Decades Of Experience In Accounting Malpractice
When an accountant fails to uphold their professional duties, their client often suffers significant financial losses. This is not something you should have to deal with on your own. An accounting malpractice lawyer can explain your rights and options for recovering compensation and holding the accountant legally responsible for their actions.
At King & Jones, our legal team handles accounting malpractice cases . We can assess your case and discuss your options in detail. When you work with our team, we protect your rights and seek the outcome you deserve by holding the professional liable for their negligence. To learn about your options, call us today.
Free Case Evaluation
What You Can Expect From Your Malpractice Lawyer
We understand that accountants must use judgment, reasoning, and some educated guesses when it comes to getting positive outcomes for their clients. However, we also know the limits of this.
We will not back down from pursuing a case when we believe an accountant acted with negligence. Yet, we also defend accountants who used their skill and knowledge to the best of their ability and now face false allegations because of a poor outcome.
If we handle your case, you can count on us to:
- Explain your case’s details in a way you understand
- Investigate what happened and gather evidence to support you
- Fight for a fair outcome
- Focus on your best interests throughout the process
- Navigate the necessary steps and procedures as required by state law
- Answer your questions and address concerns quickly
- Provide updates when you want them
As corporate lawyers working in Chicago, we know that prosecuting or defending accounting malpractice cases requires a deep understanding of the profession, malpractice laws, and the state’s legal system. We have the experience and skill to build your case and represent your best interests.
Trust King & Jones With Your Accounting Malpractice Case
At King & Jones, our accounting malpractice attorneys fight for our clients’ rights. We strive to get the best possible outcome in every case, handling every challenge as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. We explain the case details to each client in a way they understand, providing them with the guidance they need to make the best decisions for their future.
If we work together, we can help you understand your options, along with the benefits and risks of each. We will make recommendations and offer advice to guide this process, handling each step along the way but allowing you to make every decision.
With more than 40 years of experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants, we have the trial experience you want to get the outcome you deserve. You can count on our team to take your case and make it our own. We pride ourselves on the positive reviews from our clients and find that many come back when they face additional legal concerns or need advice. We believe returning clients are a big indicator of our firm’s success.
Understanding Accounting Malpractice: What Does It Entail?
When a client hires an accountant or accounting firm, they depend on their knowledge and expertise to manage their accounts. The financial health of the family or business depends on the accountant’s ability to offer accurate advice, prepare taxes and accounting records, conduct audits, and handle other tasks. When the accountant fails to do so, and the client loses money or faces undue scrutiny from state or federal officials, it could constitute malpractice.
Like other professionals, including lawyers and doctors, accountants must uphold certain standards when performing their jobs. This depends on their education and training but generally includes providing the same level of care and attention as others with similar experience working in the same geographic area. There are also ethics rules they should understand and follow at all times.
Examples Of Accounting Malpractice
When an accountant fails to do their job in a way that meets the acceptable standard, it is possible to pursue compensation for any financial harm that results. An accounting malpractice case seeks to hold an accountant or firm legally accountable for negligence or incompetence.
This could include:
- Offering incorrect or illegal tax advice
- Providing misleading or false investment information
- Misrepresentations that benefit the accountant or firm
- Making significant errors in tax preparation documents
- Failing to file tax forms as required
- Violating privacy laws with personal information
- Breaching their fiduciary duty
- Conducting negligent audits
- Careless communication with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or other agencies
When an accountant commits malpractice, they are legally liable for any resulting damages. Depending on the case’s facts, they could face additional remedies for breach of fiduciary duty. These cases generally end through a negotiated settlement, arbitration, or litigation. Our team handles all of these options and fights for the best result possible for our clients.
If you believe your accountant acted carelessly or recklessly and failed to provide you with an acceptable level of professionalism, let our team assess your case. You do not have to determine your options on your own. Having someone who can determine the strength of your case—and if you have an accounting malpractice case—makes moving forward simple. We are here for you.
Our team handles Chicago accounting malpractice cases and represents clients nationwide. We understand how frustrating it is to learn someone you trusted with your finances caused significant losses, mishandled your funds, or misrepresented investments. You deserve to hold them accountable.
Negative Experiences Do Not Always Constitute Accounting Malpractice
When it comes to professional malpractice cases, you must understand what defines negligence. Many people are unhappy with news from their accountants and want to do something about it. However, not every case rises to the level of malpractice. This is true even if the accountant made a mistake.
Some examples that probably do not support an accounting malpractice case include:
- Paying more in taxes than the previous year
- An investment that does not perform as expected
- A loss in the stock market or other investment
Accounting does have some subjectivity, and every accountant has a different approach. Finding an accountant whose methods and options match yours is essential to having a good relationship and being comfortable with the outcomes. Knowing how conservative or aggressive you are with your investments and finding an accountant whose approach matches will help.
