(A Representative Survey of the Evolving Jurisprudence of the Court of Appeals)[1]
(Victor M. Metsch is a Senior Litigation/ADR partner at Hartman & Craven LLP. He can be reached at vmetsch@hartmancraven.com. He maintains a website at www.LegalVictor.net and can be found on Twitter at @LegalVictor1).
This article was originally published on Law.com.
To attorneys “of a certain age” (including me), the concept of “privity”, in respect of claims sounding in either contract and tort, was taught in law school at an almost talismanic level – that is to say, “privity” was a threshold and fundamental element of any such claims.
Over the years, what Judge Cardozo characterized (in 1931) as “[t]he assault upon the citadel of privity” has not only “proceeded apace”, but in certain respects arguably may have all but emasculated the iconic principle.