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Auditor Liability
Venue for a Michigan accounting malpractice action lies where the first actual injury plaintiffs suffered occurred, not where the defendant's original breach of the standard of care or the plaintiff's reliance on it took place, the Michigan Supreme Court held July 9 (Dimmitt & Owens Financial Inc. v. Deloitte & Touche (ISC) LLC, Mich., No. 134087, 7/9/08).
Under Mich. Comp. Laws §600.1629(1), the venue for tort actions seeking damages for personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death lies in the "county in which the original injury occurred," when either the defendant or the plaintiff resides, does business, or has a corporate office there. Construing the quoted phrase for the first time, Judge Maura D. Corrigan said that the defendant's "breach of the standard of care does not constitute an injury," and the plaintiff's reliance on it is only a "potential" injury.
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