Corporate Investigations

Our Securities Litigation, Corporate Investigations and Professional Liability Practice is one of the most successful, comprehensive and innovative groups in the Southeast, devoting its substantial experience to a wide range of cases- corporate governance, internal investigations, government investigations, securities and shareholder litigation, fraud, RICO, and professional negligence litigation, including auditing and accounting malpractice litigation.

We represent corporations, officers, directors, special committees, individuals, institutional investors and others facing complex problems arising from state and federal regulation of securities, including Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Our trial attorneys litigate both individual and class action suits for alleged violations of federal and state securities laws, derivative suits by shareholders, and claims relating to RICO, fraud, minority shareholder oppression, and securities brokers and dealers. Specifically, we have represented auditing and accounting firms- the "Big Four" a well as large and medium sized firms- against allegations of professional liability, fraud, RICO and other claims.

While Balch primarily defends such claims, we also have a unique and successful record of representing individuals and institutional investors in such litigation. The rounded approach allows our attorneys to offer cogent realistic advice and representation to our clients.  We know these cases are often high profile, we know they affect the foundations of our clients' reputations and businesses.  So, we offer only experienced litigators - focused trial attorneys- who aggressively bringing these matters to a positive resolution, as thoroughly and efficiently as possible.

We are also asked by the boards of directors and special committees of some of the country's largest companies to conduct thorough internal investigations of alleged financial and accounting fraud or wrongdoing. We assist our clients in understanding the discovered facts of such cases and advise them of the potential regulatory and legal ramifications of those facts. We then assist our clients in developing a realistic plan and course of action to deal with the matter. This includes providing reports to the board of directors, special committee, or investigative bodies, including the SEC, and working with the government to resolve the issue at hand.

Further, Balch professionals actively provide client counseling on issues of risk avoidance and corporate governance. They provide advice regarding the governance of public companies and the rapidly changing responsibilities of their management and boards of directors- fiduciary and regulatory duties, compensation, audit, independence, off-balance sheet transactions, and disclosure issues.

Filling this critical need- efficiently and effectively- is the hallmark of Balch offering. And we have the right people to do it. Our senior trial lawyers include Georgia's former Attorney General, those named among the Best Lawyers in America, members of the American College of Trial Lawyers and those recognized as The Most Influential People in Georgia. Our young partners have been honored as Rising Stars in the litigation profession. In Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi we have senior partners who, through a lifetime of public service and legal experience, have developed far-reaching contacts with federal, state and local governmental officers and agencies. With this experience and focus, we can bypass unnecessary discovery and motions battles, and concentrate on the critical factors of each case that will allow our clients to appropriately evaluate all stages of litigation and, ultimately, win.