In re Longoria

470 S.W.3d 616, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7349, 2015 WL 4380762
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 16, 2015
DocketNO. 14-15-00261-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 470 S.W.3d 616 (In re Longoria) 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
In re Longoria, 470 S.W.3d 616, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7349, 2015 WL 4380762 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

Tracy Christopher, Justice

On March 25, 2015, relator Shelby Lon-goria filed a petition for writ of mandamus in this court. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221 (West 2004); see also Tex.R.App. P. 52. In the petition, Shelby asks this court to compel the Honorable Loyd Wright, presiding judge of Probate Court No. 1 of Harris County, to set aside his February 18, 2015 order denying Shelby’s motion to dismiss the claims of real party in interest, Adriana Longoria, based on a forum-selection clause. We conditionally grant the petition for writ of mandamus, in part, and deny it, in part.

I. Background

Eduardo Longoria, Sr., a Mexican citizen and businessman, was the father of Shelby Longoria, Adriana Longoria, Eduardo Longoria, Jr. (“Wayo”), and Sylvia Dorsey. In 2002, Eduardo transferred shares of his two Mexican holding companies, Vértice Empresarial, S.A. de C.V. and Inmuebles y Terrenos, S.A. de C.V. (the “Mexican companies”), to'-a trust administered by a Mexican bank. Banca Afirme Grupo Financiero. Eduardo designated Shelby as 60% beneficiary and Wayo 40% beneficiary of this trust, which the parties describe as the “Afirme Trust.” At the same time, Eduárdo executed a new will, naming Shelby as executor. Eduardo also * signed a “Carta de Voluntad,” or “Wish Letter,” granting Sylvia and Adriana each $3,000,000 in cash to be distributed over time by the Afirme Trust. In December 2002, Eduardo and Adriana executed an “Acuerdo Privado,” or “Private Agreement,” providing that Adriana would receive $3,000,000 from the opérating cash flow generated by the Mexican companies.

Eduardo diéd in 2005. Dorothy Longo-ria, Eduardo’s wife and the mother of the children, died in 2012. On May 6, 2013, Tommy Dorsey, Sylvia’s husband and executor of Dorothy’s estate, sued Shelby for a demand for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty to Dorothy, alleging that Shelby had diverted her community property interests to himself. Specifically, Tommy alleged, among other things, that (1) Shelby had induced' Eduardo into signing the 2002 Afirme Trust, into which Eduardo conveyed all of his and Dorothy’s shares in the Mexican companies and of which he made Shelby and Wayo the beneficiaries; and (2) Shelby had induced Eduardo into signing the 2002 will, leaving all of Eduardo’s remaining property to Shelby and Wayo.

On June 18, 2013, Shelby filed a will contest, alleging that Sylvia and Adriana had exerted undue influence over Dorothy in connection with her will, which divided Dorothy’s estate equally between Adriana and Sylvia and named Tommy executor, and that Dorothy lacked the capacity to [624]*624execute the will. Shelby also sought the removal of Tommy as executor. On August 23, 2013, Shelby filed a third-party petition, alleging that Sylvia and Adriana were responsible in contribution for any damages found owing by Shelby to the estate.

Adriana answered the will contest on December 4, 2013, and filed counterclaims against Shelby on January 6, 2014. Adriana amended her counterclaims on December 11, 2014, February 5, 2015, and February 11, 2015. Adriana alleged that Shelby induced Eduardo into entering the Private Agreement and into believing that it would be a fair allocation of the estate. She also counterclaimed for tortious interference with inheritance rights, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious inference with the Private Agreement, breach of the obligation to perform the Private Agreement, and breach of the agreement to pay Adriana $100,000 upon Dorothy’s death and sought a declaration that an agreement called the Donation Agreement is not an enforceable contract.1

On January 14, 2015, Shelby filed a motion to dismiss Adriana’s counterclaims based on a forum-selection clause in the Private Agreement that provides for exclusive venue in the courts of Reynosa, Ta-maulipas, Mexico.

In response to the motion to dismiss, Adriana contended that (1) the forum-selection clause does not apply to her counterclaims; (2) the forum-selection clause is unreasonable and unjust in light of a preexisting fiduciary relationship between Shelby and Adriana, where the agreement was made, where the parties resided, and the unacceptability of the Mexican forum; (3) the forum-selection clause is unenforceable because it was procured through fraud and overreaching by Shelby; and (4) Shelby waived his right to enforce the forum-selection clause by litigating Adriana’s counterclaims in the trial court for a year without invoking the clause.

The trial court held a hearing on Shelby’s motion to dismiss on February 12, 2015, and signed the order denying Shelby’s motion on February 18, 2015.

II.Mandamus Standakd of Review

To be entitled to mandamus relief, a relator must demonstrate (1) the trial court clearly abused its discretion; and (2) the relator has no adequate remedy by appeal. In re Reece, 341 S.W.3d 360, 364 (Tex.2011) (orig.proceeding). A trial court clearly abuses its discretion if it reaches a decision so arbitrary and unreasonable as to amount to a clear and prejudicial error of law or if it clearly fails to analyze the law correctly or apply the law correctly to the facts. In re Cerberus Capital Mgmt L.P., 164 S.W.3d 379, 382 (Tex.2005) (orig.proceeding) (per curiam). A trial court abuses its discretion when it fails to properly interpret or apply a forum-selection clause. In re Lisa Laser USA, Inc., 310 S.W.3d 880, 883 (Tex.2010) (orig.proceeding) (per curiam). An appellate remedy is inadequate when a trial court improperly refuses to enforce a forum-selection clause because allowing the trial to go forward will vitiate and render illusory the subject matter of an appeal, i.e., trial in the proper forum. Id. Thus, mandamus relief is available to enforce an unambiguous forum-selection clause. Id.

III.Scope of the Forum-Selection Clause

Shelby argues that most of Adriana’s claims fall within the scope of the [625]*625forum-selection clause in the Private Agreement.2

Forum-selection clauses are generally enforceable and presumptively valid. In re Laibe Corp., 307 S.W.3d 314, 316 (Tex.2010) (orig.proceeding) (per curiam); In re Int’l Profit Assocs., Inc., 274 S.W.3d 672, 675 (Tex.2009) (orig.proceeding) (per curiam). A trial court abuses its discretion in refusing to enforce a forum-selection clause unless the party opposing enforcement meets its heavy burden of showing that (1) enforcement would be unreasonable or unjust; (2) the clause is invalid for reasons of fraud or overreaching; (3) enforcement would contravene a strong public policy of the forum where the suit was brought; or (4) the selected forum would be seriously inconvenient for trial. Laibe Corp., 307 S.W.3d at 316; In re ADM Inv. Servs., Inc., 304 S.W.3d 371, 375 (Tex.2010) (orig.proceeding).

The court must first determine whether the claims fall within the scope of the forum-selection clause. Deep Water Slender Wells, Ltd.,

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

Related

San Jacinto River Authority v. Edgar Gonzalez
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2022
Black v. Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc.
551 S.W.3d 346 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018)
Ina Collins v. Mary Kay Inc
874 F.3d 176 (Third Circuit, 2017)
Marullo v. Apollo Associated Services, LLC
515 S.W.3d 902 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2017)
Trelltex, Inc. v. Intecx, L.L.C.
494 S.W.3d 781 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)
Branch Law Firm L.L.P. v. Osborn
532 S.W.3d 1 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
470 S.W.3d 616, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7349, 2015 WL 4380762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-longoria-texapp-2015.