Womble Bond Dickinson’s Beth Tyner Jones Discusses Law Firm-Accounting Firm Cooperation with the Triangle Business Journal

RALEIGH, NC—Providing outstanding client service involves more than working with clients—it also includes working with the clients’ other service providers to provide a seamless, coordinated approach. At Womble Bond Dickinson, for example, attorneys often must interact with their clients’ accountants and accounting firms to ensure that everyone is on the same page for the benefit of the client.

Beth Tyner Jones, the Managing Partner of the firm’s Raleigh and Research Triangle Park offices, recently discussed this cross-industry collaboration with the Triangle Business Journal:

• Jones said, “Levels of collaboration we have with accounting firms in the Triangle-area include:
• Expert witnesses (e.g., forensic accounting), court-appointed examiner and expert witness for valuation of equity interests in closely held companies;
• Filing returns and related clerical compliance work;
• Establishing financial statement reserves for various tax and accounting provisions;
• Due diligence and financial statement assistance in M&A transactions; and
• We also work collaboratively in providing joint tax consultation and, of course, legal opinion work.”

“Issues that arise that call for accounting expertise include the above examples, plus investigations into fraud and possible embezzlement. We have worked with accounting firms and business investigative firms to investigate suspicious circumstances. For example, together we uncovered a significant embezzlement and fraud scheme at a client’s, and the former business manager awaits trial,” she said.

Click here to read “Industry Crossover: How Accounting and Law Mix” in the Triangle Business Journal (subscription required).

Beth Tyner Jones has nearly three decades of experience counseling employers on all facets of employment law matters. She leads the firm’s US-based Labor & Employment Team, which represents employers in labor and employment litigation as well as counsels employers proactively to manage risk and to help prevent such disputes. She also is a leader of the firm’s Education and School Law Team and serves on Womble Bond Dickinson’s Firm Management Committee. Jones is the Managing Partner of the firm’s Raleigh and Research Triangle Park offices.