Lewis Roca Blog

The Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict that imposed 100% liability on an escrow agent for a wire transfer it sent to a cybercriminal/imposter and attributed no fault to the imposter or the party whose systems were compromised by the imposter. Cybersecurity practitioners and Arizona litigators should take note of the decision and its potential implications.

In Mago v. Arizona Escrow & Financial Corp., the plaintiff (“Mago”) had contracted to purchase a Subway franchise from the prior owners (the “Sellers”). The escrow agent for the deal was Arizona Escrow (the ...