Grinnell v. Munson

137 S.W.3d 706, 159 Oil & Gas Rep. 1139, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 3681, 2004 WL 892106
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 28, 2004
Docket04-02-00807-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by57 cases

This text of 137 S.W.3d 706 (Grinnell v. Munson) 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
Grinnell v. Munson, 137 S.W.3d 706, 159 Oil & Gas Rep. 1139, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 3681, 2004 WL 892106 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by PHYLIS J. SPEEDLIN, Justice.

Steven C. Grinnell (“Grinnell”) appeals the summary judgments granted in favor of David M. Munson (“Munson”), Nueces Minerals Co. (“Nueces Minerals”), and Tri-County Royalty Trust (“Tri-County”). Grinnell also appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion for summary judgment. Grinnell challenges the trial court’s order in three broad issues addressing: (1) the denial of his motion; (2) the granting of the motion filed by Munson and Nueces Minerals; and (3) the granting of the motion filed by Tri-County. We affirm the trial court’s orders.

Background

In 1998, Grinnell purchased the surface estate to 15,398.22 acres of land commonly known as the Herradura Ranch (the “Ranch”). Five oil and gas leases were in place at the time of Grinnell’s purchase, referred to as the “A,” “B,” “D,” “E,” and “F” Leases. In addition to obtaining the surface estate, Grinnell acquired 3,368 units of interest in Tri-County, which was approximately 1% of the total units of interest; however, Grinnell’s acquisition of these units of interest was not documented until a certificate was issued to him on April 4, 2001.

Nueces Minerals owns 100% of the Ranch’s executive mineral rights, giving Nueces Minerals the exclusive right to lease the minerals under the Ranch. TriCounty owns 90% of the non-executive royalty interests, and Nueces Minerals owns the remaining 10%.

*711 In May of 2000, GGG Oil Co. (“GGG”), the lessee under the oil and gas leases, sued Grinnell, claiming that he damaged the aircraft runway that the leases entitled GGG to maintain on the Ranch. Grinnell answered and filed a counterclaim alleging numerous causes of action against GGG and seeking a declaratory judgment that the oil and gas leases had terminated due to the lack of production in paying quantities. Grinnell subsequently amended his pleadings to include claims for an accounting and for breach of fiduciary duty against Nueces Minerals, Munson (the president of Nueces Minerals), and TriCounty.

Grinnell moved for summary judgment on the ground that the leases had terminated. Nueces Minerals and Munson also filed a no-evidence motion for summary judgment, asserting that there is no evidence that they owed Grinnell a fiduciary duty or an accounting. Tri-County later filed a separate motion for summary judgment, contending it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Grinnell had been provided an accounting and there was no evidence of any breach of the trust agreement that would give rise to any cause of action. The trial court denied Grinnell’s motion and granted the motions filed by Nueces Minerals, Munson, and Tri-County. The rulings on the motions were severed into a separate cause of action, and Grinnell filed this appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When both sides move for summary judgment and the trial court grants one motion and denies the other, the reviewing court should review both sides’ summary judgment evidence and determine all questions presented. FM Properties Operating Co. v. City of Austin, 22 S.W.3d 868, 872 (Tex.2000) When a trial court’s order granting summary judgment does not specify the grounds relied upon, the reviewing court must affirm the summary judgment if any of the summary judgment grounds are meritorious. Id. at 872-73.

Under traditional summary judgment standards, a party moving for summary judgment has the burden of establishing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Casso v. Brand, 776 S.W.2d 551, 556 (Tex.1989); Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985). In reviewing a summary judgment, an appellate court accepts as true all evidence supporting the non-movant. Nixon, 690 S.W.2d at 549. All inferences are indulged in favor of the non-movant, and all doubts are resolved in his favor. Id.

We apply the same legal sufficiency standard in reviewing a no-evidence summary judgment as we apply in reviewing a directed verdict. Moore v. K Mart Corp., 981 S.W.2d 266, 269 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1998, pet. denied). We look at the evidence in the light most favorable to the respondent against whom the summary judgment was rendered, disregarding all contrary evidence and inferences. Id. A no-evidence summary judgment is improperly granted if the respondent brings forth more than a scintilla of probative evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact. Id. Less than a scintilla of evidence exists when the evidence is so weak as to do no more than create a mere surmise or suspicion of a fact. Id. More than a scintilla of evidence exists when the evidence rises to a level that would enable reasonable and fair-minded people to differ in their conclusions. Id.

Grinnell’s Motion

In response to Grinnell’s motion for summary judgment seeking a declaration that the oil and gas leases had terminated, Nueces Minerals and Munson asserted that Grinnell lacked standing to seek de *712 claratory relief regarding the leases, the leases were ratified, three of the leases were subject to a Unit Agreement, and that genuine issues of material fact existed with regard to whether the leases were producing in paying quantities.

A. Standing

The first basis on which the trial court may have granted summary judgment was the contention that Grinnell lacked standing to seek a declaration that the leases had terminated. 1

The general rule is that only the parties to a contract have the right to complain of a breach thereof; and if they are satisfied with the disposition that has been made of it and all claims under it, a third person has no right to insist that it has been broken. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. v. Lenape Resources Corp., 870 S.W.2d 286, 295 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1993), aff'd in part and rev’d in part on other grounds, 925 S.W.2d 565 (Tex.1996); Bruner v. Exxon Co., U.S.A., 752 S.W.2d 679, 682 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1988, writ denied). An exception to this rule is that one who is not in privity to the written agreement may show that he is eligible to bring an action on the contract as a third-party beneficiary. Lenape, 870 S.W.2d at 295; Bruner, 752 S.W.2d at 682. The fact that a person might receive an incidental benefit from a contract to which he is not a party does not give that person a right of action with regard to the contract. MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. Texas Utilities Elec. Co., 995 S.W.2d 647, 651 (Tex. 1999).

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Bluebook (online)
137 S.W.3d 706, 159 Oil & Gas Rep. 1139, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 3681, 2004 WL 892106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grinnell-v-munson-texapp-2004.