The expert witness’ responsibility is to provide a level of competence provided by education,
experience, and adequate judgement. Additionally, they should also remain focused on integrity,
maintain client confidentiality, and independence (Robert Rufus, Laura Miller, William Hahn, 2014).
Prior to accepting the engagement, the expert witness should meet with the client to perform an
evaluation of the client. z Follow up with prior engagement relationships to understand why they are no
longer working with Attorney Leslie and if there were any problems that dissolved the relationship. It
is ultimately sound practice to obtain as much information on the client prior to signing on (Deborah
K Rood, 2013).
I would not accept the engagement. The probability of an undue influence threat appears to be
possible as the client is demanding and has a high expectation of his consultants and experts through
the working of long hours and the provision of information quickly. z This is demanded, but he himself
does not follow suit. Additionally, there is also the possibility of financial self-interest threat as the
client only takes on wealthy clients who pay up front but does not pay his consultants and experts on
time (AICPA, 2014). z z
Without discussing AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct, I can assure you, under no circumstances
would I ever work with an Attorney such as Joseph Leslie or anyone with no moral compass.
Undoubtedly, I will never work to help or defend white-collar criminals or corrupt authorities. First,
the scenario eludes Leslie only works with clients who are not only wealthy, but also very likely
greedy and guilty! As forensic accountants, we should be able to read between the lines of a scenario
such as this.
Forensic accountants must be thoughtful and cautious when accepting clients and consider a potential
conflict of interest before accepting an engagement. While a forensic accountant may choose to work
with criminals and criminal defense lawyers, there is no clear guidance for this type of engagement
except adherence to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and personal and professional integrity.
(Prendergast, n.d.)
In addition to conflict of interest, accepting an engagement should include adhering to guidelines of
independence and objectivity, professional experience, and credentials. Moreover, the integrity of the
client should also be analyzed and considered, including the ability to pay for professional services.
(Prendergast, n.d.).
Accepting a client engagement, including work for a lawyer, should entail an engagement letter
encompassing the scope of services, payment terms, and a retainer. While an engagement letter is
considered a contract or legal contract, an accountant should remain aware and diligent regarding the
integrity of the job or services. (Prendergast, n.d.).
According to Deborah K. Rood, author of: Is this client the right fit for your firm? For the Journal of
Accountancy, evaluating a prospective client is essential, especially for high-risk engagements, and
suggests the following:
Personally meet with prospective clients
Ask for and follow up with references, including attorneys, bankers, business consultants, and major
vendors or customers.
For key executives of business clients, ask for and follow up with personal references, including
previous employers and business associates.
Consider obtaining a credit history for individual tax and financial planning clients.
If the prospective client is changing CPA firms, request permission to contact the predecessor firm to
investigate issues such as the client's consideration of advice provided, integrity, ethics,
reasonableness of expectations, experience and qualifications of the staff, and business policies and
procedures including cooperation, timing of the engagement, and whether the client pays bills on time.
The previous CPA firm can provide only limited information unless it obtains an Internal Revenue
Code Sec. 7216 disclosure statement from the client. Even so, the prospective client's reaction to this
request (and the predecessor firm's response) may indicate the client's relationship with professional
service providers.
Determine how the prospective client found the CPA firm. A referral from a long-term client may
require a different degree of professional scepticism than someone who found the firm over the
internet. (Rood, 2013)
While the AICPA's Principles of the Code of Professional Conduct express the profession's
recognition of its responsibilities to the public, clients, and colleagues, I think an accountant should
not forget to protect themselves and their professional integrity. ET Section 54 Article III—Integrity
describes a member who should test decisions by asking: "Am I doing what a person of integrity
would do? (AICPA, n.d.) Even though we already covered integrity, I think it's relevant in accepting
an engagement or not. (AICPA, n.d.) ET Section 57 Article VI—Scope and Nature of Services
describes the main essential principals, as previously described: Integrity, objectivity and
independence, and due care encompassing competence and diligence.
Before deciding to accept the engagement, there are some pre-engagement considerations that need to
be made. Before we dive into the type of client the attorney is, there are a few other factors.
Any conflict of interest must be identified before accepting the engagement. If there are any conflicts
of interest, it can impact the accountant’s independence and objectivity.
