Opinion ID: 577164
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Merits of the Claims in Hoffer

Text: 148 Perhaps most significantly, the Hoffer Group attacks the district court's finding that the claims asserted against the State in Hoffer rely on untried hypotheses that would require the survival of uncertain claims and favorable legal decisions throughout. The Hoffer Group contends the district court ignored the scope and magnitude of the Washington Supreme Court's dual decision in Hoffer, in which the Court reinstated eight of nine alleged causes of action that had been dismissed by the Superior Court for failure to state a claim. See Hoffer v. State, 110 Wash.2d at 423-35, 755 P.2d at 786-92. The Hoffer Group asserts that in so ruling, the Washington Supreme Court validated its most far-reaching theories of liability against the State, thereby removing the principal legal obstacles which its members faced in the prosecution of Hoffer. The Hoffer Group thus disputes the district court's contrary conclusion that its claims against the State remained uncertain and hypothetical in nature. 149 Although the Washington Supreme Court reinstated eight of the Hoffer Group's nine alleged causes, it did so only in the context of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. 17 The merits of the Hoffer Group's claims had not been subjected to motions for summary judgment, and extensive discovery had not been conducted. We therefore have no reason to question the district court's finding that the Hoffer Group's case against the State relies on a number of uncertain claims and faces many legal obstacles. In order to be successful on some or all of its claims against the State, the Hoffer Group would have to demonstrate at trial, among other things, that a letter from the Washington State Auditor which appeared in the annual reports submitted by WPPSS between 1976 and 1980 contained implicit assurances that the Auditor was familiar with WPPSS's finances and that he had uncovered no weaknesses in the investment; that the State Auditor intended for the letter to reach current and future bondholders, or at least knew that it was being so used; that the State Auditor knew that the letter contained fraudulent misrepresentations; that the bondholders relied on these alleged implicit and fraudulent misrepresentations; that the State Auditor acted as a seller under Wash.Rev.Code Ann. § 21.20.430(1) (1988); and that the State of Washington intentionally interfered with their contract with WPPSS by playing a role in WPPSS's decision to terminate Projects 4/5. In the absence of extensive discovery, it is by no means certain that the Hoffer Group would be able to make these necessary factual showings. Moreover, several legal obstacles, such as Washington's public duty doctrine, 18 stand in the way of the Hoffer Group's claims if certain of these necessary factual showings are not made. We find no error in the district court's consideration of the uncertainty of the Hoffer Group's claims as a factor in support of its conclusion that the State's contribution to the Consolidated Settlement was fair, adequate, and reasonable. 150