Higashi

Richard B. LeVine, Inc. (plaintiff), appeals from a summary judgment and also challenges the court’s earlier rulings on demurrer. We conclude an arbitration award in favor of defendants’ alleged coconspirators bars any claim grounded on an aiding and abetting ór conspiracy theory, and plaintiff failed to establish any independent duty owed by defendants to plaintiff. Accordingly, in the published portion of this opinion, we affirm the summary judgment. In the unpublished portions of this opinion, we discuss an evidentiary ruling and also affirm the earlier rulings on demurrer.

FACTS

Plaintiff was a partner in a medical partnership named Orange County Heart Institute and Research Center (OCHI) formed in 1994. Cardiologist Richard B. LeVine was plaintiff’s officer, employee, and sole shareholder.

Gerald Higashi and HMWC CPAs & Business Advisors (collectively Higashi) were retained to provide accounting services to OCHI, including the calculation of each partner’s share of the partnership profits and the amount of each partner’s capital account. Higashi’s calculation of each partner’s share of the 1994 profits was completed without controversy in accordance with the…