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Seminar  Seminar

Basics of Accounting for Lawyers 2012: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know


Why you should attend

Accounting is a language of business. Because attorneys encounter accounting information in a wide range of legal issues, it is critical for lawyers to understand financial statements and core accounting concepts. This practical course, specifically designed for the non-accountant attorney, will provide an understanding of financial statements and the key principles of accounting, using “real life” examples of accounting issues that attorneys commonly face. Whether you are in-house or external counsel, Basics of Accounting for Lawyers 2012 will help you to help your company or clients.

Basics of Accounting for Lawyers will also offer insight into the effective use of financial experts, accounting and financial issues where attorneys can put themselves at risk, and current accounting and business “hot” topics.

What you will learn

  • Understanding Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS), and the accounting cycle
  • How to read:
    - The Balance Sheet
    - The Income Statement
    - The Statement of Cash Flows
    - The Notes to the Financial Statements
  • How lawyers can effectively  use accountants as experts
  • Recent regulatory changes and views from those impacted or involved in the changes
  • Awareness of different accounting and reporting frameworks and requirements
  • Ethical issues for attorneys and accountants

Who should attend

This program will benefit all attorneys and paralegals, both in-house and external, who work with financial information, related to ongoing business activities, litigation, and transactional work.

Day One:  9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Morning Session:  9:00 AM - 12:45 PM

9:00  Program Introduction and Overview

Curtis Burr, Lawrence M. Cirelli

9:15  GAAP and IFRS, the Accounting Cycle, and GAAS - Why They Are Important

  • GAAP and IFRS
    -Overview of US and international fundamental principles of accounting
    -What will it mean to switch from GAAP to IFRS
    -Current status of the US move to IFRS
  • The accounting cycle - why you need to know
  • GAAS - understanding the various levels of care inherent in audits, reviews and complications
Deepa Bhat

10:45  Networking Break

11:00  Anatomy of the Balance Sheet
  • The elements of a balance sheet - assets, liabilities and stockholders’ equity and their significance
  • What to look for when reading a balance sheet
  • Current assets, such as cash, receivables, inventories, investments in debt and equity securities, and fixed and other long-term assets, including intellectual property and goodwill
  • Current liabilities, leases, long-term debt, pension and other post-retirement benefits, other long-term liabilities, and the common components of stockholders’ equity
Lawrence M. Cirelli

12:45  Lunch

Afternoon Session:  2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

2:00  Physiology of the Income Statement
  • Basic principles of revenue and expense recognition and identification of common performance measures
  • Basic understanding of common income statement components and items of comprehensive income/loss
Terry Lloyd

3:30  Networking Break

3:45  Regulatory Trends, Fraud, and other Issues on the Horizon
  • Current regulatory enforcement actions
  • Other regulatory or accounting issues that should be on your radar screen
Robert S. Leach

5:00  Adjourn

Day Two:  9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Morning Session:  9:00 AM - 12:45 PM

9:00  Insight from the Statement of Cash Flows
  • How to understand and use this insightful statement - an explanation of operating, investing and financing cash flows
  • What this statement can tell you about a company’s financial health and the significance of supplemental and certain non-cash information
Curtis Burr, Stacie Kowalczyk

11:00  Networking Break

11:15  Notes to the Financial Statements: The Rest of the Story
  • A practical discussion on using the financial statement notes to understand the financial statements, identify policies or transactions of interest, and enhance assessment of company performance and financial condition

Lori L. Jackson

12:45  Lunch

Afternoon Session:  2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

2:00  Effective Use of Financial Experts

  • Using accountants as experts
  • Factors to consider in selection
  • Maintaining privilege where necessary
  • Preparing the expert for deposition, trial and cross-examination and use as consulting or rebuttal experts

Matthew Harrison

3:00  Current Topics in Professional Ethics for Accountants and Attorneys

  • As law, accounting and finance continue to intersect, every practicing attorney should be alert to areas of ethical risk, learn from the mistakes of others, and have a basic understanding of accountants’ ethical requirements, as well as those of the legal profession.

J. Michael Matthews

4:00  Adjourn

Co-Chair(s)
Curtis Burr ~ Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc.
Lawrence M. Cirelli ~ Hanson Bridgett LLP
Speaker(s)
Deepa Bhat ~ Audit Manager, Abbott, Stringham & Lynch
Matthew D. Harrison ~ Latham & Watkins LLP
Lori L. Jackson ~ LitiNomics, Inc.
Stacie Kowalczyk ~ DZH Phillips
Robert S. Leach ~ Assistant Regional Director, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, San Francisco Regional Office
Terry Lloyd ~ Managing Director, Finance Scholars Group
J. Michael Matthews ~ Carlson, Calladine & Peterson LLP
Program Attorney(s)
Peter M. Beattie ~ PLI

San Francisco Seminar Location

PLI California Center, 685 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94105. (415) 498-2800.

