Judge Barbara Rothstein handed down a verdict and damage award of $625,309,085 in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as Receiver for Colonial Bank v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Crowe Horwath, LLP, No. 2:11-cv-00746 (M D Ala. July 2, 2018), the largest damages recovery by court verdict ever against a professional accounting firm. In her opinion, Judge Rothstein found that “the damages computations presented by the FDIC through its expert, Mr. Malek, to be logical, well-supported, and well-reasoned. Malek meticulously reconstructed TBW’s relationship with Colonial, accounted for the costs and income associated with that relationship, and deducted any other recoveries attributable to these same damages. In fact, Malek’s precise calculations far exceed those required to establish damages with reasonable certainty in the context of a failed bank…. Accordingly, the Court finds that Malek’s calculation of damages in the amount of $625,309,085 is reasonably certain and amply supported by reliable evidence.”
PwC subsequently relinquished its appeal and entered into a material cash settlement with the FDIC. The case was extensively covered in MarketWatch, published by Dow Jones & Co., and Re: the Auditors.com.