Bayliss v. Cernock

773 S.W.2d 384, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1421, 1989 WL 54669
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 25, 1989
DocketB14-87-00800-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 773 S.W.2d 384 (Bayliss v. Cernock) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bayliss v. Cernock, 773 S.W.2d 384, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1421, 1989 WL 54669 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

. OPINION

ROBERTSON, Justice.

In this stockholders’ derivative action Geoffrey Bayliss, Donald Van Delinder, and Geochem Laboratories, Inc. alleged that Paul Cernock breached his fiduciary duty to Reservoirs, Inc. by issuing 3000 undervalued shares of its stock to himself and two directors of Reservoirs, Inc. The jury found Cernock breached his duty by issuing the undervalued stock and the trial court rendered judgment for the amount the stock was undervalued. In eighteen points of error Bayliss claims the trial court erred in (1) disregarding the answer to special issue number five concerning appellants’ attorney’s fees; (2) granting indemnification of attorney’s fees and expenses to Cernock and two directors of Reservoirs; (3) failing to award judgment based on the fair value of the stock; (4) failing to award prejudgment interest at a rate of ten percent per annum; and (5) failing to tax costs against Cernock. We modify the judgment of the trial court and, as modified, affirm.

In 1970, Geoffrey Bayliss and Donald Van Delinder formed Geochem Laboratories, Inc. Geochem was formed as a geochemical service company in oil and gas exploration. In 1977 Bayliss and Van Del-inder formed Reservoirs, Inc. along with several other small corporations to expand their oil and gas exploration services. Paul Cernock, who was an employee of Geo-chem, was named president of Reservoirs, Inc. Reservoirs initially issued 3000 shares of stock. Cernock, Bayliss, and Mrs. Cer-nock were directors of Reservoirs. Cer-nock owned 56% of Reservoirs’ stock, 5% of which was reserved for the key man. The remaining shares were distributed 8% each to Bayliss and Van Delinder, 8% to Steven Brown, and 20% to Geochem.

In August 1980, at a Reservoirs shareholder’s meeting, Bayliss and the other *386 stockholders learned that Cernock had issued another 3000 shares of Reservoir's’ stock without notice to the stockholders. The shares were sold at $7.35 per share and were distributed 2520 to Cernock, 300 to John Neasham, and 180 to John Thomas. By issuing the additional 3000 shares, Cer-nock increased his ownership of Reservoirs from 56% to 70% and diluted the remaining stockholders' ownership by one-half. John Neasham was appointed a director of Reservoirs at the August meeting. At that time, Bayliss was no longer a director of Reservoirs.

In June 1981, Bayliss, Van Delinder, and Geochem filed a shareholders’ derivative suit against Cernock, Neasham, and Thomas alleging that, without notice to the stockholders, Cernock, Neasham, and Thomas issued 3000 new shares of Reservoirs’ stock at a price below the fair value of the shares. In doing so, appellants alleged that Cernock, Neasham, and Thomas breached their fiduciary duties as directors of Reservoirs.

Before trial, appellants dismissed Neas-ham and Thomas from the lawsuit by deleting their names from an amended petition. Appellants proceeded to trial against Cer-nock. In answer to special issues, the jury found (1) the valuation of $7.35 per share for the shares of stock was not fair to Reservoirs; (2) the fair value of a share of stock in Reservoirs was $33.40; and (3) Cemock’s breach of fiduciary duty to Reservoirs was willful. The jury further found that a reasonable amount of attorney’s fees for appellants was $70,000 for trial, $12,000 in the event of an appeal to the court of appeals, and $4,400 in the event writ of error is granted to the supreme court. The trial judge disregarded the jury’s answer to special issue five with regard to appellant’s attorney’s fees, and rendered judgment for $65,646 (representing the difference between what Cernock paid for the 2520 shares and what the jury found was the fair value of the shares) and further in the sum of $30,111.50 (representing the amount Reservoirs advanced Cer-nock for attorney’s fees in defending the suit).

In their first point of error, appellants claim the trial court erred in sua sponte, disregarding special issue five without a motion to disregard from a party. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 301 requires the trial court to conform its judgment “to the pleadings, the nature of the case proved and the verdict,” and “give the party all the relief to which he may be entitled either in law or equity.” The rule further provides that, upon motion and reasonable notice, the court may disregard any jury finding on a question that has no support in the evidence. A trial court may also disregard a jury finding on its own motion if the special issue is immaterial. Arch Construction, Inc. v. Tyburec, 730 S.W.2d 47, 51 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1987, writ ref’d n.r.e.). An issue is immaterial when the finding is inapplicable to the case. Ridout v. Mobile Housing, Inc., 497 S.W.2d 66, 67 (Tex.Civ.App.—Austin 1973, writ ref’d n.r.e.). To determine whether special issue five is immaterial and should have been disregarded, we must first discuss appellants’ second point of error.

In their second point of error, appellants claim the trial court erred in disregarding the jury’s response to special issue five because they were entitled to recover attorney’s fees under the common fund, or common benefit doctrine. Appellants brought a derivative shareholders' action under article 5.14 of the Texas Business Corporation Act Annotated (Vernon 1980). Article 5.14 does not provide for recovery of attorney’s fees, but the comment to the section provides that a winning plaintiff is entitled to recover attorney’s fees under common law and equitable principles. The equitable principle on which appellants rely is the common fund doctrine.

Under the common fund doctrine, if a few succeed in securing a benefit for a group, the entire group shares the cost of procuring the benefit. Knebel v. Capital Nat’l Bank in Austin, 518 S.W.2d 795, 799 (Tex.1974). With regard to shareholder derivative suits, the corporation is treated as a representative of the group benefited and the corporation may be required to pay the reasonable costs and attorney’s fees incurred by appellants during the litigation. *387 The Texas Supreme Court has adopted the common fund doctrine, but expressly held that the winning plaintiffs recovery of attorney’s fees depends on a finding that a substantial benefit has been conferred on the corporation. Id. at 800.

In this case appellants failed to submit a special issue to the jury requesting a finding on whether a substantial benefit was conferred on the corporation. Because the recovery of attorney’s fees under the common fund doctrine is an independent ground of recovery, appellants were obligated to request such an issue. By failing to request an issue on whether the corporation sustained a substantial benefit, appellants have waived their right to recover attorney’s fees under the common fund doctrine. Osoba v. Bassichis, 679 S.W.2d 119, 122 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1984, writ ref'd n.r.e.); TEX.R.CIV.P. 279. Appellants’ second point of error is overruled. Because special issue five provided no basis for judgment, the issue was immaterial.

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Bluebook (online)
773 S.W.2d 384, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1421, 1989 WL 54669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bayliss-v-cernock-texapp-1989.