In a recent article for DRI’s, The Voice, attorneys Katrina L. Smeltzer, Lyndon P. Sommer, and Joseph F. Devereux III review an accountant’s liability to a third party. There is no uniform standard that establishes an accountant’s duty to a third party. Rather, the extent of an accountant’s duty to third parties depends on the laws of the state in which the accountant practices. This lack of uniformity has created four differing approaches among states, which have largely been set by judicial interpretation. The four approaches that a state may take are the privity approach, the “near privity” approach, the Restatement approach, and the “foreseeability” approach. Continue reading to understand the four approaches. Click here to read the article.
