Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
10 Apr 2003 13:27 PDT
Public companies like Accenture have to report significant lawsuits
(but not all lawsuits) to the SEC. Accenture's most recent report
reads as follows:
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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are involved in a number of judicial and arbitration proceedings
concerning matters arising in the ordinary course of our business. We
do not expect that any of these matters, individually or in the
aggregate, will have a material impact on our results of operations or
financial condition.
In 1998, the bankruptcy trustee of FoxMeyer Corporation filed a
lawsuit against us in the District Court of Harris County (Houston),
Texas. The lawsuit, which has been disclosed previously in Accenture
Ltd’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, arose out
of our work for FoxMeyer to assist in the implementation of an
enterprise resource planning software package, SAP R/3, developed by
SAP AG, and other related projects during the period from 1993 to
1996. On June 27, 2002, the bankruptcy trustee and Accenture entered
into a settlement of the litigation, and on July 15, 2002, the
bankruptcy court approved the settlement. The trial judge dismissed
the lawsuit with prejudice on August 8, 2002.
As described under “Legal Proceedings” in Accenture Ltd’s Form 10-Q
for the quarter ended May 31, 2002, we had previously signed
agreements with the lead plaintiffs in the Houston class actions on
behalf of shareholders and employees of Enron and with the plaintiff
in a lawsuit involving Sunbeam Corporation extending any statute of
limitations or similar deadlines by which we had to be added as a
party to such lawsuits. These lawsuits all involved allegations
concerning the auditing and other services provided by separate and
independent Arthur Andersen firms, and we entered into these tolling
agreements so that we would have time to inform the plaintiffs that
adding us as a defendant in such actions would be misdirected and
without merit. Subsequently, certain Arthur Andersen firms and/or
Andersen Worldwide entered into agreements to settle all claims and
disputes in these lawsuits. Although we were not a party to these
agreements, we have confirmed that, under the terms of the proposed
settlement with the Enron class plaintiffs, Accenture will be released
from all claims that were brought, or might have been brought, by
these plaintiff groups once the settlement is finally approved by the
court. The Enron settlements are subject to normal contingencies,
including the negotiation of a definitive agreement and final approval
by the federal court in Houston. Under the terms of the settlement
with the plaintiff in the lawsuit involving Sunbeam Corporation,
Accenture has been released from all claims that were brought or might
have been brought by the plaintiff; no court approval is required for
this settlement.
We maintain the types and amounts of insurance customary in the
industries and countries in which we operate, including coverage for
professional liability, general liability and management liability. We
consider our insurance coverage to be adequate both as to the risks
and amounts for the businesses we conduct.
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Is this the type of information you're looking for? I'd be glad to
explain how you can find this type of information for any public
company, if that would meet your needs.
