Wells Fargo Bank, a National Banking Association, Plaintiff-Counterdefendant-Appellee v. Arizona Laborers…

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court held that a lender's lack of a traditional duty to disclose did not defeat the pension funds' intentional tort claims arising from the bank's handling of Symington's defaulted Alta Mesa loan while the funds' Mercado take-out commitment was pending. Because the funds presented evidence from which a jury could find the bank knew Symington's financial statements were false and acted to conceal that fact, summary judgment was premature on aiding and abetting fraud, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relations, and fraudulent concealment. Summary judgment on civil conspiracy was affirmed because the record lacked clear and convincing evidence of an agreement to defraud. The court reversed and remanded the four claims for trial and vacated the fee award; Justice Martone concurred in the judgment but dissented from the opinion, arguing the court should have remanded the undecided issues to the court of appeals rather than announce unbriefed rules.