Lewis v. Indian Springs Land Corp.

175 S.W.3d 906, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 9271, 2005 WL 2981396
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 8, 2005
Docket05-05-00528-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 175 S.W.3d 906 (Lewis v. Indian Springs Land Corp.) 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
Lewis v. Indian Springs Land Corp., 175 S.W.3d 906, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 9271, 2005 WL 2981396 (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice LANG.

In this accelerated, interlocutory appeal, appellant Thomas E. Lewis (“Lewis”) chai- *909 lenges the trial court’s order overruling his special appearance. See Tex. Crv. PRac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 51.04(a)(7) (Vernon Supp. 2004-2005). The action below was initiated when appellees sued Lewis, a resident of Florida, respecting his distribution of funds of Indian Springs Land Corporation (“ISLC”). At the time of the distribution of funds, Lewis was president and a shareholder of ISLC.

The relationship of the parties spanned several years and involved a series of business transactions culminating in Lewis’s distribution of funds in payment of certain of ISLC’s promissory notes. The claims asserted by appellees which challenge Lewis’s distribution of funds include breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, fraud, misappropriation of funds, and statutory theft. For the following reasons, we conclude that Lewis is subject to specific jurisdiction in Texas. The trial court’s order is affirmed.

I. The Parties and Participants

Appellee, Indian Springs Investment Partners, Ltd. (“ISIP”), is a Texas real estate development partnership. Its principal place of business is in Addison, Texas. Lewis, a Florida resident, is an attorney and real estate developer. He is a limited partner in ISIP, as is Daryl Sna-don (“Snadon”), a Texas resident and real estate developer. Beltway Development Corporation (“Beltway”), a Texas corporation, is the general partner of ISIP. Another appellee, Indian Springs Joint Venture (“ISJV”), a Texas joint venture, has its principal place of business in Addison, Texas. The venturers include Lewis, Sna-don, James Durbin (“Durbin”), a Texas resident and real estate developer, and ISIP. Appellee ISLC, is a closely-held, Nevada, S-corporation. Appellees assert ISLC’s principal executive office is in Addison, Texas. 1 ISLC’s shareholders are Lewis, Snadon and Durbin. ISLC holds a 99% interest in ISJV with ISIP holding the remaining 1%.

II. Factual Background

a. Overview of the Business Transactions

The record reflects a series of business transactions, involving Lewis, appellees and others, which date from 1997 and which culminated in the challenged disbursement of ISLC’s funds by Lewis in 2004. These transactions related to the acquisition and development of a tract of residential real estate located in Los An-geles County, California (“California Property”). . The participants, in particular Lewis, Snadon and Durbin, consulted with various attorneys and accountants, to form strategies for the profitable development and ultimate sale of the California Property. As discussed below, the transactions included the transfer and assignment by Lewis, Snadon, and Durbin of their respective individual interests in several corporations, joint ventees and partnerships, which held some interest in the California Property, in return for a series of promissory notes payable to each of them at various intervals. The challenged pay *910 ment made by Lewis of some of the promissory notes was funded from the proceeds of the sale of the California Property.

b. History of the Business Transactions

Lewis met Snadon in Aspen, Colorado, in the 1970’s. They became good friends.

In 1997, Snadon entered into ISJV with a California citizen, Colleen Welter, and a California corporation, Chatsworth Ridge Estates, Inc. (“CRE”). Snadon, through ISJV, invested millions of dollars to acquire the California Property. CRE owned 10%, Welter owned 40%, and Sna-don owned 50% of ISJV. In 1998, Snadon transferred a 2.5% interest to Durbin, leaving himself with a 47.5% interest in ISJV.

In August of 1999, Snadon shared with Lewis his concern over his investment in the ISJV California Property. Soon thereafter, Snadon was diagnosed with cancer and began receiving treatments. Due to this illness, Snadon could no longer manage some of his businesses. Lewis volunteered to help Snadon with his California Property and visited him on September 24, 1999, in Houston, Texas. After numerous subsequent telephone discussions, Lewis met with Snadon November 12-15, 1999, in Dallas, Texas, to discuss the development of the California Property, the role he could play in the project, and the general financial terms of his participation. The provisions of Lewis’s financial and partnership interests relative to the California Property were negotiated and documented over the years by Lewis, Snadon, and Dur-bin through telephone conferences, personal meetings, and numerous other communications between Texas, Florida, California, and Colorado.

In September of 1999, Snadon transferred his remaining 47.5% interest in ISJV to ISIP. On December 1, 1999, Sna-don gave Lewis a power of attorney to act for him and execute legal documents on his behalf regarding the California Property. In January of 2000, Snadon assigned one-half of his 99% ownership in ISIP to Lewis.

On January 5, 2001, CRE and Welter transferred their combined 50% interest in ISJV to Snadon. On January 6, 2001, Snadon transferred 25% of ISJV to Lewis and entered into a Amended and Restated Joint Venture Agreement. After that transfer, the ownership of ISJV was ISLP 47.75%, Durbin 2.5%, Snadon 25% and Lewis 25%.

On November 11, 2001, ISLC was incorporated in Nevada, and the shareholders elected S-corporation treatment for federal tax purposes. According to appellees, its principal executive offices were in Addison, Texas. According to Lewis, the principal offices of ISLC were in Miami, Florida. 2

On January 1, 2002, Lewis was assigned a 48.75% interest in Creekview Phase I, G.P., L.L.C. (“Creekview”), a Texas limited liability company. Creekview’s principal place of business was in Addison, Texas. Also, in January of 2002, Snadon, Lewis, Durbin, and ISIP transferred their interests in ISJV to ISLC in exchange for promissory notes. 3 On January 31, 2002, *911 through an assignment of interests, ISLC became a party to the joint venture agreement and assumed a 99% interest in ISJV with ISIP retaining a 1% interest. On February 14, 2003, Lewis, Snadon and Durbin assigned their interests in Creek-view to ISLC in exchange for a $2.2 million dollar promissory note that was payable in Addison, Texas, and governed by the laws of Texas. 4

According to the record, over several years, Lewis, Snadon, and Durbin, worked to develop the California Property and Snadon made additional cash infusions into it. Then, on October 21, 2002, ISJV and Indian Falls Joint Venture (“IFJV”), 5 yet another Texas joint venture, with its principal place of business in Addison, Texas, sold the California Property to Toll Brothers, Inc. (“Toll Brothers”), a Pennsylvania corporation. The terms of the sale included a cash payment along with a promissory note, which was secured by a deed of trust.

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Bluebook (online)
175 S.W.3d 906, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 9271, 2005 WL 2981396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-indian-springs-land-corp-texapp-2005.