Battenfeld of America Holding Co. and SMS Capital Corp. v.

In an accounting malpractice action, the firm achieved a $21.7 million jury verdict against a large, regional accounting firm that performed an acquisition audit for the purchase of a manufacturing company located in Kansas.  The Kansas federal court jury returned a verdict for our clients after one month of trial.  Besides issues of accounting malpractice, the jury had to consider testimony of four valuation experts on damage issues and whether the plaintiffs were able to sue under the Kansas statutory conditions for negligent misrepresentation suits by parties not in contractual privity with the accounting firm performing and issuing an audit opinion.  The jury found for the firm’s clients on all issues. This case produced the following reported opinion: Battenfeld of America Holding Co., Inc. v., 60 F. Supp. 2d 1189 (D. Kan. 1999).