A New Jersey appeals court has awarded a partial victory to an attorney being sued by an order of the Catholic Church for allegedly breaching the terms of a decades-old settlement agreement entered into by a parochial school student by holding a media conference.

The Appellate Division said attorney Gregory Gianforcaro owed no duty of care to the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, a nonclient, and thus a motion to add a legal malpractice claim to the suit was rightly denied.