Accounting for Lawyers, Concise

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Now in a sixth edition, the concise version continues to respond to the demand for a briefer, less detailed casebook that introduces novices to how accounting issues frequently arise both in transactional work and litigation. Designed specifically for one- and two-credit hour courses for law students with no accounting background, the text of the Concise Sixth Edition is more than a third shorter than the Sixth Edition, so students will find this text less expensive and easier to master.

The Concise Sixth Edition incorporates numerous developments since the Fifth Edition, most significantly discussions about the new generally accepted accounting principles governing revenue recognition, lease accounting, and credit losses. Often collectively referred to as "new GAAP," these rules mark the most significant changes to financial accounting in at least a generation. The Concise Sixth Edition also identifies and discusses various financial accounting issues that lawyers should keep in mind during the pandemic and its aftermath.

The first section of each chapter, entitled "Importance to Lawyers," explains how accounting concepts and financial statements affect legal issues. The text empowers students:


To work backwards through the bookkeeping process and, when necessary, to trace an amount that appears on the financial statements through the accounting records to the ledgers, journals, and supporting documentation;
To negotiate agreements or other legal documents containing accounting terminology or concepts;
To recognize "red flags" that suggest financial difficulties--or even financial fraud; and
To understand--and, when necessary, defend against--the opportunities to obtain accounting-related information about an underlying lawsuit and then to use that information during litigation.


Like its predecessor, the Concise Sixth Edition uses a "learn by doing" approach, including:


Illustrative financial statements from Starbucks Corporation
Multiple problems using the financial statements from Amazon.com, Inc., Google Inc., and United Parcel Service, Inc.