Robert H. Cox

Bob Cox is a commercial trial attorney with over two decades of experience. He litigates all types of business cases in courts across the nation. Bob also represents clients in government investigations by such agencies as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Bob handles a wide range of litigation and government enforcement matters involving:

• Accounting firms and auditors in commercial litigation matters, malpractice, and investigations and enforcement proceedings before the SEC, PCAOB, and state disciplinary boards (g., Virginia Board of Accountancy);
• Business torts (g., breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, tortious interference with business, and trade secret misappropriation);
• Contract disputes;
• Construction disputes;
• Creditors in civil and bankruptcy proceedings;
• The False Claims Act;
• Financial industry professionals implicated in civil, criminal, and regulatory matters, including investigations and enforcement proceedings before the SEC;
• Fraud investigations involving bank fraud (including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)), healthcare fraud, and securities fraud;
• Insurance coverage litigation;
• Intellectual property litigation;
• Lease disputes;
• Limited Liability Company and partnership disputes among equity interest holders;
• Real estate disputes;
• Securities; and
• White collar criminal issues.

Bob has also represented accountants and accounting firms before the PCAOB and Virginia Board of Accountancy (“VBOA”). He has represented clients in informal inquiries, formal investigations, informal fact-finding conferences, and disciplinary hearings. Bob has also represented small business owners, including government contractors and medical practices in the sale of their businesses to another company.

Prior to joining Briglia Hundley®, Mr. Cox was an Assistant Director in the PCAOB’s Division of Enforcement and Investigations for more than six years. While with the PCAOB, he handled numerous enforcement investigations and disciplinary proceedings against domestic and international accounting firms and auditors, including matters involving the Big Four and other Global Network accounting firms. He also coordinated enforcement matters with the SEC, FINRA, and foreign regulatory bodies.

Before the PCAOB, Mr. Cox was a partner at the largest litigation-focused law firm in the country where he handled complex antitrust, commercial, and securities litigation cases.

Mr. Cox has authored several articles and treatises chapters on topics involving securities, antitrust, and litigation. For example, he is co-author of “Chapter 11, Securities Damages” in Boushie, Spadea, & Cunniff, Calculating and Proving Damages (Law Journal Press 2011), a leading treatise on damages. He is also the author of Chapter 6, “Collateral Estoppel and Prima Facie Effect, Antitrust Evidence Handbook”, Third Edition (ABA 2016). In addition, Mr. Cox frequently speaks at professional conferences, training workshops, and continuing legal education courses. He has presented lectures at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Mr. Cox is an active member of the Virginia State Bar. He has served as an elected member on the Virginia State Bar’s Disciplinary Sub-Committee for the Fifth District since 2018. He is also active in the American Bar Association, serving as a Co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Professional Liability Committee.

Representative Matters

Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Results in past cases do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case undertaken by the lawyer.

Accountant’s Liability and Securities Enforcement

• Represented accounting firm, engagement partner, and engagement quality reviewered in PCAOB formal investigation involving cross-border audits of three foreign companies registered on U.S. exchanges. The PCAOB closed the formal investigation after testimony.
• Represented two partners of accounting firm in week long disciplinary hearing.
• Investigated multiple failures by the auditor of a Japanese subsidiary of a U.S. manufacturer.  In a settled disciplinary order, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) censured and suspended for one year the partner of a Japanese accounting firm.
• Investigated multiple failures by the auditor of an Indonesian telecommunications company.  In a settled order, the PCAOB censured and imposed a $1 million civil penalty on the Indonesian member firm for audit failure, noncooperation, and violations of the PCAOB’s quality control standards.
• Represented several accountants in disciplinary proceedings before the Virginia Board of Accountancy, including informal Fact-finding (IFF) confrerences.

Commercial Litigation Matters

• Represented organization in lawsuit against former vendor involving claims of breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties in Virginia state court.
• Represented commercial tenant in litigation with landlord over breaches of lease in Virginia state court.
• Represented a pension fund in a multimillion-dollar, multiparty case alleging breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and breach of contract relating to the actions of a managing member of a limited liability company in the purchase of commercial real estate. The client prevailed following a successful appeal to the Maryland state appellate court and retrial in the Montgomery County Circuit Court.
• Represented a defendant in a case brought by a software vendor for alleged copyright infringement and breach of a software licensing agreement. After a one-week bench trial, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado returned a verdict in favor of the defendant client as to all claims.

Insurance Coverage Matters

• Represented Blue Cross Blue Shield entity in litigation to obtain insurance coverage for RICO class actions. Matter settled prior to trial.
• Member of fourteen attorney trial team which defended a foreign insurance company in an insurance coverage claim brought by an insured company for indemnification of costs of environmental clean-up of ExxonValdez oil spill in a five-week jury trial in Texas state court. Case was settled on appeal.

Securities Fraud Matters

• Represented two victims of a Ponzi scheme in a federal court action to recover against the fraudster’s insurance policies. In a settlement on the day of trial, the clients fully recovered on their prior state court judgments for their investments, interest, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.
• Defended a telecommunications company in a class action by holders of securities alleging accounting fraud in the company’s capacity swaps, tax indemnities, and lease commitments. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the complaint with prejudice and without leave to replead.
• Represented a gold mining company in a securities fraud class action involving gold hedging operations at mines around the world. Case involved a $5 billion mark-to-market loss on the hedge book and allegations regarding earnings forecasts.

Areas of Practice

• Commercial Litigation
• Accountants and Professional Liability
• Securities Litigation and Enforcement

Admissions

• Virginia
• District of Columbia
• Maryland
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• U.S. Court of International Trade
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Education

• University of Virginia Juris Doctor
• University of Virginia M.B.A
• Duke University Bachelor of Arts