Accounting / Accountants

Inside Straight: Learning Who To Hate

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Cops learn to hate people. Basically everyone they encounter is a criminal, so cops soon come to believe that everyone is a criminal.

Litigators — or perhaps litigators who are repeat players in a particular field — learn to hate people. Personal injury insurance defense counsel come to believe that all plaintiffs are lying fakers. Personal injury plaintiffs’ lawyers come to believe that all insurance defense counsel are tightfisted jerks who never pay a claim.

Maybe this is natural. If you spend eight hours every day repeatedly doing the same thing over the course of many years, you become what you do. It’s hard to break out of your role.

But this can cause trouble for in-house litigators. If you become what you do, consider who in-house litigators learn to hate . . .

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Non-Sequiturs: 12.21.11

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Susan Finkelstein is NOT a prostitute! Is that clear? NOT a prostitute.

* A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that selling sex for Phillies tickets doesn’t make you a prostitute. She was already a Phillies fan, so calling her a whore was redundant. [Legal Blog Watch]

* Occupy Wall Street is looking for a few good accountants. Man, they are about six months from telling us that some of us are more equal than others. [Going Concern]

* If the mainstream media is afraid of speaking out against the TSA, it’s only because they’ve gotten used to simply regurgitating the spin fed to them by their precious government sources. [Popehat]

Congrats to Ronan Farrow and all the other members of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

* If this is what Forbes is publishing for its “30 Under 30 in Law & Policy,” then Above the Law should publish “20 Legal Leaders Under 20.” Look, here’s a college freshman who takes color-coded notes, keeps an extra raised hand in her purse, and has no womb — she’s a future SCOTUS justice! [Forbes]

* Move over, Memoirs of a Geisha; make way for Memoirs of a Gunner. [Smashwords]

* An interesting look at how five federal circuit courts manage their caseloads, by Marin Levy. [Jotwell: Courts Law and SSRN]

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Quote of the Day: If I could save just one lamb….

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I recently graduated from a state school in the California State University system as a Philosophy major. My original plan was to go to law school, but I am now thinking I may want to go into accounting instead (due to the terrible job market for lawyers and the 150k debt I’d be faced with).

Particularly, I would like to work at a Big 4 firm. Is this change possible?

— from a question sent into the advice column of Going Concern (the accounting world’s answer to Above the Law). Note the questioner’s less-than-stellar undergraduate GPA.

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Porsche v. Crocs?

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crocs.jpgWe are not fans of Crocs here at Above the Law. We stand by this position, even though First Lady Michelle Obama — aka She Who Can Do No Wrong — has been spotted in them.
Apparently we are not alone in our opposition to Crocs. It seems that the people at Porsche — yes, the luxury sports car maker — have sued the footwear folks. In Germany.
Seriously? Yup. The lawsuit was mentioned in the Crocs (CROX) third quarter 10-Q, which is how it came to the attention of our sister site, Going Concern (via Footnoted).
So what is Porsche suing Crocs over? Find out at the links below.
Deadline Watch: Porsche Suing Crocs For ‘Cayman’ Use [Going Concern]
Porsche vs. Crocs… [Footnoted.org]
Earlier: Crocs: Ugly and Dangerous

Accountants Help Keep Lawyers in Business

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Thumbnail image for DTa.jpgIf at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. From our sister site, Going Concern:

[A] judge in Seattle has allowed a revised lawsuit to proceed that lists “Washington Mutual officers and directors, underwriters, and the auditing firm Deloitte & Touche” as defendants.

The revised lawsuit was trimmed down to a “concise” 267 pages from the original 388 that the judge described as “verbose” and “disorganized”.

“Verbose” and “disorganized” would also describe many lawyers we know. On the defense side, though, it’s an all-star cast. From Am Law Litigation Daily:

The lineup for the defendants includes Simpson Thacher & Bartlett attorneys Barry Ostrager and Rob Pfister for former WaMu officers; Ronald Berenstain of Perkins Coie for former WaMu outside directors; Barry Kaplan of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for former WaMu CEO Kerry Killinger; Peter Wald of Latham & Watkins for Deloitte; and Jonathan Dickey of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for the underwriters.

Read more about this lawsuit, and comment, over at Going Concern.
Lawsuit Against Deloitte Gets New Life [Going Concern]

Will the Supreme Court Knock SOX’s Socks Off?

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Sarbanes Oxley for Dummies Sarbox SOX book.jpgIs the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board unconstitutional? This admittedly boring-sounding entity has the important task of overseeing accounting firms, who in turn keep an eye on the balance sheets of corporate America, through such mechanisms as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance.
The constitutionality of SOX and the PCAOB is at issue in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, one of the most important cases of the new Supreme Court term. As previously noted, the D.C. Circuit upheld the board’s constitutionality against a separation-of-powers challenge — but over a strong dissent by Article III rock star Brett Kavanaugh, which may have grabbed the justices’ attention.
Read more — and comment (anyone care to predict the result?) — over at Going Concern.
Is the PCAOB Going the Way of the Dodo? [Going Concern]
Earlier: The Sarbanes-Oxley Accounting Board: Not Long For This World?

Making Accounting Sexy: Meet Going Concern

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Going Concern GC tabloid for accountants CFOs finance executives.jpgThe Breaking Media family of sites — which until now consisted of Above the Law, Dealbreaker, and Fashionista — continues to grow. Today ATL welcomes a little sibling: Going Concern, a blog for accountants, CFOs, and business finance executives.
Going Concern will be similar to ATL, but aimed at CPAs rather than JDs, or the Big Four as opposed to Big Law. The site will also cover smaller accounting firms and chief financial officers from major companies, offering the heady mix of original news, insider analysis, and edgy entertainment that you’ve come to expect from Breaking Media. Going Concern will try its darnedest to make accounting sexy. (They said it couldn’t be done for the legal space, but Above the Law proved them wrong.)
Please spread the word, especially to your friends who work in the field of accounting. You can check out Going Concern here, and you can learn more by reading the links collected below. If you’re interested in advertising opportunities, on Going Concern or any of our other sites, please email us. Thanks!
Going Concern [official website]
New Finance Blog Aims To ‘Make Accounting Sexy’ [MediaPost]
Breaking Media Launches Going Concern [Mediabistro via Fishbowl NY]
Site launched to follow accounting industry [Talking Biz News]

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