BDO Seidman, LLP v. Mindis Acquisition Corp.
Georgia Supreme Court
276 Ga. 311, 578 S.E.2d 400 (2003)
- Written by Tammy Boggs, JD
Facts
BDO Seidman, LLP (BDO) (plaintiff) was an accounting firm that performed audits of financial statements. BDO audited the financial statements of Mindis Corporation and certified that the financials were free of material misstatements, including as to Mindis’s reported inventory value. Relying on Mindis’s audited financial statements, Mindis Acquisition Corp. (MAC) (defendant) purchased Mindis for a certain price. Subsequently, MAC discovered that Mindis’s inventory value was less than what was reported on the financial statements. MAC sued BDO for negligent misrepresentation based on an allegedly negligent audit. A jury trial ensued. The trial court instructed the jury that the proper measure of damages in a case of negligent misrepresentation was the benefit-of-the-bargain standard. The jury returned a verdict for MAC of $44 million. The court of appeals affirmed. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed to review the matter, considering BDO’s argument that the jury was instructed with an improper standard of damages.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fletcher, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
