Auditor Liability in the Current Environment 2010: How to Protect Yourself (Groupcast Location)

Overview

Co-Sponsored by New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education

Why You Should Attend

Auditors of publicly registered companies are all too familiar with being named in litigation filed after the collapse of a financial institution or other organization. They are also aware that, following a company’s failure or a restatement of its financials, regulators will invariably ask whether the auditors complied with GAAS and GAAP.  Although more stringent pleading standards have made it more difficult for plaintiffs to file viable claims, economic, and regulatory pressures over the last year seem likely to result in another wave of litigation against auditors. Congress is considering various measures that would open the litigation floodgates again, and the SEC and PCAOB have significantly increased their enforcement efforts.  Without evidence of some form of complicity in the fraud, auditors have often convinced the courts to dismiss them at an early stage. While litigation may be down as a result, the SEC and the PCAOB are increasingly focused on filling the gap and bringing cases against auditors.  In particular, in the midst of an economic crisis affecting many issuers, the regulators are asking why audit firms did not see early warning signs that their clients were insolvent?  The records they develop can have an impact on a plaintiff’s ability to state a claim. Indeed, Congress appears to be headed toward making it easier for private litigants to pursue auditors.  And private litigants are dusting off older cases and pursuing litigation strategies that have the potential to expand the scope of auditor liability.   

A distinguished panel of experts will dissect where there is exposure for auditors, legislative initiatives, the kinds of cases that regulators are pursuing, and current developments in private litigation.

What You Will Learn

• When can auditors be deemed to be participants in a fraud?
• What is Congress doing to ease the pleading burden in civil litigation?
• What kinds of cases are the SEC and PCAOB pursuing?
• Under what circumstances may auditors incur liability?
• Can auditors try cases in this environment and what strategies can be used with courts/juries to defeat liability claims?
• What can auditors do to make themselves less attractive targets in litigations?
• What issues affect class actions by investors in audit clients?
• How are audit firms defending themselves against claims on behalf of bankrupt estates?

Who Should Attend

This program is designed for auditors, in-house attorneys at auditing firms, attorneys who represent accounting firms and auditors, and attorneys who defend public companies and their financial officers in regulatory investigations and securities fraud litigation.  

Special Bonus to all Registrants

All attendees receive a complimentary copy of PLI's comprehensive Course Handbook. This softcover, bound volume was written to augment this program and to stand alone as a permanent reference. PLI's Course Handbooks represent the definitive thinking of the nation's finest legal minds, and are often the standard reference in the field.

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.

Schedule

Morning Session:  9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

9:00  Introductory Remarks

Michael P. Carroll, Richard J. Morvillo

• Section 10(b) and Stoneridge
• Section 11 Claims
• Perspective of Plaintiffs and Defendants on pleading standards and liability
• Causation and class actions
• Legislative initiatives

Michael P. Carroll (Moderator), Jay W. Eisenhofer, Thomas M. Finnegan, Martin L. Perschetz, Diana L. Weiss

10:15  Ponzi schemes and Trustee actions

• Impact of Madoff and related cases
• Lehman report
• Receiver and Trustee suits
• New developments with In Pari Delicto defense  

Richard J. Morvillo (Moderator), James D. Goldsmith, Carmen J. Lawrence, Therese D. Pritchard, Lawrence J. Zweifach

11:30  Networking Break

11:45  Issues in Discovery

• PSLRA stays pending motions to dismiss
• Discovery of manuals and quality reviews
• Electronic discovery issues 

Michael P. Carroll (Moderator), Gary F. Bendinger, Walter G. Ricciardi, Michael D. Trager

1:00  Lunch Break

Afternoon Session:  2:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. 

2:00  The SEC and the PCAOB

• Recent SEC Cases
• Recent PCAOB Cases
• Hot Areas for SEC and PCAOB
• Defending the Audit and the Auditors
• Cross-border investigation issues

Linda Chatman Thomsen (Moderator), William R. Baker III, Caroline K. Cheng, Jarett B. Decker, Scott W. Friestad

3:30  Networking Break

3:45  International Financial Reporting Standards

• International Financial Reporting Standards
• Differences from GAAP
• Foreign cubed cases

Richard J. Morvillo (Moderator), Christopher Davies, Ronald B. Hauben, Susan Goetz Markel, Samuel J. Winer

4:45  Adjourn

Faculty

Co-Chair(s)

Speaker(s)

Program Attorney(s)

CLE Credit

Travel Information

New Jersey Groupcast Location

New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, One Constitution Square, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1520. 732-249-5100.