Accounting Irregularities and Financial Fraud, 2nd edition.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Bookshelf - Book - Brief Article

Accounting Irregularities and Financial Fraud, 2nd edition.

By Michael R. Young, Editor. Aspen Law & Business, 337 pages. $129.

Accounting Irregularities and Financial Fraud is very much a product of its heritage: Its editor, Michael R. Young, is a partner at the big New York-based law firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and most of the chapters are written by colleagues.

In concept, this is closer to a textbook than a business book to be read in a few sittings. It methodically tackles one area at a time, ranging from the origins of fraud to assessing blame, getting new financial statements, forensic accounting, class action lawsuits, criminal investigations and due diligence. The advice is sound, though the language is almost invariably formal.

What's important about an updated edition of an earlier work, of...