McCalla v. SKI RIVER DEVELOPMENT, INC.

239 S.W.3d 374, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 9967, 2007 WL 2994072
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 10, 2007
Docket10-06-00299-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 239 S.W.3d 374 (McCalla v. SKI RIVER DEVELOPMENT, INC.) 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
McCalla v. SKI RIVER DEVELOPMENT, INC., 239 S.W.3d 374, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 9967, 2007 WL 2994072 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

FELIPE REYNA, Justice.

In a previous appeal involving these parties, this Court affirmed the judgment in part, reversed the judgment in part, and remanded the case to the trial court to [378]*378determine whether to award attorney’s fees to Ski River Development, Inc., Stephen R. Davis, and Karen Davis under the Declaratory Judgment Act. See Ski River Dev., Inc. v. McCalla, 167 S.W.3d 121, 143-44 (Tex.App.-Waeo 2006, pet. denied). On remand, the court awarded Ski River and the Davises $100,000 in trial attorney’s fees and $30,000 in appellate attorney’s fees. Anthony and Cheryl McCalla contend in four issues that the attorney’s fee award is improper because: (1) the Davises 1 failed to segregate the amount of attorney’s fees incurred as a result of their claim for declaratory relief from their other claims; (2) the amount of attorney’s fees awarded is not equitable or just; (3) the Davises have impermissibly asserted a counterclaim under the Declaratory Judgment Act as a vehicle for recovering attorney’s fees; and (4) there is no evidence or factually insufficient evidence to prove that the amount of attorney’s fees awarded was reasonable or necessary. We will reverse and remand because the Davises failed to properly segregate their attorney’s fees.

Scope of Remand

Before we can properly address the issues presented, we must delineate the scope of this Court’s prior remand order.

“When [an appellate court] remands a case and limits a subsequent trial to a particular issue, the trial court is restricted to a determination of that particular issue.” Lifshutz v. Lifshutz, 199 S.W.3d 9, 20 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2006, pet. denied) (quoting Hudson v. Wakefield, 711 S.W.2d 628, 630 (Tex.1986)); accord In re Marriage of Stein, 190 S.W.3d 73, 75 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 2005, no pet.). To determine the scope of remand, a court must examine both the opinion of the appellate court and its mandate. Hudson, 711 S.W.2d at 630; Lifshutz, 199 S.W.3d at 20; Walston v. Walston, 119 S.W.3d 435, 438 (Tex.App.-Waco 2003, no pet.).

Here, the mandate of this Court dated March 24, 2006 included a very general statement regarding the scope of remand:

It is further ordered that this cause be remanded to the 249th District Court, Johnson County, Texas, in accordance with the opinion.

In the opinion of the Court dated April 20, 2005, the Court acknowledged the jury’s finding that the Davises had incurred trial attorney’s fees of $100,000 and appellate attorney’s fees of $30,000.2 Ski River Dev., 167 S.W.3d at 143. The opinion then provided a more detailed instruction regarding the scope of remand:

We ... remand this cause to the trial court to determine whether to award ‘equitable and just’ attorney’s fees to Ski River and the Davises and against the McCallas under the Declaratory Judgment Act....

Id.

By the issues presented in this appeal, the McCallas challenge not only the Davises’ legal entitlement to an award of attorney’s fees but also the amount of at-[379]*379torneas fees awarded. The Davises respond that the only issue on remand was “whether it would be just and equitable to award attorney’s fees to [them] under the Declaratory Judgment Act.” Thus, they argue that the only issue properly before this Court at this juncture is the McCallas’ second issue in which the McCallas contend that the award of attorney’s fees is not equitable or just.

The Davises misread the prior opinion and mandate. If we strip the veneer from the critical portion of the prior opinion regarding the scope of remand and reduce that portion to its essence, it can be readily seen that the case was remanded for the trial court “to determine whether to award ... attorney’s fees to Ski River and the Davises.” It was not remanded, as the Davises contend, solely to determine whether an award of attorney’s fees “would be just and equitable.” Rather, our use of the phrase “just and equitable” served merely to underscore that, if the trial court chose to award attorney’s fees to the Davises, the Declaratory Judgment Act requires that those fees be “just” and “equitable.” See Tex. Crv. PRAC. & Rem. Code Ann. § 87.009 (Vernon 1997).3 Moreover, the McCallas have not had a prior opportunity to mount any challenge to the award of attorney’s fees to the Davises because the trial court did not award attorney’s fees to them in its first judgment.

Therefore, we hold that on remand the parties were free to fully litigate whether the Davises were entitled to recover attorney’s fees under the Declaratory Judgment Act. This necessarily includes: (1) whether the Davises were legally entitled to recover attorney’s fees under the Declaratory Judgment Act; (2) whether they proved that the amount of attorney’s fees they sought was reasonable and necessary (a question of fact); and (3) whether in the trial court’s discretion it would be just and equitable to award those fees (a question of law). See Ridge Oil Co. v. Guinn Invs., Inc., 148 S.W.3d 143, 161-62 (Tex.2004); Bocquet v. Herring, 972 S.W.2d 19, 21 (Tex.1998). Accordingly, all of the issues presented by the McCallas are properly before us.

Counterclaim for Declaratory Relief

The McCallas contend in their third issue that the Davises are not entitled to recover attorney’s fees under the Declaratory Judgment Act because the Davises alleged their entitlement to declaratory relief “as a purely defensive matter” and have “no legitimate cause of action independent of the declaratory relief’ sought. The McCallas’ contention has three sub-components: (1) the Davises “had no independent cause of action against the McCallas regarding the Baker/McCalla contract”;4 (2) “[declaratory relief is generally inappropriate when used as a defense to issues already in the suit”; and (3) the Davises lack standing to seek de[380]*380claratory relief regarding a contract to which they are not parties.

The Declaratory Judgment Act is not available to settle disputes already pending before the court. BHP Petroleum Co. v. Millard, 800 S.W.2d 838, 841 (Tex.1990) (orig.proceeding); Indian Beach Prop. Owners’ Ass’n v. Linden, 222 S.W.3d 682, 701 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, no pet.); Nat’l Enter., Inc. v. E.N.E. Props., 167 S.W.3d 39, 43 (Tex.App.-Waco 2005, no pet.). Thus, a counterclaim based on the Declaratory Judgment Act is properly raised if the counterclaim alleges a cause of action independent of the plaintiffs claims. Id.

Here, the McCallas sued the Davises and Walter Baker for, among other things, specific performance of a purchase option contract the McCallas had with Baker.

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McCalla v. SKI RIVER DEVELOPMENT, INC.
239 S.W.3d 374 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
239 S.W.3d 374, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 9967, 2007 WL 2994072, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccalla-v-ski-river-development-inc-texapp-2007.