LEGAL REPRESENTATION LETTER ATTACHMENTS

Background. Audit Requirements for Federal Financial Statements dictate that agency General Counsel provide the agency Chief Financial Officer with specific information about legal contingencies. This information is needed to satisfy auditors of the financial statements that such legal contingencies have been identified and reported. The information is then submitted to OMB, Treasury and GAO. See OMB Bulletin NO. 01-02 , § 8 Legal Letters and Management Schedules, Appendix H-1 and Appendix H-2.

For the consolidated financial statements, the Department of Justice reviews the agencies' legal contingency information. Justice certifies to GAO the accuracy and completeness of the legal contingencies reported by the agencies that may be material to the consolidated financial statements. Justice reports to GAO any substantive discrepancies between the agency description and the Justice description of legal contingencies that may be material to the consolidated financial statement.

Instructions. To accurately compare agency descriptions of legal contingencies with Department of Justice descriptions, the format of your descriptions must be standardized. The agency general counsel will prepare a legal representation letter following the format in OMB Bulletin NO. 01-02, Appendix H-2. The legal contingencies will be described using standardized formats provided here. A separate form will be completed for each case or group of cases. The forms will be attached to the legal representation letter. INCLUDE ONLY THOSE CONTINGENCIES THAT MEET YOUR AGENCY'S DOLLAR THRESHOLD FOR MATERIALITY.

Two legal representation letters are required. The dates have been accelerated this year. The interim legal representation letter should be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than August 29, 2005. The final legal representation letter should be submitted as soon as the letters have been completed, but no later than November 15, 2005. IMPORTANT NOTE: Your updated final legal representation letter will only contain changes, new cases, or a statement indicating there are no changes. DO NOT repeat information for cases already discussed in the interim response unless there has been a change in the information.

In order to ensure that all contingencies are accounted for, your legal representation letter will continue to include the status of cases reported in last year's legal representation letter, regardless of whether the cases are still pending. See current OMB guidance letter.

To facilitate the delivery of the legal representation letters and the management schedules, the Offices of the Inspector General should submit these documents electronically in PDF format, including required signatures, to the Department of Justice (DOJ), FMS, and GAO at their electronic addresses provided below.

DOJ: Legal.Letters@usdoj.gov
FMS: Financial.reports@fms.treas.gov
GAO: USCFS@gao.gov

For pending or threatened litigation, select this WordPerfect or MS Word document.

  1. Select Save and save the document to disk.
  2. Open WordPerfect or Word.
  3. Open the saved file in WordPerfect or Word.
  4. Enter the required information directly onto the form and save.
  5. Use a separate form for each case or group of cases.
  6. Attach the forms to the legal representation letter.

For unasserted claims, select this WordPerfect or MS Word document.

  1. Select Save and save the document to disk.
  2. Open WordPerfect or Word.
  3. Open the saved file in WordPerfect or Word.
  4. Enter the required information directly onto the form and save.
  5. Use a separate form for each unasserted claim.
  6. Attach the forms to the legal representation letter.

For cases reported in the 2006 letter that are no longer pending, select this WordPerfect or MS Word document.

  1. Select Save and save the document to disk.
  2. Open WordPerfect or Word.
  3. Open the saved file in WordPerfect or Word.
  4. Enter the required information directly onto the form and save.
  5. Use a separate form for each unasserted claim.
  6. Attach the forms to the legal representation letter.

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This page updated on June 14, 2007
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