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ABSENT FRAUD, COLLUSION OR A MALICIOUS OR TORTIOUS ACT, DEFENDANT ATTORNEYS COULD NOT BE LIABLE FOR ACTING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THEIR AUTHORITY AS AGENTS OF THE CLIENTS AND ALLEGEDLY ADVISING THEIR CLIENTS TO BREACH A CONTRACT WITH PLAINTIFFS (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the defendant attorneys (Jin Hu defendants) could not be liable to third parties (plaintiffs) for allegedly advising their clients (DeVito defendants) to breach a real estate purchase contract:

… “[I]nasmuch as the relationship created between an attorney and his client is that of principal and agent, an attorney is not liable for inducing his [or her] principal to breach a contract with a third person, at least where he [or she] is acting on behalf of his principal within the scope of his [or her] authority” … . “Absent a showing of fraud or collusion, or of a malicious or tortious act, an attorney is not liable to third parties for purported injuries caused by services performed on behalf of a client or advice offered to that client” … .

Here, the allegations in the complaint regarding the conduct of the Jin Hu defendants were impermissibly vague and conclusory … . Additionally, the complaint failed to sufficiently allege that the Jin Hu defendants acted outside the scope of their authority as counsel for the DeVito defendants or engaged in any conduct that could make them liable to the plaintiffs … . Asamblea De Iglesias Christianas, Inc. v DeVito, 2022 NY Slip Op 06456, Second Dept 11-16-22

Practice Point: Absent fraud, collusion of a malicious of tortios act, an attorney, as the agent for the principal (the client) acting within the scope of the attorney’s authority, cannot be liable to the plaintiff for advising the client to breach a contract with the plaintiff.

 

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