Accountant Malpractice

Accountant malpractice is premised on the existence of some contractual relationship between the client and the accountant.  Establishing third party liability is a bit more difficult and would have to be premised upon some fraud or misrepresentations or securities law violation committed by the accountant. Third-party liability would include  instances wherein the accountant and the client do not have a direct contractual relationship.

The basic standards of care for the accounting industry are set forth in:

• The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
• The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Generally Accepted Auditing Standards
• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Basis for Accountant Malpractice Cases

Fraud or misrepresentation can of course always be the basis of liability against an accountant whether it be a claim brought by the actual client of the accountant or some third-party.  In addition, the securities laws at both the federal and state level may be a source of potential violations based upon either shareholder actions or due to the improper sale of securities.

Much of what accountants do revolves around tax advice. This is a very specialized area and as such any malpractice action is going to require retaining another accountant or lawyer to explain the tax issue to the jury. This witness would be designated as an expert. The expert would then be expected to testify as to the standard of care that applied to the accountant. The expert would then testify as to how the accountant fell below that standard of care. Finally the expert would address how the client had been damaged as a result of that substandard conduct by the accountant. Those are the basic elements of an accountant malpractice claim.

For Accountant Malpractice Contact a Professional Liability Attorney

If you have been injured in Virginia, Maryland or Washington DC as a  result of the negligence or actions of an accountant, contact malpractice attorney Brien Roche.For more information about accountant malpractice and professional liabilty claims see the other pages on this site.
For more information on accounting see the pages on Wikipedia.