San Francisco Hotel Accommodations

The Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94105. Call (800) 917-7456 seven days a week from 6:00 am to 12:00 am (PDT) and mention you are attending this program at Practising Law Institute to receive the preferred rate. For online reservations, go to www.sfpalace.com/pli to receive the preferred rate.

Due to high demand we recommend reserving hotel rooms as early as possible.

PLI's live programs are approved in all states that require mandatory continuing legal education for attorneys, except Arizona. Please be sure to check with your state for details.


Please check the CLE Calculator above each product description for CLE information specific to your state.


Special Note: In New York, newly admitted attorneys may receive CLE credit only for attendance at "transitional" programs during their first two years of admission to the Bar. Non-traditional course formats such as on-demand web programs or recorded items, are not acceptable for CLE credit. Experienced attorneys may choose to attend and receive CLE credit for either a transitional course or for one geared to experienced attorneys.  All product types, including on-demand web programs and recorded items, are approved for experienced attorneys.

Please note: The State Bar of Arizona does not approve or accredit CLE activities for the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education requirement.

If you have already received credit for attending some or the entire program, please be aware that state administrators do not permit you to accrue additional credit for repeat viewing even if an additional credit certificate is subsequently issued.

Credit will be granted only to the individual on record as the purchaser unless alternative arrangements (prearranged groupcast) are made in advance.

Related Items

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Basics of Accounting for Lawyers 2013: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know (Chicago, IL) Jul. 22 - 23, 2013
Basics of Accounting for Lawyers 2013: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know (San Francisco, CA) Jul. 18 - 19, 2013
Doing Deals in and with Emerging Markets: BRICs and Beyond 2013 (New York, NY) Jul. 11, 2013

Handbook  Course Handbook Archive

Doing Deals in and with Emerging Markets: BRICs and Beyond 2013  
Basics of Accounting for Lawyers 2013: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know Lawrence M. Cirelli, Hanson Bridgett LLP
Brian A. Smith, Freeborn & Peters LLP
Curtis Burr, Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc.
John J. Molenda, Mayer Brown LLP
Chetan Joshi, Clarity Advisory Group, LLC
Colleen Vallen, Citrin Cooperman
John J. Molenda, Ph.D., Mayer Brown LLP
Colleen Vallen, Citrin Cooperman
Jorge A. Amador, Rosenfarb LLC
John J. Carney, BakerHostetler LLP
Kenneth G. Yormark, Navigant Consulting, Inc.
Karen Kincaid Balmer, Kincaid Consulting, LLC
Matthew B. Greenblatt, FTI Consulting, Inc.
Alexander M. Vasilescu, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Regional Office
Tracy Richelle High, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Glenn Newman, ParenteBeard, LLC
Heather D. McArn, Jenner & Block LLP
T.C. Fleming, 1010data, Inc.
 
Basics of Accounting for Lawyers 2012: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know Lawrence M. Cirelli, Hanson Bridgett LLP
Eric Alan Stone, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Karen Kincaid Balmer, Kincaid Consulting, LLC
Sonya Andreassen-Henderson, PNC Bank
Darrick J. Hooker, Freeborn & Peters LLP
Curtis Burr, Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc.
Teressa Barner, PwC
Michael LoGiudice, CBIZ Valuation Group, LLC
James J. Grogan, Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois
Roger J. Higgins, The Law Offices of Roger Higgins, LLC
Derek P. Linde, Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Lisa C. Snow, Davis & Hosfield Consulting LLC
Kellye L. Fabian, Freeborn & Peters LLP
Eric H. Sussman, Kaye Scholer LLP
Chetan Joshi, Clarity Advisory Group, LLC
Kenneth Mathieu, Mesirow Financial Consulting
Autumn C. Bailey, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
August "Jamie" H. Schupp, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
 
Item# 37714
Location:  San Francisco, CA
We are sorry, but this program is no longer available for purchase online. For more information please call our Customer Service Department at (800) 260-4PLI.
Seminar attendance includes course handbook and associated course materials. A downloadable course handbook will also be available several days prior to the program start for your review.
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All Contents Copyright © 1996-2013 Practising Law Institute. Continuing Legal Education since 1933.