Holding that liability for negligent misrepresentation is imposed on those who are in a special position of confidence and trust with the injured party than that of an ordinary buyer and seller
Holding that a special relationship existed outside of the context of professionals, such as lawyers and engineers, when a defendant was inter alia "uniquely situated to evaluate the economics of the [investment that defendant sold to plaintiff]"
Holding that contribution may lie for breach of contract actions in the "limited class of cases involving liability for the violation of a professional duty"
Holding that because plaintiffs did not allege any direct contact with the rating agencies, plaintiffs had failed to allege the existence of a privity-like special relationship—an essential element of a negligent misrepresentation claim under New York law
Holding that an insurance broker did not have a fiduciary duty to his customer even though the insured had been his customer for seventeen years and had provided several insurance services to the plaintiff
Holding that multiple, direct and substantive communications and personal meetings with the relying customers established a relationship sufficiently approaching privity
Holding that in negligent misrepresentation cases, the relationship between the parties must "be one of contract or the bond between them so close as to be the functional equivalent of contractual privity"