Practice point: Under New York law, conduct amounting to breach of a contractual obligation may also constitute the breach of a fiduciary duty which is independent of the contract. Professionals, such as investment advisors, owe fiduciary duties to their clients, and may be subject to tort liability, as it is policy, not the parties' contract, that gives rise to the duty. Here, the breach of fiduciary duty claim is duplicative of the breach of contract claim, since the plaintiff is suing the defendant not as a professional advisor, but as a managing member of the investment firm, a relationship that is controlled by the firm's operating agreement.
Case: Panattoni Dev. Co., Inc. v. Scout Fund 1-A, LP, NY Slip Op 07334 (1st Dep't October 19, 2017)
Here is the decision.
