Overview of SEC v. RPM International and Impact on Accountant Work Product

Accountants are frequently retained by attorneys to assist with corporate investigations. Accountants play a critical role in advising attorneys on, among other issues, forensic accounting and valuation matters. An accountant’s work in this context, when the retention is structured properly, is generally protected from discovery by the attorney work product doctrine. A recent ruling by a federal district court in Washington, D.C. appears to undermine the scope of the attorney work product doctrine. This memo discusses that ruling and its