"Before accepting an engagement, the forensic accountant should always compare the required
competencies against his or her portfolio of skills and resources." (Rufus et al., 2015) If the accountant
has less expertise in the required fields that the engagement requires, it could affect the timeliness of
completion and the accountant’s reputation could be jeopardized if they provide false or incorrect
expert testimony.
Any red flags with the client need to be addressed. For example, if the attorney does not want to pay in
a timely manner, it may be better to require payment up front or set up a retainer before accepting the
engagement. If the attorney is jeopardizing the progress of the case by not providing information/data
in a timely manner, the risk of missing deadlines or jeopardizing your reputation may not be worth
taking the engagement.
It is all a matter of determining if the risk is greater than the reward. In order to accept this case, I
would require an hourly rate and a retainer to be paid up front. I would also reiterate the importance of
not rushing through the engagement to decrease the risk of overlooking any pertinent information. I
would also make sure to have an agreed upon work schedule so I don't get overworked and/or
overtired and overlook information needed to make an opinion on the case.
According to the ‘American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Code of Professional
Conduct there are certain ethical standards that must be followed by Clinical Public Accountants in
the United States while carrying out their professional roles and responsibilities. The members need to
act with dignity, competence, due care, and objectivity and maintain the confidentiality of clients
(AICPA). When it comes to the acceptance of engagements, professionals need to accept and perform
with objectivity and integrity. They need to act in an independent manner and accept the engagements
that they can perform in a diligent and competent manner. In the case of Attorney Joseph Leslie, the
acceptance of the engagement must be declined because he does not carry out her work with honesty
and integrity. For instance, he accepts only wealthy clients, which sheds light on her discriminatory
behavior. Similarly, he does not adhere to a proper professional code of conduct as he makes his staff
members work for excess hours and asks them to provide instant information, although he does not
follow these rules while working.
The key factors that must be taken into consideration while serving as an expert witness for an
accepted engagement include:
Ethical Standards – The attorney’s ethical practices need to be reviewed to ensure he is adhering to the
relevant guidelines and standards, such as moral judgement, while carrying out all the responsibilities.
It is essential to make sure that the white-collar crime cases are carried out in a responsible and
accountable manner by the attorney (Jenkins et al., 2020). z
Conflict of Interest – It is essential to conduct a thorough assessment to identify whether there is the
possibility of any conflict of interest due to the acceptance of the engagement. z
Professional Competence – Showcasing professional competence is of paramount importance that
must be given due consideration. In the case of Attorney Joseph Leslie, it is of critical importance to
make sure that the engagement is synchronized with the professional experience as well as expertise
of the AICPA member.
The case could have been accepted only if the attorney had been carrying out his fundamental
responsibilities in an ethical and professional manner. For accepting the engagement, proper
adherence to AICPA is crucial for its members so that they can effectively serve as the expert witness.
It is imperative to act in an ethical way and choose the case if it integrates relevant ethical components
such as objectivity, transparency, etc. (West, 2018). z
Reference
Jenkins, J. G., Popova, V., & Sheldon, M. D. (2020). Monitoring the accounting profession under the
AICPA code of professional conduct: An analysis of state board of accountancy participation. Journal
of Accounting and Public Policy, 39(3), 106742.
Professional Responsibilities. (n.d.). AICPA.
https://us.aicpa.org/interestareas/personalfinancialplanning/resources/practicecenter/professionalrespo
nsibilities
West, A. (2018). Accounting Ethics (Including the Profession’s Code of Ethics and Commitment to
the Public Interest). Encyclopaedia of Business and Professional Ethics, 1-5.
Rufus, R. J., Miller, L. S., & Hahn, W. (2015). Forensic Accounting. Pearson.
Code of professional conduct. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2023, from
https://us.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/research/standards/codeofconduct/downloadabledocuments/201
3june1codeofprofessionalconduct.pdf
Deborah K. Rood, C. (2013, July 1). Is this client the right fit for your firm? Journal of Accountancy.
Retrieved February 16, 2023, from
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2013/jul/20137770.html
Prendergast, K. (n.d.). Client acceptance procedures best practices among accounting firms. Retrieved
from http://www.researchassociatesinc.com/documents/BestPracticesClient.aspx
AICPA. (2014, December). 2014 Code of Professional Conduct. Retrieved from AICPA:
https://us.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/research/standards/codeofconduct/downloadabledocuments/201
4december14codeofprofessionalconduct.pdf
