Gibson v. Ellis

126 S.W.3d 324, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 991, 2004 WL 193486
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 3, 2004
Docket05-02-01640-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by59 cases

This text of 126 S.W.3d 324 (Gibson v. Ellis) 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
Gibson v. Ellis, 126 S.W.3d 324, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 991, 2004 WL 193486 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice MORRIS.

This is an appeal from a legal malpractice case. The trial court granted a take-nothing judgment on appellant John Gibson’s affirmative claims against appellee Al Ellis and awarded Ellis $41,000 in attorney’s fees on his counterclaim. Gibson delineates eleven issues in his appeal. He contends the trial court erred in the following ways: by failing to grant judgment as a matter of law on several of his causes of action, by granting a take-nothing summary judgment on his claims for negligence and violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, by denying his motions for continuance, by excluding certain evidence at trial, and by finding that his lawsuit was groundless. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

I.

The parties’ dispute arises from a personal injury lawsuit Ellis handled for Gibson and his wife Cathy. Ellis took over the Gibsons’ case after their first attorney died. Ellis agreed to work under the former attorney’s contingency fee agreement with the Gibsons. Cathy’s claim settled in November 2002 for $100,000. On January 19, 2003, Gibson’s personal injury claim settled for $100,000 also. From Gibson’s settlement, Ellis deducted $33,333.33 for attorney’s fees and subtracted $13,190 in doctors’ bills incurred for Cathy’s treatment and examination. Gibson filed this lawsuit against Ellis on July 30,1997, complaining about the deductions from his settlement proceeds and Ellis’s explanations for them. Gibson asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligence, breach of contract, and violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Ellis filed a counterclaim seeking attorney’s fees under rule 13 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and section 17.50(c) of the DTPA.

Shortly before the scheduled trial date, the trial court granted a take-nothing summary judgment on Gibson’s DTPA and negligence claims concluding they were barred by limitations. 1 Gibson’s breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claims were tried before a jury, which rendered a verdict against him. 2 Ellis’s counterclaim was tried before the court without a jury. The trial court awarded Ellis $41,000 in attorney’s fees. Gibson timely perfected his appeal. 3

*329 II.

In his first four issues, Gibson contends he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on several of the causes of action he asserted against Ellis. After the trial court signed its judgment, Gibson moved for judgment notwithstanding the jury’s verdict and also for a new trial. Ellis contends Gibson has waived his first four issues by faffing to obtain a written ruling on his motion for judgment before his motion for new trial was overruled by operation of law. Gibson argues the trial court implicitly overruled his motion while it retained plenary jurisdiction and, therefore, his first four issues are preserved for our review. See Tex.R.App. P. 33.1(a)(2)(A). Because of the lack of clarity in the trial court record, we will assume the trial court timely denied Gibson’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and address the substance of Gibson’s first four issues. For Gibson to prevail on these issues, however, the evidence must conclusively prove facts that establish his right as a matter of law to a judgment on the specified causes of action. See Cain v. Pruett, 938 S.W.2d 152, 160 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1996, no pet.). In effect, we apply the same standard of review in evaluating the trial court’s denial of Gibson’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict as we would if Gibson had moved for a directed verdict on the causes of action for which he had the burden of proof. See id.

In his first issue, Gibson complains his contingency fee agreement with Ellis was voidable as a matter of law because it was not in writing as required by section 82.065 of the government code and rule 1.04(d) of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 82.065 (Vernon 1998); Tex. DISCIPLINARY r. PROf’l conduct 1.04(d), reprinted in Tex. Gov’t Code Ann., tit. 2, subtit. G app. A (Vernon 1998) (Tex. State BaR R. art X. § 9). Despite Gibson’s statements to the contrary, however, the record establishes that Gibson never had a contingency fee agreement with Ellis. The only contingency fee agreement in the record was between Gibson and his former attorney. The contingency fee agreement with the former attorney authorized the deduction of $33,333.33 in attorney’s fees from the settlement. Ellis provided uncontradicted testimony that pursuant to Gibson’s agreement with his former attorney, Ellis forwarded the entire $33,333.33 in attorney’s fees deducted from Gibson’s settlement to the former attorney’s estate. The estate then paid Ellis $7,500 for his services on the case. There is nothing in the record to suggest Ellis had a contingency fee agreement with Gibson. Section 82.065 simply is not applicable to the facts here. And Gibson’s claim that Ellis violated rule 1.04(d) of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct is not well taken for the same reason. We also reject Gibson’s argument under this issue that Ellis charged Gibson an excessive fee contrary to rule 1.04(a) of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 82.065 (Vernon 1998); Tex. Disciplinaey R. prof’l conduct 1.04(a), reprinted in Tex. Gov’t Code Ann., tit. 2, subtit. G app. A (Vernon 1998) (Tex. State Bar R. art X. § 9). The record is devoid of any evidence that the attorney’s fees Gibson paid were excessive. Contrary to Gibson’s argument, the undisputed fact that Ellis was willing to accept $7,500 for his work does not prove as a matter of law that either Ellis’s $7,500 fee or the total contractual contingency fee was excessive.

Gibson also asserts the former attorney’s contingency fee agreement violated rules 1.04(c) and 1.04(d) of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct because it did not indicate whether attor- *330 Bey’s fees were to be taken before or after expenses were deducted. Because Gibson did not include this argument in his motion or otherwise present it to the trial court, he has not preserved it for review. See Tex.R.App. P. 33.1. We resolve appellant’s first issue against him.

In issues two, three, and four, Gibson contends he established his breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and DTPA claims as matter of law. To support his position, he relies on his testimony that Ellis misinformed him that Gibson was obligated to pay the $13,190 in doctors’ bills. Gibson indicated Ellis told him the bills were subject to letters of protection and were community debts. We first address Gibson’s breach of fiduciary duty claim.

An attorney has a fiduciary duty to his client. See Willis v. Maverick, 760 S.W.2d 642, 645 (Tex.1988). The essence of a claim for breach of that duty involves the “integrity and fidelity” of an attorney and focuses on whether an attorney obtained an improper benefit from representing the client.

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Bluebook (online)
126 S.W.3d 324, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 991, 2004 WL 193486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibson-v-ellis-texapp-2004.