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Gust6/22/1995
En Banc
MOELLER, Vice Chief Justice
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This is a breach of contract action arising out of a written lease for space in the building formerly known as the Valley Bank Center in Phoenix. Plaintiff law firm Gust, Rosenfeld & Henderson ("Gust") entered into the lease with Valley Bank Building, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Valley National Bank (VNB). Gust filed this action against VNB's successor, Prudential Insurance Company.
The primary issue on appeal is whether the statute of limitations bars Gust's claim. The trial court applied the "discovery rule" and concluded that whether the claim was barred was a disputed issue of fact. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Gust. The trial court entered judgment accordingly, and the court of appeals affirmed in an unpublished, memorandum decision. Because Arizona law is unclear concerning the propriety of using the "discovery rule" in breach of contract cases, we granted Prudential's petition for review on that issue only. We have jurisdiction under Ariz. Const. art. 6, § 5(3) and Ariz. R. Civ. App. P. 23. For reasons stated below, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Gust leased space in the Valley Bank Center in 1972. One provision of the lease, which was actually included in a letter that the leasing agent sent to Gust along with the lease itself, reads:
In addition, if the general rental rate structure for space equivalent to that which you are leasing shall fall below the rental provided for in the lease, your rental will be adjusted accordingly. This would also include monies available for above "building standard" construction. I will also advise you of any material changes in the standard lease form and other items which might effect your total expense in relation to other tenants who occupy equivalent space in the building, and pass any such benefits on to you up until the building is 85% occupied.
Given the resolution of disputed facts below on issues not now before this court, this "most favored nation" clause entitled Gust to receive as good a deal on rent and other allowances as any tenant who signed a lease at any time up until the building was eighty-five percent occupied.
Later in 1972, the landlord entered into a written lease with another law firm tenant, Snell & Wilmer ("Snell"), which contained terms more advantageous than those in Gust's lease with regard to remodeling allowance, carpet replacement provisions, and lease rental rates in years sixteen through twenty of the lease term. In 1974, VNB sold floors fourteen through thirty-four of the Valley Bank Center to defendant Prudential, which assumed VNB's obligations under the leases. Those floors include Gust's offices.
In August 1975, Mr. Devans Gust of the Gust law firm heard from a Snell lawyer that Snell had been asked to waive the most favored nations clause contained in Snell's lease. As a result of this conversation, Mr. Gust wrote to the building's leasing agent, Cushman & Wakefield, and asked if anything had occurred that would invoke Gust's most favored nation clause. The leasing agent replied that it had not violated Gust's most favored nation clause and that it never would.
Gust learned of Snell's more favorable lease in 1989 and filed this lawsuit shortly thereafter. Prudential moved for summary judgment alleging, among other things, that Gust's claim was barred by the six-year statute of limitations applicable to contract actions. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) § 12-548 (1992). In denying the motion, the trial court applied the rul
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