In an article that appeared on The Legal Intelligencer on the subject of third-part liability of law firms, the author noted that when a company collapses, as occurred in the case of bankrupt beverage manufacturer Le-Nature’s, banks and accounting firms have often been targeted under the theory that it was their advice or their ignorance that allowed the collapse to occur.

In the case of Le-Nature’s, law firm K&L Gates, and accounting firm Pascarella & Wiker, had argued in an action brought by the bankruptcy trustee, that the firms only had a duty to the special committee of Le-Nature’s, and not the trustee. A Common Pleas senior judge agreed; however, upon appeal, a Superior Court judge overruled and said in his opinion that K&L Gates was providing legal services to Le-Nature