Opinion ID: 1743037
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Negligence and Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Text: The Milams alleged in their complaint and urge on appeal that the appellees were negligent and breached a fiduciary duty when confidential banking information was disclosed to Wood and Trent. Also, they assert that the Bank of Cabot itself was negligent in failing to supervise Thompson and in not adequately protecting their confidential financial records. While these appear to be very separate claims, appellants interweave them and do not distinguish them in their argument. In support of their twin claims, the Milams quote extensively and almost verbatim from an ALR annotation without crediting American Law Reports for the research. See Edward L. Raymond, Jr., Annotation, Bank's Liability, Under State Law, For Disclosing Financial Information Concerning Depositor or Customer, 81 A.L.R.4th 377 (1990 & Supp.1996). We do not countenance the detailed borrowing of legal arguments from treatises without proper acknowledgment of the source. But in addition to this lapse, the Milams do not present any analysis of the annotation or discuss which of the referenced cases this court should follow. Nor is there any mention of the facts of the instant case in connection with the cases briefed from other jurisdictions; nor any attempt to apply these facts to a specific legal standard. We emphasized in J.W. Reynolds Lumber Co. v. Smackover State Bank, 310 Ark. 342, 836 S.W.2d 853 (1992), the necessity of factual underpinnings to establish a fiduciary relationship with a bank: Here there were no facts to indicate that Reynolds and the Bank had any relationship beyond that of debtor/creditor. That being so, there was no fiduciary relationship and the chancellor did not err in dismissing the claim based on implied trust. J.W. Reynolds Lumber Co. v. Smackover State Bank, 310 Ark. at 347, 836 S.W.2d at 855. See also Marsh v. National Bank of Commerce, 37 Ark.App. 41, 822 S.W.2d 404 (1992)(noting that the customer asserting a fiduciary relationship with his bank has the burden of proving the relationship is beyond that of debtor/creditor). We hold that the Milams failed to submit any proof to convert what is essentially a debtor/creditor relationship with the Bank of Cabot into a fiduciary one. Nor is proof presented to establish that Thompson was acting as an agent of the bank when he met with the railroad policemen in April 1991 or that there was any failure to supervise on the part of the bank. In short, the Wood report, standing alone, is not sufficient to prevent summary judgment.