Hauglum v. Durst

769 S.W.2d 646, 110 Oil & Gas Rep. 314, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 724, 1989 WL 28882
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 30, 1989
Docket13-88-065-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 769 S.W.2d 646 (Hauglum v. Durst) 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
Hauglum v. Durst, 769 S.W.2d 646, 110 Oil & Gas Rep. 314, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 724, 1989 WL 28882 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

UTTER, Justice.

Appellants Tony Hauglum, doing business as South Texas Oil & Gas Consulting, and Patricia Hauglum brought suit against appellees Lee A. Durst, Jr., Barbara A. Durst, and their respective companies, Durst Oil Company and Durst Exploration Company, for the breach of a fiduciary duty arising from a written contract. Appellants sought an award of damages and the placement of a constructive trust against various property interests allegedly being wrongfully withheld from them. Ap-pellees Lee A. Durst and Durst Oil Company counterclaimed, alleging assault and false imprisonment, breach of contract, and interference with contractual rights. These appellees further sought to remove cloud on title and requested actual and exemplary damages on the various claims. Appellees Barbara Durst and Durst Exploration Company counterclaimed to quiet title and sought actual and exemplary damages for “cloud on title.”

After appellants rested their case, the trial court granted appellees Barbara Durst’s and Durst Exploration Company’s motion for instructed verdict against appellants. The remaining causes were submitted to the jury. Based on jury findings that appellees Lee Durst and Durst Oil Company did not breach any “confidential duty” owed to appellant Tony Hauglum by acquiring interests in various prospective wells, the trial court ordered that appellants take nothing by their causes against appellees Lee Durst and Durst Oil Company. Appellee Lee Durst recovered the following from appellant Tony Hauglum on his counterclaims: $5,000.00 in damages for cloud on title, $3,000.00 in compensatory damages for breach of contract, and $53,035.48 in attorney’s fees arising out of and caused by appellant Tony Hauglum’s breach of contract. Appellees Barbara A. Durst and Durst Exploration Company recovered $35,400.00 in áctual and exemplary damages from appellant Tony Hauglum on their counterclaim for cloud on title. We affirm in part and reverse and render in part.

The record reflects the following facts. On January 23, 1982, Hauglum signed a letter agreement in which he agreed to render geological and geophysical services to Lee Durst. Basically, under the letter agreement, Hauglum evaluated and recommended oil and gas prospects designated by Lee Durst and in exchange, received a monthly retainer of $250.00. Hauglum also received additional money and interests in those oil and gas prospects which were sold to another operator or promoted to a group of investors by Durst. The agreement allowed Hauglum and Lee Durst to agree and define an “area of mutual interest” in the immediate vicinity of evaluated land recommended as an oil and gas prospect. If Hauglum and Lee Durst so defined and agreed to an “area of mutual interest,” the agreement provided that Hauglum would receive an interest in any oil and gas leases acquired by Lee Durst within the “area of mutual interest.” However, no “area of mutual interest” was ever defined or agreed to.

After the above agreement went into effect, Hauglum became unhappy with the *649 amount of his compensation. Hauglum orally requested to amend their agreement and later submitted an amended letter agreement dated August 18, 1982. Durst refused to change the original agreement. Later, Hauglum picked up Durst, drove out to a deserted country road, and threatened to sue Durst, his sister, his father, his investors and everyone with whom he worked with. Durst further stated that Hauglum said that he (Hauglum) was mad enough to smash Durst’s face in, but did not do so. He then drove Durst back to town but told him he had better have an amended agreement on his desk by noon the next day. A few days later, Durst wrote Hauglum a letter terminating any relationship they had together.

Hauglum subsequently brought suit against Lee Durst, Barbara Durst and their respective companies. Hauglum sought to receive an interest in various wells in the Bryan-Woodbine field based on the fact that Lee Durst had received an interest in oil and gas prospects in that field from his sister, Barbara Durst. Hauglum alleged that appellees failure to convey an interest to him as required by the letter agreement constituted an abuse of fiduciary duty based on the working relationship between Durst and Hauglum, and that Barbara Durst had, by her actions, assumed this agreement.

By their seventeenth and eighteenth points of error, appellants contend the trial court erred in failing to award judgment to Hauglum for his 1.125% interest in the Perkins Yeager, Smyth No. 1, Cheapside No. 1, Bowie, Cotton Compress, Oak Grove, Lopez, Polly Ranch No. 2, Phillips No. 1, Austin High School, Harper Westside, and Becker-Duncan Wells. Appellants argue that the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence shows that appellants were entitled to said award as a matter of law.

A point in a motion for new trial is a prerequisite to a complaint on appeal that the jury finding is against the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence. Friedman v. Houston Sports Assoc., 731 S.W.2d 572, 575 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1987, writ ref d n.r.e.); Tex.R.Civ.P. 324(b)(3). Appellants failed to properly raise the above points in the trial court and may not do so for the first time on appeal. Moreover, we have carefully reviewed the record and hold that the judgment was not contrary to the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence. We overrule appellants’ seventeenth and eighteenth points of error.

By their nineteenth point of error, appellants complain that the trial court erred in granting Durst’s motion for instructed verdict because there was sufficient evidence to show Hauglum was entitled to at least a 1.125% interest in all the Bryan-Woodbine unit wells owned by Barbara Durst.

In reviewing an instructed verdict, the appellate court must determine whether there is any evidence of probative force to raise fact issues on the material questions presented. Conaway v. Roberts, 725 S.W.2d 377, 379 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1987, writ denied); Sullivan v. Methodist Hospitals, 699 S.W.2d 265, 274 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1985), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 714 S.W.2d 302 (Tex.1986). All of the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the party against whom the instructed verdict was granted, and all contrary evidence and inferences must be disregarded. C.S.R., Inc. v. Industrial Mechanical, Inc., 698 S.W.2d 213, 217 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1985, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Blaeser Development Corp. v. Aldridge, 664 S.W.2d 830, 831 (Tex.App.Corpus Christi 1984, no writ).

Hauglum entered into a letter agreement with Durst in which Hauglum was to provide geological and geophysical consulting services to Durst. Neither Barbara Durst nor her corporation, the Durst Exploration Company, were a party to that agreement. Durst subsequently acquired two leases based on Hauglum’s recommendations, both of which were located in what is now called the Bryan-Woodbine unit. Barbara Durst, whose interest in the Bryan area began in the summer of 1981, was instrumental in obtaining one of these leases, the Con-Tatum, from Sanchez O’Brien.

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

Related

Bernal v. DK8 LLC (In re HBT JV, LLC )
571 B.R. 729 (N.D. Texas, 2017)
Plains Cotton Cooperative Assn v. Gary Gray
672 F. App'x 372 (Fifth Circuit, 2016)
David Eoff v. Central Mutual Insurance Company
461 S.W.3d 648 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2015)
Robert P. Berg v. Kristi Wilson
353 S.W.3d 166 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)
James David Tutt v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011
Gilmore v. SCI Texas Funeral Services, Inc.
234 S.W.3d 251 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Barrand, Inc. v. Whataburger, Inc.
214 S.W.3d 122 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006)
Gonzalez v. Denning
394 F.3d 388 (Fifth Circuit, 2004)
Drawhorn v. Qwest Communications International, Inc.
121 F. Supp. 2d 554 (E.D. Texas, 2000)
O'Farrill Avila v. Gonzalez
974 S.W.2d 237 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Hill v. Heritage Resources, Inc.
964 S.W.2d 89 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
769 S.W.2d 646, 110 Oil & Gas Rep. 314, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 724, 1989 WL 28882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hauglum-v-durst-texapp-1989.