An accounting fraud attorney can defend a person charged with knowingly creating false records to boost income and sales figures. A company may try to play with the numbers to hide loses or meet Wall Street expectations. An individual may commit fraud for personal gain. This practice is illegal and can result in civil lawsuits. Sometimes, more than the perpetrator is guilty of accounting fraud. In large companies, other executives who had knowledge of the crime or participated in the crime are often guilty. If an individual or company is facing accounting fraud the first step in fighting the charges and protecting themselves is hiring a lawyer who specializes in this particular type of crime. Accounting fraud laws are extremely specific and only an experienced lawyer can argue the case effectively, keeping it from reaching the court system. There are no solid statistics on deals made to keep accounting fraud cases out of court, but it is thought to be a high number because of the negative image it gives a company and business executives in general.