- Inventory costing options and their impact on profitability and comparability
- Ratio analysis
Kelly Richmond Pope
12:00 Lunch Break
Afternoon Session: 1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
1:00 Solvency, Restructuring and Bankruptcy
- State of the capital markets and outlook
- Analysis of indicators and causes of financial distress
- Solvency
- Liquidity
- Financing
- An overview of the restructuring process and alternatives
- Out-of-court
- Chapter 11 reorganization
- Impact on constituents (employees, creditors, suppliers, customers)
- Real estate considerations
Jill Nicholson, Joseph Greenwood
2:00 Closing Business Transactions
- A detailed look at negotiation
- How to divide-and-conquer when working with an investment bank
- Common stumbling blocks to closing transactions
- Examination of “fringe” deal issues that often create transaction friction
Michael F. DeFranco, Brooks T. Giles
3:00 Networking Break
3:15 Practical and Ethical Considerations for Corporate Transactions Today
- Reconciling deal considerations with ethical obligations
- Common pitfalls associated with drafting transaction documents
- Ethical negotiation of representations and warranties
- Post-acquisition considerations
Michael F. DeFranco, Brooks T. Giles
4:45 Adjourn
Co-Chair(s)
Philip J. Bach ~ Director, Forensic and Litigation Services, McGladrey LLP
Speaker(s)
Larry Levine ~ Partner, Financial Advisory Services, McGladrey LLP
Program Attorney(s)