Often in business divorce cases, one party will assert that the other party breached fiduciary duties. The defending party may then raise a statute of limitations defense, arguing that the claim is stale and should have been raised earlier. The statute of limitations in Texas for breach of fiduciary duty is four years. The party
Employee’s Fiduciary Duty May Not Be Limited To His Or Her Employer
In Trench Tech Int’l, Inc. v. Tech Con Trenching, Inc., the son of an owner of a company, who was an employee, downloaded design plans and other information and went to another company who used that information. No. 4:19-cv-00201-O, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100280 (N.D. Tex. June 6, 2022). The company and the company
Court Held That Those In Control Of A Limited Liability Company May Owe Fiduciary Duties To The Company And Its Members
In In re Mijares, a plaintiff claimed that a defendant defrauded him and breached fiduciary duties owed to him by charging improper, excessive, and unauthorized expenses to their medical practice, causing the plaintiff’s distributions from the practice to be reduced during the roughly six years that they practiced medicine together. Case No. 19-33121-hdh7, Adv.
Partner Had Capacity To Sue Other Partner For Breach Of Fiduciary Duty
In Power v. Power, one brother sued the other brother for breach of fiduciary duty related to their partnership in real estate investing. No. 05-19-01557-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 2926 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 3, 2022, no pet. history). The trial court found for the plaintiff, and the defendant appealed.
Continue Reading Partner Had Capacity To Sue Other Partner For Breach Of Fiduciary Duty
Texas Supreme Court Holds That A Director Of A Corporation Cannot Hold An Informal Fiduciary Duty To A Stockholder
In In re Estate of Poe, shortly before his death, Dick, who was the sole director of Poe Management, Inc. (PMI), authorized the corporation to issue new shares that he bought for $3.2 million. No. 20-0178, 2022 Tex. LEXIS 544 (Tex. June 17, 2022). This made Dick the majority owner of PMI, which was the general partner of several Poe-owned businesses.
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David Fowler Johnson Receives JD Supra’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Award for Top Author in Wealth Management
FORT WORTH, TX – Winstead PC, a leading national law firm, today announced that David Fowler Johnson, Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Fort Worth office and the lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, was awarded the JDSupra Readers’ Choice Award for Top Author in Wealth Management.
This is the fourth year
Upcoming Event: UT CLE 18th Annual Changes and Trends Affecting Special Needs Trusts
On Thursday, February 11, Winstead Shareholder David F. Johnson presents his 2020-2021 Fiduciary Litigation Update at the UT Law CLE 18th Annual Changes and Trends Affecting Special Needs Trusts. David’s presentation will cover recent statutory changes and case law updates.
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.
CLE Credit: 0.75 hr
Location: AT&T Conference
Federal Courts Deny Motions To Dismiss Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claims Due To The Economic Loss Rule
In R.P. Small Corp. v. Land Dep’t, Inc., the plaintiff sued the defendant for breaching fiduciary duties due to a confidential relationship regarding oil and gas development. No. H-20-14902021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133695 (S. D. Tex. July 19, 2021). The plaintiff alleged that the defendant took advantage of his relationship, lied about his qualifications and experience, and overbilled and had self-dealing transactions. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss based on the economic loss rule, arguing that the plaintiff’s claims all arose from oral and written contracts. The federal district court denied the motion to dismiss. The court first discussed the economic loss rule:
Under Texas law, the “economic loss rule generally precludes recovery in tort for economic losses resulting from a party’s failure to perform a contract when the harm consists only of the economic loss of a contractual expectancy.” In determining if the economic loss rule applies, Texas courts look to both the “source of the alleged duty and the nature of the claimed injury.” “[A] party may elect a recovery in tort if the duty breached stands independent from the contractual undertaking, and the alleged damages are not solely the result of a bargained-for contractual benefit.” This is because “‘[t]ort obligations are in general obligations that are imposed by law—apart from and independent of promises made and therefore apart from the manifested intention of the parties—to avoid injury to others.’”
Presentation: Litigating Self-Interested Transactions Involving Fiduciaries
David F. Johnson presented his paper “Litigating Self-Interested Transactions Involving Fiduciaries” to the State Bar of Texas’s Fiduciary Litigation Course on December 2-3, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. This presentation discussed a fiduciary’s duty of loyalty, the right to compensation and other benefits, the concept of self-interested transactions, the presumption of unfairness that attaches to
Court Holds That Promissory Note Did Not Allow Partial Conversion To Equity
In Hotze v. In Mgmt., LLC, family members sued each other over control of a family business. No. 14-18-00995-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 5821 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] July 22, 2021, no pet. history). Three of the brothers ended up with greatly increased control of the company after debt the company owed to a partnership formed by the three brothers was partially converted into company stock. Id. Two other brothers and other associated parties filed two lawsuits, bringing both individual and derivative claims, which were consolidated for trial. “A key issue in the case was whether the promissory note between Troika and CECO authorized a partial conversion of debt for stock.” Id. The trial court concluded that it did, and instructed the jury to that effect. The two brothers appealed.
Continue Reading Court Holds That Promissory Note Did Not Allow Partial Conversion To Equity