Bert Wheeler's, Inc. v. Ruffino

666 S.W.2d 510, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5394
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 23, 1983
Docket01-83-0532-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 666 S.W.2d 510 (Bert Wheeler's, Inc. v. Ruffino) 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
Bert Wheeler's, Inc. v. Ruffino, 666 S.W.2d 510, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5394 (Tex. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinions

OPINION

WARREN, Justice.

Relator seeks a writ of mandamus to compel the Honorable Carolyn Ruffino, Judge of the County Court of Law of Brazos County, to reinstate Karl Hoppess as his attorney in a condemnation suit.

Texas Municipal Power Agency (T.M.P. A.), the real party in interest, is a municipal corporation and a political subdivision of the State of Texas, possessing the right of eminent domain. Bert Wheeler, Inc., is the owner of a tract of property in Brazos County, which T.M.P.A. seeks to condemn for a power line easement.

In January, 1979, T.M.P.A. attempted to purchase a 5.580 acre power line easement across a large tract of land owned by relator. The negotiations continued until October, 1979, when T.M.P.A. filed a petition in condemnation in the County Court of Law of Brazos County. During the period before the petition was filed, various lawyers and representatives of T.M.P.A. negotiated with various representatives of relator and four different lawyers representing him, on several matters, including the necessity of taking, the location of the line, the height of the wire, the location of the guy wires, and the price to be paid for the easement.

On August 30, 1979, Dave Morris, a contract landman for T.M.P.A., offered John Lawrence, a lawyer for relator, $111,600 for the easement. Relator did not immediately accept the offer.

On September 13, Karl Hoppess was hired by relator to continue the negotiations. At a September 20 meeting between Mr. Hoppess and several representatives of T.M.P.A., the specifications of the easements were discussed and apparently a general agreement was reached. However the consideration to be paid for the easement was not discussed. Immediately after the meeting, an attorney for T.M.P.A., who was not present at the meeting, informed Mr. Hoppess that the $111,600 offer had been withdrawn and that T.M.P.A. was willing to pay only $81,000 for the easement.

On September 27, Mr. Hoppess wrote a representative of T.M.P.A. and informed him that relator would accept the $111,600 offer. The representative replied to Mr. Hoppess by letter that the original offer was not available, and again made an offer of $81,000.00.

On October 24, 1979, T.M.P.A. filed a petition for condemnation, and in July, 1982, filed a motion for partial summary judgment, seeking the court’s judgment that all issues in the case, except damages, were proved as a matter of law.

[512]*512Attached to the its response to T.M.P. A.’s motion for partial summary judgment was a sworn affidavit of relator’s attorney, Karl Hoppess, reciting the history of his negotiations with T.M.P.A. The testimony attempted to .refute T.M.P.A.’s claim of good faith negotiations and intimated an abuse of discretion by T.M.P.A. In answer to T.M.P.A.’s interrogatories, Mr. Hoppess was listed by T.M.P.A. as a witness who would appear at trial on behalf of relator.

On April 15, 1983, the court granted a partial summary judgment decreeing that all issues in the case were resolved as a matter of law except the following:

(1) whether or not Plaintiff (appellee) negotiated in good faith;
(2) whether or not Plaintiff (appellee) abused its discretion in determining the interest in land to be condemned; and,
(3) the amount of damages.

On April 22, T.M.P.A. filed a motion to disqualify Mr. Hoppess as the attorney for relator, alleging that by remaining as relator’s attorney he would be in violation of the State Bar of Texas Disciplinary Rule DR5-102, since Hoppess was to be a witness in the case.

After a hearing, at which Mr. Hoppess stipulated that he intended to appear as a witness at the trial, the court granted relator’s motion to disqualify.

Thereafter, Mr. Hoppess filed a motion to reinstate himself as the attorney. At the hearing on that motion, Mr. Hoppess informed the court that his client did not want him to testify, and that if he were reinstated he would neither testify nor offer to the court or to the jury any evidence relating to his personal knowledge. He also withdrew his previous stipulation concerning his appearance as a witness. At that hearing, Mr. Vance, the attorney for T.M.P.A., told the court that he still opposed the motion to reinstate, because Mr. Hoppess was still a material witness as to whether T.M.P.A. negotiated with relator in good faith. He further informed the court that since Mr. Hoppess’s sworn summary judgment affidavit showed that T.M. P.A.’s offer of $111,600 was withdrawn before relator ever authorized him to accept it, T.M.P.A. would be placed in a position in which it might have to call him to testify on the good faith issue and potentially to give testimony prejudicial to his (Hoppess’) own client. The court refused to reinstate Mr. Hoppess.

Our first question is whether we have the power to issue a writ of mandamus to order the trial judge to reinstate Mr. Hop-pess.

Since June 19, 1983, our jurisdiction over causes subject to mandamus has been enlarged such that it is virtually the same as that, of the Supreme Court of Texas. Tex. Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 1824, § 3 (Vernon Supp. 1983). Therefore, former cases pertaining to the mandamus jurisdiction of the Supreme Court would now be applicable to our jurisdiction.

A writ of mandamus may issue in a proper case to correct a clear abuse of discretion, particularly when the remedy by way of appeal is inadequate. West v. Solito, 563 S.W.2d 240 (Tex.1978); Crane v. Tunks, 160 Tex. 182, 328 S.W.2d 434 (1959).

Relator contends that a judge’s refusal to reinstate a lawyer so as to act as the attorney of record constitutes a clear abuse of discretion when a disciplinary rule of the State Bar of Texas is not being transgressed. We agree with this contention, but we cannot agree that it is applicable to the situation with which we are confronted.

The order disqualifying Hoppess apparently was based on alleged violations of Disciplinary Rule 5-101 and 5-102 and Ethical Considerations 5-9 and 5-10, Tex. State Bar Rules (Vernon 1973).

Disciplinary Rule 5-102 provides that a lawyer shall not, unless one of four exceptions applies, “accept employment in contemplated or pending litigation if he knows or it is obvious that he or a lawyer in his firm ought to be called as a witness on behalf of his client, he must withdraw from the employment.”

[513]*513The four exceptions to Disciplinary Rule 5-101(B), which permit the lawyer to accept or continue employment include:

1. If the testimony will relate solely to an uncontested matter.
2. If the testimony will relate solely to a matter of formality and there is no reason to believe that substantial evidence will be offered in opposition to the testimony.
3. If the testimony will relate solely to the nature and value of legal services rendered in the case by the lawyer or his firm to the client.
4. As to any matter if refusal would work a substantial hardship on the client because of the distinctive value of the lawyer or his firm as counsel in the particular case.

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Bert Wheeler's, Inc. v. Ruffino
666 S.W.2d 510 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
666 S.W.2d 510, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 5394, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bert-wheelers-inc-v-ruffino-texapp-1983.