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4139 REVIEW GRANTED A defendant who knows that a third party who owes a duty to plaintiff is engaging in tortious conduct directed at plaintiff and who provides the third party with substantial assistance or encouragement may be liable to plaintiff for aiding and abetting in the commission of a tort, even though defendant does not owe plaintiff an independent duty; an auditor who is aware that the client being audited is perpetrating a fraud may be found to have given substantial assistance to the client by failing, even if failure to issue a report is consistent with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards; a defendant can not be liable for conspiring to commit a tort against a plaintiff to whom it does not owe a duty.
FRAME v PRICEWATERHOUSE COOPERS (Silent Auditor) 134 CA4 396 [See: Grafton Partners v Superior Court 36 C4 944, P/AT 9/05; Fiol v Doellstedt 50 CA4 1318, T/AT 1/97; Applied Equipment v Litton 7 C4 503, T/AT 5/94; Bily v Arthur Young 3 C4 370, T/AT 11/92]
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