A federal District Court in Florida, applying the substantive law of New York, has refused to grant a summary judgment motion to dismiss a breach of fiduciary duty claim against an accountant who supervised a $4 million investment for a charitable remainder unitrust in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The Court held that there is a material question of fact about whether the accountant had acted to create a fiduciary duty to the trust. Ordinarily an accountant does not have a fiduciary duty to a client under New York law, but some exceptions apply. The defendant firm argued that the only exception arose where the accountant engaged in affirmative fraud or illegal acts, but the Court said the...