Chestnut Corp. v. Pestine, Brinati, Gamer, Ltd.

We address the liability of an accountant, under the Illinois Public Accounting Act (Act) (225 ILCS 450/30.1 (West 1992)), for negligent misrepresentation to a third party with whom the accountant is not in privity. The trial court denied a motion for summary judgment (735 ILCS 5/2 — 1005 (West 1994)) by one defendant and a motion to dismiss (735 ILCS 5/2 — 615 (West 1994)) by the other based upon the court’s reading of section 30.1 of the Act. The court framed the issue in the form of a question and certified it under Supreme Court Rule 308 (155 Ill. 2d R. 308). The question reads:

"Whether,…