ESTATE OF BURKE v. PETER REPETTI CO (1998)

In an action to recover for accounting malpractice and breach of contract, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Richmond County (Sangiorgio, J.), dated September 18, 1997, which granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.

 “A claim of professional negligence requires proof that there was a departure from the accepted standards of practice and that the departure was a proximate cause of the injury” (Georgetti v. United Hosp. Med. Ctr., 204 A.D.2d 271, 272, 611 N.Y.S.2d 583;  see also, 530 East 89 Corp. v. Unger, 43 N.Y.2d 776, 402 N.Y.S.2d 382, 373 N.E.2d 276;  Greene v. Payne Wood & Littlejohn, 197 A.D.2d 664, 666, 602 N.Y.S.2d 883).   The defendants demonstrated prima facie that they were entitled to summary judgment.   They offered an expert's affidavit which did not merely offer bare, conclusory assertions (see, Maust v. Arseneau, 116 A.D.2d 1012, 498 N.Y.S.2d 936), but dealt fully with the plaintiff's claims, and which averred that the defendants' actions were consistent with accepted accounting practice.   The plaintiff failed to come forward with evidence that the defendants' actions deviated from accepted accounting practice (see, Whalen v. Victory Mem. Hosp., 187 A.D.2d 503, 589 N.Y.S.2d 590).   The conclusory affidavit of the administrator of the plaintiff estate, made without personal knowledge of the relevant facts, failed to raise a triable issue of fact.   The affirmation of the plaintiff's attorney, also not based on personal knowledge, was likewise inadequate.   The defendants were therefore entitled to summary judgment.

The plaintiff's remaining contentions are without merit.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.