David F. Johnson presented his paper on “Remedies for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims” to the Tarrant County Probate Bar Association’s Litigation Seminar on August 7, 2020. This presentation covered pre-trial remedies such as...more
In JTREO, Inc. v. Hightower & Assocs., the buyer of a note and mortgage sued the attorney for the lender who facilitated the transaction by loaning money to the buyer for breach of fiduciary duty arising from the fact that...more
In Ron v. Ron, a wife created a trust with her husband as a trustee, a friend as a trust protector, and their children as the beneficiaries. No. 3:19-CV-00211, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52507 (S.D. Tex. February 4, 2020)....more
In Gooden v. Mackie, a borrower sued a mortgage servicer after the servicer foreclosed on the property. No. 4:19-CV-02948, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25142 (S.D. Tex. January 22, 2020)....more
In Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. v. Enter. Prods. Partners, L.P., one pipeline company sued another for breaching a duty of loyalty that allegedly arose out of a partnership to develop a pipeline. No. 17-0862, 2020 Tex....more
2/6/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Formation ,
Condition Precedent ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Energy Sector ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Oil & Gas ,
Partnerships ,
Pipelines ,
Reversal ,
TX Supreme Court
In Taylor v. Rothstein Kass & Co., PLLC, a receiver for a failed business sued an accounting firm for various claims arising from the auditor’s issuance of a clean audit report concerning certain financial statements. No....more
2/6/2020
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Auditors ,
Audits ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Statements ,
Joint Tortfeasors ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Negligence ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Professional Negligence ,
Strict Liability
In In re Estate of Klutts, a son held his mother’s power of attorney when he assisted in securing a new 2008 will, which enhanced his share of the estate. No. 02-18-00356-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 11063 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth...more
2/3/2020
/ Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Persuasion ,
Burden of Production ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Estate Planning ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Power of Attorney ,
Probate ,
Self-Interest ,
Undue Influence Claims ,
Wills
Plaintiffs in civil litigation often seek punitive or exemplary damages. “Exemplary damages” means any damages awarded as a penalty or by way of punishment but not for compensatory purposes....more
1/27/2020
/ Actual Malice ,
Admissible Evidence ,
Breach of Duty ,
Civil Code ,
Confidential Information ,
Damages ,
Discovery ,
Evidence ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraud ,
Gross Negligence ,
High Net-Worth ,
New Legislation ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Punitive Damages ,
Retroactive Application ,
Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Statements of Net Worth ,
TX Supreme Court
In In re Estate of Poe, the son of a car dealership owner who was frozen out of control of the business by the dying father’s decision to issue new stock sued his father’s estate, trust, and officers of the business. No....more
In Klinek v. Luxeyard, Inc., a company sued its majority shareholder in a suit for breach of fiduciary duty arising from a pump-and-dump scheme and later settled that claim. No. 14-17-00899-C, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 9421 (Tex....more
12/4/2019
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conspiracies ,
Disgorgement ,
Fraud ,
Majority Shareholders ,
Pump and Dump ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Third-Party ,
Unjust Enrichment
In Budri v. FirstFleet, Inc., an employee sued his employer and supervisor for a number of causes of action, including a claim for breach of fiduciary duty. No. 3:19-CV-0409-N-BH, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188251 (N.D. Tex....more
In Melton v. Waddell, a sister sued her brother for breach of fiduciary duty for misapplying funds in a joint account and not properly allocating revenues from real estate that they owned as tenants in common. No....more
In In re Alexander, a beneficiary filed suit against the trustee based on multiple allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, including an allegation that the trustee attempted to transfer the trustee position to successors in...more
10/25/2019
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Confidential Communications ,
Discovery ,
Document Productions ,
Duty to Disclose ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Joint Clients ,
Trial Court Orders ,
Trusts ,
Work-Product Doctrine ,
Writ of Mandamus
In Gray vs. Ward, Ward and Gray started a limited partnership where Ward was a limited partner and Gray was a limited partner and the manager of the general partner. No. 05-18-00266-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 6992 (Tex....more
10/3/2019
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Duty ,
Buy-Out Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Defamation ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
General Partnerships ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Wrongful Termination
In In re Amerisciences, a bankruptcy trustee sued a bankrupt company’s former officers for breach of fiduciary duty regarding the theft of trade secrets. No. 18-20394, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 20635 (5th Cir. July 11, 2019). ...more
8/26/2019
/ Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Duty ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Officers ,
Damages ,
Directors ,
Evidence ,
Tortious Interference ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trustees
In Garcia v. Communities in Schools of Brazoria County, a director sued a nonprofit’s board for breach of fiduciary duty arising from his removal. 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97017 (S. D. Tex. June 10, 2019)....more
In Ebert v. Dejoria (In re Latitude Sols., Inc.), a bankruptcy trustee sued a company’s former officers for breach of fiduciary duty. No. 18-10382, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 13060 (5th Cir. April 30, 2019)....more
In Marshall v. Ribosome L.P., a beneficiary of a trust sued a limited partnership of which the trustee was a partner. No. 01-18-00108-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 3787 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] May 9, 2019, no pet. history)....more
In Freeman v. Fid. Brokerage Servs., LLC, the mother of the plaintiffs executed a living trust agreement. No 3:18-CV-0947-G, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34694 (N.D. Tex. March 5, 2019)....more
5/13/2019
/ Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Co-Trustees ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Estate Planning ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Living Trust ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Non-Signatories ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
In Goughnour v. Patterson, a beneficiary sued a trustee based on a failed real estate investment. No. 12-17-00234-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 1665 (Tex. App.—Tyler March 5, 2019, no pet. history). In 2007, the trustee of four...more
5/6/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Appeals ,
Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
Dismissals ,
Estoppel ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraud ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Self-Dealing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
In Milligan v. Salamone, the Greenberg Taurig lawfirm represented the bankrupt company when it sued a president and board member. No. 1:18-CV-327-RP, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41009 (W.D. Tex. March 14, 2019). Greenberg drafted...more
4/22/2019
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Appeals ,
Attorney Malpractice ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Contract Drafting ,
Dismissals ,
Employment Contract ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Professional Negligence ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Reversal ,
Self-Dealing ,
Trustees ,
Vacated
Joint liability for breach of fiduciary duty claims is a rather confusing area of law in Texas. Texas courts have discussed three different theories that allow for joint liability: knowing participation in breach of fiduciary...more
The normal view of undue influence involves an actor threatening an elderly or infirm person into signing a document that he or she otherwise would not sign. One imagines the actor having control over the person and threating...more
3/21/2019
/ Breach of Duty ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Civil Conspiracy ,
Ethics ,
Exploitation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Undue Influence Claims
In Liberty Bankers Life Ins. Co. v. Lenhard, a company sued its former chief executive officer and shareholder for breaching fiduciary duties and fraudulent statements regarding an agreement to transfer his stock in the...more
In Herring v. Am. Paper & Janitorial Prods., the plaintiff was a subcontractor who provided janitorial services for a bank and was also a depositor of the bank. No. H-17-3474, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215765 (S.D. Tex. December...more