Opinion
November 23, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Richmond County (Sangiorgio, J.).
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; see also, 530 E. 89 Corp. v. Unger, 43 N.Y.2d 776; Greene v. Payne Wood Littlejohn, 197 A.D.2d 664, 666). 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), 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). The conclusory affidavit of the administrator 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.
Copertino, J. P., Sullivan, Pizzuto and Goldstein, JJ., concur.