Billings Clinic v. Peat Marwick Main & Co.

The Billings Clinic, a partnership of medical doctors in Billings, proposed in 1982 to liquidate a corporation under § 331 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code, and contemporaneously to build a larger office facility financed by the issuance of industrial revenue bonds complying with federal tax laws. The Clinic retained Peat Marwick Main and Company, a national firm of accountants with offices in Billings, for “tax and accounting considerations” relating to the Clinic’s plans. The critical issue here, among other important issues, is the outer extent of the professional duty owed to the…