In Austin Trust Co. v. Houren, beneficiaries of a trust executed a family settlement agreement with the trustee and the former trustee’s estate. No. 14-19-00387-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 1955 (Tex. App.—Houston March 16, 2021,...more
In Villareal v. Saenz, two co-owners of a limited liability company sued each other regarding conduct surrounding a business divorce. 5-20-CV-00571-OLG-RBF, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94183 (W.D. Tex. May 18, 2021)....more
In Marshall v. Marshall, a beneficiary sued the original trustee and five co-trustees of two trusts regarding claims that they breached fiduciary duties. No. 14-17-00930-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 1949 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th...more
David F. Johnson, lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, discusses in this two part series many of the interesting and complex issues that arise from trustees making trust distributions to beneficiaries. The...more
In Adam v. Marcos, an attorney and his client agreed to a joint venture/partnership. No. 14-18-00450-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 2060 (Tex. App.—Houston March 18, 2021, no pet. history)....more
In Hitchcock Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a school district sued it insurance broker for failing to obtain insurance policies that did not have arbitration and choice-of-law clauses that favored New York....more
A business divorce may mean that the owners need to sell the business or the business’s assets. In the following case, some of the owners/officers took advantage of a sale transaction to benefit from that transaction at the...more
3/30/2021
/ Appeals ,
Asset Purchase Agreements ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Assets ,
Business Divorce ,
Corporate Bonuses ,
Corporate Officers ,
Disgorgement ,
Duty to Disclose ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forfeiture ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment
Parties often begin a business together without thinking through all of the legal details that define their rights. When they eventually divorce, they need to resort to the language in agreements that they entered into and...more
In Belliveau v. Barco, Inc., a licensor of intellectual property sued the owner of the licensee for breach of fiduciary duty related to the sublicensing to a third party. No. 19-50717, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 2489 (5th Cir....more
In In re Silver State Holdings, in a bankruptcy proceeding a trustee of a limited liability company sued its former manager for breach of fiduciary duty and another entity for conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty arising out...more
In Denson v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Sandra Denson went to her bank to deposit $730 when a $50 bill became temporarily stuck in the cash counting machine, causing the teller to miscount the amount of the deposit as $680....more
In Cohen v. Newbiss Prop., a limited partner sued a transferee of real property for aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty. No. 01-19-00397-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 9190 (Tex....more
In Ec & Sm Guerra v. Phila. Indem. Ins. Co., an insured sued its property insurer for breach of fiduciary duty and other claims arising from the insurer’s denying a claim for wind damage and disagreeing with an appraiser’s...more
In Pense v. Bennett, the ward in a guardianship proceeding sued to invalidate the sale of real property from a trust created for his benefit to an affiliate of the trustee. No. 06-20-00030-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 8002 (Tex....more
This presentation will cover Texas cases dealing with fiduciary issues over the survey period. Some of the issues involve the removal of a trustee, the resignation of a trustee, the production of confidential trust...more
12/1/2020
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Beneficiaries ,
Client Communication ,
Confidential Information ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Jury Trial ,
Liability ,
Modification ,
Removal ,
Resignation ,
Right to a Jury ,
Risk Management ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Trust Administration ,
Trust Protector Actions ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Wealth Management ,
Webinars ,
Wills
In Benge v. Thomas, a settlor created a trust and appointed her daughter, Missi, as the trustee. No. 13-18-00619-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 6888 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi August 27, 2020, no pet.)....more
11/19/2020
/ Appeals ,
Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
General Partner ,
General Partnerships ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
In Roels v. Valkenaar, a shareholder filed a shareholder derivative suit against former and current officers and directors of the company based on multiple claims of breach of fiduciary duty. No. 03-19-00502-CV, 2020 Tex....more
11/10/2020
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Corporate Officers ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dismissals ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Self-Dealing ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
Beneficiaries often request that a trustee make them a loan from trust property. In an economic downturn, such requests are even more prevalent. As a general rule, a trustee should not want to make a loan to a beneficiary as...more
10/30/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Beneficiaries ,
Default ,
Economic Downturn ,
Estate Planning ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Loan Documentation ,
Loans ,
Risk Management ,
Trust Assets ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
In Keel Recovery, Inc. v. Tri City Adjusters, Inc., a company sued its former employee for breach of fiduciary duty related to reporting certain alleged criminal activity related to the repossession of vehicles. No....more
In Michael D. Heatley v. Red Oak 86, L.P. & Charles Johnson, investors in a limited partnership sued the managing member for breach of fiduciary duty. No. 05-18-01083-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 6592 (Tex. App.—Dallas August 17,...more
In Benge v. Roberts, a beneficiary sued co-trustees and sought to remove them for breaching duties by not considering claims against a former trustee. No. 03-19-00719-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 6335 (Tex. App.—Austin August 12,...more
In In the Interest of M.G.G., an ex-husband was made a constructive trustee of stocks that he held in his retirement account for his ex-wife. No. 05-19-00777-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 6291 (Tex. App.—Dallas August 10, 2020, no...more
In Hampton v. Equity Trust Co., an individual sold fraudulent investments to the plaintiff. No. 03-19-00401-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 5674 (Tex. App.—Austin July 23, 2020, no pet.)....more
In Katz v. Intel Pharma, LLC, a minority member of a limited liability company sued a former manager for breach of fiduciary duty in a derivative action. No. H-18-1347, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120389 (S.D. Tex. July 9, 2020)....more
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