Bily v. Arthur Young & Co.

I dissent.

Defendant, one of the nation’s largest certified public accounting firms, wrote an audit report expressing its unqualified opinion that a corporation’s financial statements fairly presented its financial condition and had been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Defendant printed 100 copies of this report and gave them to the corporation, which in turn gave copies to potential investors, including plaintiffs. Many of these investors relied on defendant’s report when deciding to invest in the corporation.

The audited financial statements contained…