In Wiener v. Lazard Freres & Co., 241 AD2d 114, 122 [1st Dept 1998] "the plaintiffs alleged that defendant had acted on their behalf in assuming negotiations with a third-party, and that they had relied upon him specifically because of defendant's expertise and reputation, because of defendant's alleged inside connection' with a highly placed third-party executive and because the third-party apparently preferred to deal with plaintiffs through defendant rather than directly with plaintiffs" (241 AD2d at 123).