Collins v. Godchaux

86 So. 3d 831, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 996, 2012 WL 832778, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 339
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 14, 2012
DocketNo. 11-996
StatusPublished

This text of 86 So. 3d 831 (Collins v. Godchaux) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Collins v. Godchaux, 86 So. 3d 831, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 996, 2012 WL 832778, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 339 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

COOKS, Judge.

Lin this litigation between an independent petroleum landman and landowners of a mineral field, the trial court granted the landowners’ motion for summary judgment alleging the landman engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in carrying out the duties set .forth in a series of mineral consulting agreements between the parties. The landowners’ reconven-tional demand seeking return of all monies paid in the past under the mineral consulting agreements to the landman was dismissed on the grounds that the landowners had “unclean hands” in crafting the mineral consulting agreements. Lastly, the trial court granted the landowners’ motion in limine seeking to exclude any evidence pertaining to damages suffered due to breach of the contract between the parties. Both parties have appealed the trial court’s judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Dan Collins has worked as a professional landman for over thirty years. He is a Certified Professional Landman as determined by the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL). In 1994, Collins entered into a Mineral Consulting Agreement (hereafter MCA) with Frank and Charles Godchaux to manage their mineral interests in the Live Oak Field located in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. There were a series of MCAs which extended over an approximate ten-year period maintaining the parties’ relationship. The MCAs all set forth that Collins would receive no remuneration unless his efforts resulted in some profit for the Godchauxs. Collins worked on a contingency fee basis, and if he were successful in securing a profit for the Godchauxs, Collins would receive a fee consisting of a royalty interest and a percentage of any cash payments they received.

Prior to signing the initial MCA, it was reviewed by the Godchauxs’ attorney, Silas Coper. It should be noted that Mr. Cooper was counsel of record on |2both Louisiana Supreme Court eases which have examined the issue of landmen and [833]*833the unauthorized practice of law, Placid Oil Co. v. Taylor, 306 So.2d 664 (La.1975) and Crawford v. Deshotels, 359 So.2d 118 (La.1978). It cannot be reasonably suggested here that Mr. Cooper was not familiar with the issues involved with land-men and the unauthorized practice of law and whether the MCA he reviewed contractually obligated the parties to perform prohibited activities.

In 2004, after Collins had worked the Live Oak Field for ten years under the MCAs, the Godchauxs entered into a settlement with the lessees of the Live Oak Field, which resulted in five new mineral leases and the amendment of a lease that had been executed by the Godchauxs in 1952. As a result of the new leases and amendment, the Godchauxs received significantly more favorable terms than they previously had, including significant increases in royalties payable on certain production.

Under the MCA, Collins contended he was entitled to a 2% overriding royalty interest in all of the new leases and amendment. The Godchauxs disagreed, believing Collins was only entitled to a 1% override on the new leases and nothing on the amendment to the 1952 lease. Based on their belief, the Godchauxs caused assignments of a 1% overriding royalty interest to be drafted on the five new leases that resulted from the 2004 settlement. The Godchauxs did not prepare any assignment for the amendment to the 1952 lease, asserting the 1994 MCA specifically excluded the 1952 lease from its terms and conditions. Thereafter, the Godchauxs executed each assignment and filed them for registry in the official records.

On February 21, 2006, Collins filed suit seeking to compel the Godchauxs to pay him the 2% overriding royalty interest he claimed he was due as a result of the 2004 settlement. Collins also claimed he was entitled to a 2% overriding royalty interest in the amendment to the 1952 lease. Originally, the Godchauxs answered |sthe suit claiming the contract with Collins should be reformed to eliminate their obligation to pay the royalties owed because they signed it in error.

In March, 2008, the Godchauxs reconvened against Collins seeking to have the MCAs declared null and void on the grounds that they authorized Collins, a non-lawyer, to engage in the unauthorized practice of law; and that, in performing his work under the MCAs, Collins did engage in the unauthorized practice of law. Based upon its belief that the MCAs were null and void, which under La.Civ.Code art. 2033 means they are “deemed never to have existed,” the Godchauxs sought to be restored to the situation that existed before the contracts were made, which would require Collins to return all royalty assignments and monies previously received by him.

On February 14, 2011, the Godchauxs filed a motion for partial summary judgment in support of their reconventional demand against Collins, based on its assertion that Collins’ work under the MCAs was null and void because it constituted an “unlawful attempt to engage a non-lawyer in the unauthorized practice of law.”

On March 9, 2011, Collins filed a cross-motion for summary judgment seeking the recovery of overriding royalties under the MCAs and dismissal of the Godchauxs’ reconventional demand for return of the previously made payments on the grounds the contract did not call for the unlawful practice of law.

The Godchauxs, in the event the issue of Collins’ damages regarding the Godchauxs’ alleged breach of the MCAs proceeds to trial, filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude testimony Collins intended to in[834]*834troduce from principals of an oil company that it would have purchased Collins’ royalty interest for approximately $5 million. They asserted this testimony was mere speculation and there was never a bona fide offer to purchase Collins’ royalty interest.

|4The trial court granted in part the Godchauxs’ partial summary judgment, dismissing Collins’ claim for recovery of royalties on the grounds that the agreement was void because Collins was “in fact, engaged in the unlawful practice of law.” However, the trial court also held that Collins did not have to return prior monies paid because the Godchauxs had “unclean hands” because they crafted the MCAs and participated with Collins in the unlawful conduct. Based on its finding that Collins engaged in the unlawful practice of law, the trial court denied Collins’ cross-motion for summary judgment. The trial court also granted the Godchauxs’ motion in limine, holding that, if this Court reverses the grant of summary judgment that Collins engaged in the unauthorized practice of law and remands the matter for trial on the issue of damages, Collins will not be allowed to present any testimony as to the possible sale of the disputed royalty interest to a third party.

Both Collins and the Godchauxs timely filed petitions for devolutive appeal, which the trial court granted.

ANALYSIS

An appellate court reviews a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standards as would a trial court. Schroeder v. Bd. of Sup’rs. of La. State Univ., 591 So.2d 342 (La.1991). Summary judgment is governed by La.Code Civ.P. arts. 966 and 967.

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Bluebook (online)
86 So. 3d 831, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 996, 2012 WL 832778, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 339, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collins-v-godchaux-lactapp-2012.