Accounting Firm Advisory and Defense – Practices

Gibson Dunn’s deep bench of lawyers brings many decades of experience representing auditors in complex accounting investigations and litigation.  Our track record runs the gamut of all types of matters, from dealing with the regulatory and civil litigation aftermath of restatements of financial results (including fraud by the audited companies themselves) to all types of professional services litigation that accounting firms face.  We have extensive experience practicing before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other regulators on behalf of accounting firms and their employees.  Our team includes one of the most senior former members of the PCAOB Division of Enforcement and Investigations currently in private practice, as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorneys and chairs of ABA and other bar association committees focused on accounting issues.  Our experience allows us to provide exceptional compliance advice and other counseling to firms under SEC and PCAOB jurisdiction, and to defend firms and individuals in a wide range of enforcement investigations and disciplinary proceedings.

Additionally, our lawyers regularly represent accounting firms and professionals in private actions such as shareholder litigation, and in other business disputes such as employment and contract matters.  We have time and again obtained successful resolutions for our clients in these civil lawsuits.

In the area of audit regulation, investigations, and defense in particular, we have intimate knowledge of PCAOB and SEC rules and standards governing the audit profession, broad experience counseling clients through a wide variety of regulatory hurdles, and an unmatched trial and appellate team that has handled complex litigation across the spectrum.  Our experience in this field includes cross-border regulatory and litigation matters, matters involving Section 10A investigations, matters involving audit committees, criminal investigations and prosecutions, challenges to administrative rules and regulations, and private securities litigation.  We have handled all types of matters for the “Big Four” accounting firms (representing both U.S. and non-U.S. member firms and their personnel), including experience litigating “one firm” issues.  Our lawyers also have experience in advising both firms and regulatory authorities in connection with sectoral and financial sector regulatory rules and standards in Europe.