Your Firm has just lost its largest and most profitable client. The gaping hole that its departure has left in your revenue projections for the year is extreme. The Firms managing partner has concluded that the Firm will need to carry out a substantial staff layoff to mitigate the resultant impact on the Firms bottom line. As the partner in-charge of the audit practice you are aware that most of those layoffs would come from your assurance team. The managing partner has also informed you and the Firms other partners that failing to complete the layoffs will likely decrease average annual partner earnings from their norm of about $400,000.

In early October, amidst this chaos, you receive a phone call from an attorney friend of yours who states that one of his clients, Samson and Co., must make a fast change in their auditing firm. He informs you that Samson, who issues life insurance policies, has a fast-approaching December 31 year-end. Your friend further tells you that Samson is considering going public in the next 24-months.

You immediately recognize that the fee and profit implications of this opportunity would completely replace all that you lost when your largest client departed. As a result, not only would the staff layoffs be avoided, you would need to add staff. Most important to you, partner earnings would be protected at a time when you were just finishing the construction of a brand new summer vacation home for your family. All of this sounds great except for one lingering concern your Firm has no experience in the insurance industry.

Your attorney friend indicates that, given the time constraints, she can secure the audit relationship for you without having to go through a bidding process. Her only requirement is that you return the favor by introducing her to five of your Firms largest clients.

What will you do? Fully explain your actions and related rationale