Roberts v. Roper

373 S.W.3d 227, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 5502, 2012 WL 3104594
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 11, 2012
DocketNo. 05-09-01311-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 373 S.W.3d 227 (Roberts v. Roper) 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
Roberts v. Roper, 373 S.W.3d 227, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 5502, 2012 WL 3104594 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion By

Justice MOSELEY.

C.W. Roberts appeals the trial court’s summary judgment against him in this suit by Ronda K. Roper to recover on a promissory note. Roberts argues the trial court erred by rendering summary judgment for Roper, awarding attorney’s fees as stipulated in the note, and denying his motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence. We conclude Roper established she was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the promissory note and that Roberts failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact on any element of Roper’s claim or on all the elements of any of his affirmative defenses. We also conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for new trial. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

Roberts signed a $50,000 promissory note payable to Roper and due on January 3, 2008. As security for repayment of the note, Roberts pledged his three percent membership interest in Your Town Yellow Pages, L.L.C. (YTYP). As part of the transaction, Roper assigned two certificates of deposit in the amount of $25,000 each (the CDs) to City Bank Texas to be held as collateral for an $800,000 loan City Bank made to Clear Fork Joint Venture, in which Roberts was a partner. The assignment of certificate of deposit agreement granted City Bank a security interest in the CDs to secure repayment of the $800,000 note and any other indebtedness owed by Roper to City Bank.1 City Bank made the $800,000 loan to Clear Fork Joint Venture on January 3, 2007.

Roberts did not pay the principal or interest on the note when it matured. After attempting to foreclose on the three percent membership interest securing the note, Roper filed this suit to collect on the note. Roper moved for summary judgment on her claim. Her affidavit stated she is the owner and holder of the note, she has never assigned or transferred her interest in the note, and true and correct copies of the note, the pledge agreement, and the assignment agreement with City Bank were attached to the affidavit. Roper also stated that Roberts signed the note and pledge agreement, that he failed to make any payments on the note even after demand, and that Roper did not obtain the collateral for the note and received nothing of value from the collateral. After allowing all just and lawful offsets, payments, and credits, the entire principal balance of $50,000 plus interest was due and owing. Roper also stated she was notified in May 2008 that City Bank had offset against her CDs. Roper’s attorney signed an affidavit stating Roper agreed to pay him a one-third contingency fee and that, based on the work performed and the factors set forth in the disciplinary rules of professional conduct, the reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees for representing Rop[231]*231er through the hearing on the motion for summary judgment would be $10,000.

The motion was set for hearing on May 18, 2009. On May 11, 2009, Roberts filed a motion for continuance and response to the motion for summary judgment. At the same time, he filed an amended answer raising the affirmative defenses of estop-pel, release, failure of consideration, waiver, and payment. He also filed a counterclaim alleging mutual mistake, breach of the promissory note by Roper, fraud, and conspiracy. Roberts’s response to the motion for summary judgment included his affidavit and that of his attorney. Roberts opposed the summary judgment on the basis of his belief that Roper was owed nothing on note because John Woodall, a mutual business associate, had “taken care” of her with regard to the CDs. He also stated Roper had sent him e-mails claiming to have foreclosed on the three percent membership interest in YTYP and asking him to send her recognition of her interest. Roberts contended he needed the continuance to obtain additional evidence necessary to support his opposition to Roper’s motion for summary judgment.

Roberts’s attorney stated in his affidavit that he served written discovery to Roper with the response and needed a continuance to obtain responses to that discovery. Roberts’s attorney objected to the award of attorney’s fees because Roper’s attorney did not state the rate or the number of hours worked to arrive at his opinion of reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees.

The trial court reset the hearing to August 6, 2009, but Roberts did not file any additional summary judgment evidence. On August 6, 2009, the trial court granted Roper’s motion for summary judgment and rendered judgment for her against Roberts for the principal amount of the note plus interest and $10,000 in attorney’s fees.

Roberts filed a motion for new trial claiming, based on a newly discovered letter from City Bank to Roper’s attorney, that Roper and her attorney had mislead the court about whether a balance was due on the note. Roberts asserted the letter was evidence the CDs had been returned to Roper to pay another debt she owed to City Bank. Roper responded to the motion for new trial and attached an affidavit of her counsel stating that Roberts misconstrued the terms and effects of the letter, that his counsel had obtained the letter long before the summary judgment hearing but had not included it in any response to the motion, and the letter did not raise a material question of fact or warrant a new trial. The trial court denied the motion for new trial.

Standard of Review

The summary judgment states, “This judgment is final, it disposes of all claims of all parties, and it is appealable. Any relief requested by any party is hereby denied.” This is a final appealable judgment and we have jurisdiction over this appeal. See Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 206 (Tex.2001). If the trial court’s intent to finally dispose of the case is clear from the order, the order is final and appealable even if the record does not afford a legal basis for the adjudication; such a “judgment is final-erroneous, but final.” Lehmann, 39 S.W.3d at 200, 204. But such errors are waived if not presented by proper assignment of error in the appellate court. See Jacobs v. Satterwhite, 65 S.W.3d 653, 655-56 (Tex. 2001) (per curiam).2

[232]*232We review a trial court’s summary judgment de novo. See Provident Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. Knott, 128 S.W.3d 211, 215 (Tex.2003). We apply the well-established standards for reviewing summary judgments. See Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985); see also Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a. Once the movant establishes its right to summary judgment as a matter of law, the burden shifts to the non-movant to present evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact, thereby precluding summary judgment. See City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Auth., 589 S.W.2d 671, 678 (Tex.1979); Talford v. Columbia Med. Ctr. at Lancaster Subsidiary, L.P., 198 S.W.3d 462, 464 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2006, no pet.).

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Bluebook (online)
373 S.W.3d 227, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 5502, 2012 WL 3104594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-roper-texapp-2012.