The National Law Journal has honored Jones Day partner
Richard B. Whitney in the Cleveland office for obtaining one of the
top 20 jury verdict in the nation in 2005. A legal team headed by
Whitney and Columbus partner Fordham E. Huffman won a $119.9 million
award in a Newark, New Jersey federal court on behalf of the estate of
the insolvent Ambassador Insurance Company against the national
accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. Coopers & Lybrand, a
PwC predecessor, served as Ambassador's auditor prior to its seizure
by the Vermont Insurance Commissioner in November of 1983, in what
became one of the largest insolvencies of a so-called "surplus lines"
insurance company. The Court's award of pre-judgment interest raised
the judgment in the case to $182.9 million, one of the largest
verdicts ever against a national accounting firm for audit failure.
Ambassador was a Vermont company, and its "surplus lines" status meant that there were no state-sponsored guaranty funds available in most states to reimburse their policyholders when the company went bankrupt. The jury accepted the estate's claim that the auditor knew or should of known that Ambassador was insolvent long before its regulatory takeover, and its verdict represented one of the largest ever levied against a national accounting firm for a negligent audit.
The National Law Journal, which annually publishes a survey of the top 100 verdicts, listed the case, John P. Crowley, Commissioner v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, as the fifteenth largest verdict handed down by a jury in 2005, and the list notes that, after accounting for post-trial adjustments by the trial court, the verdict was the eighth largest. PwC plans to appeal the verdict to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The jury award, if sustained on appeal, will be distributed to more than 10,000 people with allowed claims in Ambassador's estate, located throughout the country, most of whom are either Ambassador policyholders or people with valid claims covered by those policies.
Jones Day is an international law firm with 30 locations in centers of business and finance throughout the world. With more than 2,200 lawyers, including more than 400 in Europe, and 175 in Asia, it ranks among the world's largest law firms. Jones Day acts as principal outside counsel to, or provides significant legal representation for, more than half of the Fortune Global 500 companies.
Ambassador was a Vermont company, and its "surplus lines" status meant that there were no state-sponsored guaranty funds available in most states to reimburse their policyholders when the company went bankrupt. The jury accepted the estate's claim that the auditor knew or should of known that Ambassador was insolvent long before its regulatory takeover, and its verdict represented one of the largest ever levied against a national accounting firm for a negligent audit.
The National Law Journal, which annually publishes a survey of the top 100 verdicts, listed the case, John P. Crowley, Commissioner v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, as the fifteenth largest verdict handed down by a jury in 2005, and the list notes that, after accounting for post-trial adjustments by the trial court, the verdict was the eighth largest. PwC plans to appeal the verdict to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The jury award, if sustained on appeal, will be distributed to more than 10,000 people with allowed claims in Ambassador's estate, located throughout the country, most of whom are either Ambassador policyholders or people with valid claims covered by those policies.
Jones Day is an international law firm with 30 locations in centers of business and finance throughout the world. With more than 2,200 lawyers, including more than 400 in Europe, and 175 in Asia, it ranks among the world's largest law firms. Jones Day acts as principal outside counsel to, or provides significant legal representation for, more than half of the Fortune Global 500 companies.