Acker Construction, LLC v. Tran

396 S.W.3d 279, 2012 Ark. App. 214, 2012 WL 834764, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 318
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 14, 2012
DocketNo. CA 11-610
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 396 S.W.3d 279 (Acker Construction, LLC v. Tran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Acker Construction, LLC v. Tran, 396 S.W.3d 279, 2012 Ark. App. 214, 2012 WL 834764, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 318 (Ark. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

CLIFF HOOFMAN, Judge.

|, Acker Construction, LLC, appeals from a judgment entered by the Scott County Circuit Court in favor of appellee, Hanh Billy Tran, in the amount of $68,307 for the cost of repairing seven chicken houses that appellant built for appellee and for appellee’s lost profits resulting from appellant’s delay in performance. On appeal, appellant raises four points: (1) the trial court erred in permitting appellee to introduce the testimony of an expert witness that appellant had hired to inspect the allegedly defective chicken houses before trial; (2) appellee’s proof of lost-profit damages was legally insufficient; (3) the trial court abused its discretion in denying appellant’s motion for a new trial because the jury’s verdict for the cost-of-repair damages was not supported by the evidence; and (4) the trial court erred in refusing to permit appellant to introduce evidence of settlement negotiations. We affirm on all points.

In September 2005, appellant entered into a transaction set forth in two written contracts to build seven chicken houses for Sharon Wadkins and her husband in Wal-dron, |2Arkansas. One contract provided for the construction of four chicken houses for $390,340. The contract set forth the amounts that appellant could draw upon the completion of various stages of construction, with a final payment of $39,032 due upon completion. The other contract was for the completion of three chicken houses for $292,755 and also provided for draws and a final payment of $29,275 upon completion. Both contracts stated that appellant would not be liable for any consequential damages as a result of any defect in products or workmanship.

In November 2005, Sharon and Rory Wadkins assigned their interest in the contracts to appellee, who purchased the real estate upon which the chicken houses were to be built. Appellee refused to make the final payments because of his belief that appellant had given a defective performance. On August 28, 2006, appellant filed a notice of intent to file a lien on the property. On April 27, 2007, appellant filed suit against appellee to recover the $68,307 due on the contracts. Appellee filed a counterclaim for breach of contract, asserting that appellant had failed to timely complete the project. He alleged that, instead of building the four chicken houses to their completion, so that birds could be received (from Tyson) and income generated while the additional three chicken houses were built, appellant worked on all seven houses at one time and did not complete them for almost ten months, depriving ap-pellee of the income he had expected while the additional three houses were being built. He also alleged that appellant had installed inadequate insulation, thereby reducing the life expectancy of the buildings; that the footings and posts were not built according to the engineer’s drawings; and that the cool-cell areas were not constructed with [^treated wood, as required by the engineer’s drawing. He also asserted that work needed to be done to correct a leaking roof, damaged and rotting ceilings, defective door locks, and a damaged door. Appellee asked for damages for the cost of repairs and for the loss of income.

Appellant engaged an expert as a consultant. In the fall of 2008, its representatives and attorney met with the expert, Clinton Holland of H & H Construction, with appellee at the farm so that Holland could review what appellee perceived to be the defects in the broiler houses. His estimate of the cost to make the repairs requested by appellee was $34,716.15. Later, appellant informed appellee that it had decided not to call Holland as a witness at trial. After appellee issued a subpoena for Holland to appear at trial, Holland called appellee’s attorney and informed him that he did not want to attend and suggested that, instead, he send a copy of his estimate of repairs by facsimile. Holland sent this information but did not otherwise discuss his testimony with appellee’s attorney.

Appellant filed a motion in limine to exclude testimony about appellee’s lost profits on the ground that they were speculative and were consequential damages, for which it had not agreed to be liable. Appellee responded that the lost profits he sought were not consequential damages, but were the natural, proximate result of appellant’s breach of contract. He stated that Sharon Wadkins would testify that she had informed Henry Quinn, appellant’s salesman, that she would only enter into a contract with appellant if it would agree to build four chicken houses first so that she could have birds in place and be drawing income while the other three chicken houses were being completed. He also stated that he and Wadkins would testify about the calculation of lost-profit damages with sufficient 14 specificity to take the claim out of the realm of speculation. Appellant filed a second motion in limine to exclude the testimony of Clinton Holland on the ground that his opinion was privileged under Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(4)(B). In response, appellee asserted that Rule 26 did not apply to this situation because Holland’s identity as an individual with knowledge of the facts was already known to appellee.

On the first day of trial, the parties argued about the motions in limine, as well as the evidence (consisting of two letters from appellee to appellant) that appellant sought to introduce about settlement negotiations. The trial court denied the motions in limine and refused to admit the evidence of settlement negotiations. Henry Quinn; Randy Acker, appellant’s owner; Buddy Bean, whose company sold the lumber used on the chicken houses; Calvin Bain, who served as the second supervisor on the project; Baron Bates, whose company installed the additional insulation to address appellee’s concerns; Johnny Kean, whose employer installed the poultry equipment in the chicken houses; Stanley Forrest (through deposition), whose boss was Johnny Kean; and Dustin Womack, whose business originally installed the insulation, testified on behalf of appellant. Appellee testified and presented the testimony of Larry Schmalz, an engineer; Sharon Wadkins; Clinton Holland; and Trey Gage, a loan officer for Arvest Bank, which had provided funding for the project. Appellant called Trey Gage in rebuttal. At the conclusion of trial, appellant moved for directed verdict on lost-profit damages, which the trial court denied.

The jury returned a verdict for appellant of $0. On another form, the jury returned the following verdict:

15We, the jury find by a preponderance of the evidence in favor of Hanh Billy Tran and award him damages against Acker Construction, LLC in the amount below for the following element of damage.
COST OF REPAIR: $ $34,716.00
LOST PROFITS: $33591.00
Awarded to Tran
Lien released?
M. Tran in turn pays Acker the $68,307 he owes. Lien to be released. NINE OF TWELVE JURORS WHO AGREE TO THE ABOVE:
Mr. Tran to pay the 68307 upon release of the lien.
On October 29, 2010, the circuit court entered the following judgment:
II.

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Bluebook (online)
396 S.W.3d 279, 2012 Ark. App. 214, 2012 WL 834764, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/acker-construction-llc-v-tran-arkctapp-2012.