CASE : Anjoorian v. Arnold Kilberg & Co., et al
BACKGROUND FOR CASE #1:
In the case of Paul V. Anjoorian v. Arnold Kilberg & Co., Arnold
Kilberg, and Pascarella & Trench, the Superior Court of the State
of Rhode Island used prior SEC rulings to guide its decision on
what is the auditor’s liability to third parties. The Court’s decision
can be found and downloaded at http://cases.justia.com/rhodeisland/superior-court/97- 1013.pdf?ts=1396143520.
The auditors (P&T) claimed to have no duty to Anjoorian as a
shareholder of FCC. The Rhode Island Supreme Court
acknowledged that the duty of accounting professionals to third
parties is an open question in the state, but it did identify at least
three competing views: the foreseeability test, the near-privity test,
and the Restatement test.
QUESTIONS FOR CASE #1:
(1) Provide a summary of the events in the Anjoorian case for the
reader;
(2) Briefly describe the legal reasoning with respect to each
of the three liability standards and how they pertain to the facts of
the case;
(3) The court decision refers to the importance of the
auditors’ knowing about third-party usage of the audited financial
statements. Describe the role such knowledge plays in enabling
auditors to meet their professional and ethical responsibilities.
1) Case Study (20% of Final Grade)You will then research and answer the question(s)
for the case you have selected. Note that each case study has it’s own distinct questions
related to that particular case. You are to answer ONLY the question(s) for the case
selected by you.
You should document your findings in a 812 page, doublespaced, paper (the 812 pages
does not include cover page, table of contents, references page or any exhibits).
60% Content – essentially, you will be graded on whether have you
answered the question(s) for the case study you have selected.
20% Organization and Presentation
.
1) Logical flow from topic to topic and for the entire paper including a
strong introduction, body and conclusion
.
2) Aesthetics (i.e. cover sheet, subtitles, formatting, integration of any
exhibits, etc.)
20% Mechanics – Including spelling, punctuation and grammar
You should electronically submit your Report file to the “Ethics Case
Study” Drop Box on or before 11:59 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2015 for
grading.
2) Presentation (10% of Final Grade): The Presentation has two
parts: (a) a PowerPoint due April 28, 2015 and (b) an oral presentation
to be given in class on May 8, 2015.
After you have completed your Case Study, you will prepare a
PowerPoint of 6-10 substantive slides (do not count “cover” slide,
references or “questions” slides) which will be used in your in-class
oral presentation to be given in Week 8. The PowerPoint will be
submitted in the The oral presentation should be no longer than 10
minutes in length. In this assignment, you will be graded as follows:
50% Content – essentially, you will be graded on whether have you
answered the question(s) for the case study you have selected.
30% Organization and Presentation – Present your findings in a
PowerPoint presentation of no more than 10 minutes. In the “notes”
area of PowerPoint, you should provide sources and elaborate on your
slides so that the presentation is self-contained such that it could be
effectively given by another individual who did not do the research that
you did.
20% Mechanics – Including spelling, punctuation and grammarYou
should electronically submit your Presentation (PowerPoint file to the
“Ethics Power Point
Presentation” Drop Box on or before 11:59 PM, Tuesday, April 28,
2015 for grading.
General Instructions:
You should write your paper for a person who has no knowledge of
your case or ethics.
Your Research Paper will be 8-12 double-spaced pages in length (not
including cover page, references and exhibits) and include at least 10
bibliographic references in addition to the course texts. You will use
appropriate research sources, including, the Online Library, the
web or other Library. [NOTE: I know that double-spaced is not APA
Style but sources must be cited according to APA Style.]
In completing the Research Paper you will provide citations, especially,
in-text citations, of your research materials. The paper should (no,
MUST) be concise and to the point.
Keep in mind that the Paper is only 8 to 12 double-spaced pages in
length. I cannot stress more, do not write about anything other than
what I have described above – answer only the question(s) for the case
selected.
Note that this is an exercise in critical thinking as well as a research
project.
References must be properly cited. Exhibits are not required.
The Research Paper MUST BE YOUR WORK. Do not cut & paste or
try to pass someone else’s work as your own. I have a knack at sniffing
that out and I grade accordingly – usually zero. Also, it violates
Academic Policy. The conclusions in this paper must be yours.
