Gulf Interstate Engineering Co. v. Pecos Pipeline & Producing Co.

680 S.W.2d 879, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6492
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 18, 1984
Docket01-84-00275-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 680 S.W.2d 879 (Gulf Interstate Engineering Co. v. Pecos Pipeline & Producing Co.) 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
Gulf Interstate Engineering Co. v. Pecos Pipeline & Producing Co., 680 S.W.2d 879, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6492 (Tex. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

COHEN, Justice.

This is an accelerated appeal from the district court’s interlocutory order staying arbitration, pursuant to Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Ann. arts. 225, 238-2(A)(2) (Vernon 1973), and denying Gulf’s motion to stay litigation and compel arbitration, pursuant to a contractual arbitration provision. No findings of fact or conclusions of law were filed by the trial judge, despite Gulf’s request, and none are required under Tex.R.Civ.P. 385(b).

Pecos, the owner of a pipeline, contracted with Gulf to operate the pipeline and perform all necessary engineering services. The first contract between the parties was made in December, 1982, and contained no arbitration provision. The second contract, which is the subject of this appeal, was dated February 18, 1983, and contained an arbitration clause which provided that:

Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement, or the breach thereof, shall, if not settled by mutual agreement of the parties, be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Rules of the American Arbitration Association, and judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrators may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Arbitration proceedings hereunder shall be conducted in Houston, Texas.

The contract provided that it should be governed by Texas law, and, on its first page, it stated, “THIS CONTRACT IS SUBJECT TO ARBITRATION UNDER THE TEXAS GENERAL ARBITRATION ACT’, as required by Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Ann. art. 224-1 (Vernon Supp.1984).

A dispute arose in 1983, and Pecos ceased making payments to Gulf. On November 21, 1983, Gulf sent a demand letter stating that if the claim was not paid within thirty (30) days and if a lawsuit and a judgment resulted, Pecos would be liable for attorney’s fees under Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Ann. art. 2226 (Vernon Supp.1984). On December 19, 1983, Pecos sent Gulf a notice of its intent to file an action under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Gulf then requested arbitration. Pecos rejected arbitration and filed suit in February, 1984, alleging claims for breach of contract and deceptive trade practice.

Gulf then moved that the lawsuit be abated and that all proceedings in the district court be stayed until completion of arbitration. Pecos requested the opposite relief, namely, that the district court order all arbitration proceedings stayed until completion of litigation in the district court.

The court granted all relief sought by Pecos and denied all relief sought by Gulf. It stayed arbitration indefinitely.

The parties vigorously dispute whether this controversy is governed by federal or state law. We find, however, that the relevant provisions of both the federal and state law are very similar.

Article 224 of the Texas General Arbitration Act provides:

A written agreement to submit any existing controversy to arbitration or a provision in a written contract to submit to arbitration any controversy thereafter arising between the parties is valid, enforceable and irrevocable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract. A court shall refuse to enforce an agree *881 ment or contract provision to submit a controversy to arbitration if the court finds it was unconscionable at the time the agreement or contract was made.

The Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. section 2 provides: '

A written provision in ... a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle by arbitration a controversy thereafter arising of such contract or transaction, or the refusal to perform the whole or any part thereof, or any agreement in writing to submit to arbitration an existing controversy arising out of such contract, transaction, or refusal, shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.

The Texas court “shall proceed summarily” to determine the validity of the arbitration provision, and if the provision is valid, the court shall order arbitration; otherwise, the court may deny the application to compel arbitration and may instead stay arbitration upon a showing that there is no agreement to arbitrate. Article 225, supra. Courts are granted similar powers under the Federal Arbitration Act to stay litigation and compel arbitration when appropriate. 9 U.S.C. sections 3 and 4.

Under the Texas Act, it is a defense to the specific enforcement of an arbitration provision that it was unconscionable when made or that other grounds exist at law or in equity for the revocation of the contract. Article 224, supra. Under the Federal Act, it is a defense to specific enforcement of an arbitration provision that grounds exist in law or equity to revoke the contract, 9 U.S.C. section 2, and, in addition, an arbitration clause is not enforceable if the inclusion of that clause in the contract was the product of fraud or coercion. Prima Paint Corporation v. Flood & Conklin Mfg. Co., 388 U.S. 395, 403-04, 87 S.Ct. 1801, 1805-06, 18 L.Ed.2d 1270 (1967); Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co., 417 U.S. 506, 519, fn. 14, 94 S.Ct. 2449, 2457, fn. 14, 41 L.Ed.2d 270 (1974).

Pecos claims that the arbitration provision was unenforceable because it was unconscionable, fraudulently induced, and waived. Therefore, Pecos concludes, the district court properly refused to compel arbitration and stayed arbitration pending litigation.

The parties agree that the standard of review in this case is that of “no evidence.” We have reviewed the record to determine if Pecos’ claims are supported by any evidence. When reviewing legal sufficiency of the evidence, we are guided by established principles. A “no evidence” point presents a question of law requiring the appellate court to consider only the evidence and inferences tending to support the finding under attack and to disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 823 (Tex.1965). When, as in the instant case, there are no findings of fact and conclusions of law, we must affirm the judgment if there is sufficient evidence to support it upon any legal theory asserted by the prevailing party, and we must resolve every issue raised by the evidence in support of the judgment. Lassiter v. Bliss, 559 S.W.2d 353, 358 (Tex.1977); Beef Cattle Co. v. Scott, 613 S.W.2d 318 (Tex.Civ.App.—Amarillo 1981, no writ); Levinson v. Slater, 565 S.W.2d 337 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1978, no writ).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hardin Construction Group, Inc. v. Strictly Painting, Inc.
945 S.W.2d 308 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Haynsworth v. Lloyd's of London
933 F. Supp. 1315 (S.D. Texas, 1996)
Holk v. Biard
920 S.W.2d 803 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
EZ Pawn Corp. v. Gonzalez
921 S.W.2d 320 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Emerald Texas, Inc. v. Peel
920 S.W.2d 398 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Pepe International Development Co. v. Pub Brewing Co.
915 S.W.2d 925 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Shearson Lehman Bros., Inc. v. Kilgore
871 S.W.2d 925 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Hearthshire Braeswood Plaza Ltd. Partners v. Bill Kelly Co.
849 S.W.2d 380 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Hughes
809 S.W.2d 679 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Wetzel v. Sullivan, King & Sabom, P.C.
745 S.W.2d 78 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1988)
Alamo Savings Ass'n of Texas v. Forward Construction Corp.
746 S.W.2d 897 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1988)
Bell v. Bell
718 S.W.2d 863 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Philipp Bros., Inc. v. Oil Country Specialists, Ltd.
709 S.W.2d 262 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
680 S.W.2d 879, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 6492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gulf-interstate-engineering-co-v-pecos-pipeline-producing-co-texapp-1984.