Gary is a forensic accountant and CPA who has practiced for nine years and has established an excellent reputation for the quality of his work and for his honesty. Two years ago, he and another CPA, Sandy, merged their practices. Although Gary handles all forensic accounting engagements, Sandy performs attestation work.

Recently, Gary was approached by an attorney who would like to engage him to help prepare a case for litigation. The case involves a matter that requires the skill of a forensic accountant. Garys initial meeting went well and provided him with enough information to determine that he was qualified to perform the work needed by the attorney. Telling the attorney that he would think about whether to accept the engagement, he returned to his office.

After thinking about the potential engagement and checking his work calendar to determine whether he would be able to perform engagement within the time period expected by the attorney, he decided that he would accept the engagement. Once he called the attorney to let her know that he would be happy to work on the case, she divulged the name of the party involved in the litigation. Gary recognized the name immediately. It was his wifes brother-in-law. (the husband of Garys wifes sister).

Required:

1. Are there any threats that might operate to affect Garys compliance with the code and what code rule (or rules) should Gary consult before performing work on the engagement?
2. Under what circumstances, if any, may Gary accept the engagement?
3. Are there any safeguards that Gary can implement to reduce any threats that exist?

Please note your citations (references), thank you!