Accounting & Legal Malpractice

• Arbitrated claim by investor that his account was mismanaged by investment adviser, alleging breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud and fraud, violation of securities statutes.
• Mediated a tax dispute involving erroneous tax advice concerning investments in Mexico partnership and improper election of corporate versus pass through status.
• Mediated matter where an inventor sued her prior patent counsel for patent malpractice relating to attempts to patent certain molecules and formulas in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences area, alleging that certain patents were abandoned during a critical time period when research funding may have been available.
• Arbitrated a dispute between a tax client and a tax preparer based on alleged negligence in filing offers in compromise to federal and state tax authorities leading to penalties imposed against the client.
• Mediated a legal malpractice action allegedly arising from negligent drafting of claim language in a cybersecurity patent, allegedly leading to loss of royalties from private cloud providers.
• Mediated a legal malpractice action where plaintiff auto dealer inventory flooring lender sued its former legal counsel for legal malpractice in pursuing litigation on a promissory note and guaranty arising from a default relating to a failed audit of the inventory and repossession of the remaining vehicles, which resulted in defense finding in a bench trial.
• Mediated a legal malpractice action arising from representation in a dispute over adjacent property rights and failure to enforce settlement agreement.
• Handled a matter involving a $100 million accounting malpractice action against a national accounting firm filed by the bankruptcy trustee of a NASDAQ-listed national distributor of personal care products, alleging improper auditing and application of revenue recognition criteria and errors in the installation of a major ERP system impacting financial statements, customer relationship management, and supply chain management.
• Handled a matter between a class of investors and a national accounting firm arising from the bankruptcy of a major homebuilder, alleging errors in accounting for net realizable value write-offs and deferred tax asset estimates among other issues. Plaintiffs sought $95 million in damages.
• Handled a matter involving a national accounting firm and two of its partners in a $15 million lawsuit arising out of the failure of a Scottsdale life insurance company and an associated insurance service agency. The plaintiff alleged accountant malpractice, negligent misrepresentation and interference with contractual relations, claiming that there were audit failures and accounting errors. There were significant corporate governance issues regarding whether the plaintiff shareholder and officer could bring the claims or whether they were corporate claims requiring a derivative suit and pre-suit demand.
• Handled a matter involving a national accounting firm and one of its partners in a $15 million action for accountant malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and racketeering, involving tax planning and financial statement work for two British Virgin Islands corporations that invested in U.S. real estate. There were issues regarding the membership of the Board of Directors, whether a pre-litigation demand was made on the Board, and the status of the claims given a revocation of the corporations’ operating status.
• Handled a class action and other related actions involving an AmLaw 100 firm brought by investors who purchased real estate investment products, alleging legal malpractice, securities fraud, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty and negligent misrepresentation. Investors losses exceeded $900 million.
• Handled related matters arising from the settlements of a derivative claim for no consideration on the eve of a savings bank holding company bankruptcy arising from junk bond losses and failed consumer loan portfolios, causing over $100 million in damages, leading to litigation against former officers and directors, attorneys and derivative plaintiffs. There were two separate legal malpractice claims made against the company’s legal adviser and its litigation counsel in the derivative action. The matters were resolved through settlements totaling $55 million.
• Handled related matters involving two broker-dealers, officers and directors, investors and a law firm arising from asset-backed promissory notes related to pools of ATMs that were to have been placed in bankruptcy proof special purpose entities, generating streams of income from swipe fees to pay the debt, which were eventually looted causing $30 million in losses. One of the claims was a legal malpractice claim against a law firm for failure to finalize the security agreements covering the ATMs.
• Handled a legal malpractice matter involving a law firm that was handling and overseeing construction progress advance and escrow accounts funded by a lender for multiple builders and construction companies, where one of the partners was embezzling funds from the accounts.
• Mediated a legal malpractice matter also alleging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and elder abuse and defendant cross claimed for unpaid legal fees. The underlying lawsuit arose out of a commercial finance and joint venture transaction which lead to successful underlying claims of breach of fiduciary duty and elder abuse against the legal malpractice plaintiff.
• Mediated a malicious prosecution action brought by former spouse against former spouse based on underlying lawsuit alleging that plaintiff infected her with a sexually transmitted disease, which had resulted in an adverse jury verdict after 22 minutes of deliberation.