Of course, sometimes, negative outcomes do occur because of malpractice. You might have to pay more taxes because the accountant failed to file your forms properly or missed key deadlines. They might benefit from your investment despite its poor performance without telling you about a conflict of interest. In both situations, you could benefit from the insight of a lawyer from our firm.
Our Lawyers Prove Your Case’s Required Elements How Our Accounting Malpractice Attorneys Handle These Cases Possible Outcomes In A Chicago Accounting Malpractice Case Discuss Your Options With Our Accounting Malpractice Team
When building an accounting malpractice case, we must ensure several elements are in place before proceeding.
These elements include:
- The client hired the accountant or firm to handle their financial accounts or offer advice and guidance.
- The accountant acted in a way that others with the same training, experience, and professional licensure would not.
- Their conduct caused the client a financial loss.
Expert witnesses are the key to showing these elements exist. We have a network of professionals who help us document what happened, the standard the accountant should have upheld, and whether they violated any standards or ethics rules. The skilled professionals within our network review the case facts and offer their opinion. They are also available for depositions and testifying at trial when necessary.
Having an expert on your side can make or break a malpractice case, so we work with only skilled, trustworthy accounting firms. We carefully select the best-fit professional for each case, ensuring we have a strong expert witness who will help us tell the client’s side of the story to the judge or jury if necessary.
Under some circumstances, we also defend firms and individual accountants against accusations of wrongdoing. We know how insurance coverage works inside and out, and our attorneys have decades of experience with insurance litigation. We defend or settle third-party claims for clients, whether they are large companies, professionals, or individuals.
When an accountant makes a minor mistake, it often causes significant financial losses for their client. This is one reason why state and federal agencies and boards regulate the accounting profession. Accountants must be held to a high standard to protect clients’ money and ensure they receive the services they pay for. This generally requires meeting several requirements to work as a certified public accountant (CPA).
In Illinois, this includes:
- Completing all educational and examination requirements for CPA candidates through the Illinois Board of Examiners (ILBOE)
- Obtaining an active license or registration with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR)
While optional, many also join organizations, such as the Illinois CPA Society, which provides resources and additional information for accountants. Accountants usually also invest in E&O professional liability insurance because this protects their bottom line if a client accuses them of wrongdoing. This is the insurance policy that could pay out if your accountant committed malpractice.
At King & Jones, we know how to identify accounting malpractice and build a case to show it occurred. We also know how to navigate the process of recovering money for our clients after they suffer losses because of a negligent accountant.
In general, plaintiffs in accounting malpractice cases can seek and recover consequential damages based on their situations. There are several ways these cases resolve.
A possible outcome to your case may include:
- A negotiated settlement. Here, the liable party agrees to reimburse your financial losses. This would happen outside of court, making a trial unnecessary.
- Arbitration. Rather than going to court and having a public trial, some people opt for arbitration when possible. In this process, a neutral party listens to both sides and makes a binding agreement based on their findings.
- Mediation. Mediation is similar to arbitration in that it doesn’t involve a public trial. However, rather than a neutral third party deciding, a mediator helps both sides come to a mutual resolution.
- Litigation and trial. If both sides can’t resolve their case mutually, or arbitration isn’t feasible, we may initiate legal proceedings and have a judge decide on a case.
We are often able to avoid trials for our clients. In many cases, we present strong evidence to show malpractice occurred, and neither the firm nor their insurer wants to risk taking the case to court when they are certain they cannot win. They are more willing to make a fair offer to settle the case when this happens. We push for a higher settlement that adequately compensates our clients for their losses and related expenses.
Of course, our trial lawyers do not shy away from litigation when necessary. We can take an accounting malpractice case to court and present solid evidence to show what happened and why our client deserves compensation. Then, we ask the judge or jury for a verdict in their favor, showing the potential value of our client’s expenses and losses.
In many cases, holding the negligent accountant or firm accountable is as important to the client as recovering their losses. This is important because they do not want to see others suffer the same frustration, anger, and financial struggle they did. We believe this is a key component of getting justice for our clients.
A team member from King & Jones can review your case today. Discuss your legal options and next steps with our team while learning how we help clients in similar situations. We represent individuals and companies who lost significant sums because of accounting malpractice. We understand the desire to hold the at-fault professional legally accountable and recover some or all the money lost because of their negligence. Let us help you and your business.
Contact us now by dialing (312) 900-8183 for your confidential consultation with our Chicago accounting malpractice lawyers.