Sixteen former KPMG accountants who were charged with using illegal shelters to help affluent clients avoid paying taxes are suing the firm to pay their legal fees. Filing suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the accountants claim KPMG stopped paying the fees under pressure from federal prosecutors, who allegedly threatened the firm with a criminal indictment. A federal judge has already ruled that prosecutors violated the accountants’ constitutional rights by using the so-called Thompson Memorandum, which suggests that a company may receive lenient treatment if it stops pay the legal fees of accused employees.