Rocker v. Centex Corp.

377 S.W.3d 907, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 6695, 2012 WL 3264023
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 10, 2012
DocketNo. 05-10-00903-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 377 S.W.3d 907 (Rocker v. Centex 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
Rocker v. Centex Corp., 377 S.W.3d 907, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 6695, 2012 WL 3264023 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion By Justice MARTIN RICHTER.

Daniel J. Rocker appeals the trial court’s order and final judgment certifying a class and approving the settlement of a lawsuit arising out of the merger of Centex Corporation and Pulte Homes, Inc. Where a settlement implicates damage claims, constitutional considerations require that putative class members be granted the right to opt out of the class. Compaq Computer Corp. v. Lapray, 135 S.W.3d 657, 667 (Tex.2004). Because the trial court’s order did not grant that right, we reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand the cause for further proceedings.

In addition, the trial court’s judgment awarded attorney’s fees in cash to class counsel without determining the value and proportion of the “noncash common benefits” recovered for the class, as required by both statute and rule. See Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 26.003(b) (West 2008) and Tex.R. Civ. P. 42(i)(2). For this reason, we reverse the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees to class counsel and remand for the trial court’s consideration of this issue.

Background

On April 15, 2009, appellee Barry Rose-man, D.M.D. and Laurie Jacobs, D.M.D. Profit Sharing Trust (the Trust) filed a class action on behalf of itself and other similarly situated shareholders of appellee Centex Corporation. The Trust sought “injunctive and other appropriate relief’ for itself and the putative class in connection with the proposed acquisition of Cen-tex by Pulte Homes Inc. “through a stockr for-stock merger in which Centex shareholders will receive 0.975 shares of Pulte common stock for each share of Centex they own.” The Trust alleged that the amount Pulte proposed to pay was “unfair and inadequate.” It further alleged that the members of Centex’s board of directors (defendants/appellees Timothy R. Eller, Barbara T. Alexander, Ursula O. Fairbairn, Thomas J. Falk, Clint W. Murchison, III, Frederic M. Poses, James J. Postl, David W. Quinn, Matthew K. Rose, and Thomas M. Schoewe), had breached their fiduciary duties “by agreeing to accept a consideration for the shares of Cen-tex that is substantially less than their value.” The Trust alleged that it and other class members “have suffered damages because they will only receive 0.975 shares of Pulte common stock for each of their Centex shares, an amount substantially less than the value of plaintiffs and other class members’ Centex shares.” The Trust pleaded that the class be certified under Rule 42, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and requested both injunctive relief and damages. The Trust requested that the trial court enjoin the merger, and also pleaded that if the proposed merger was consummated and not rescinded, the trial court award “rescissory damages to the Class.”

Soon after, appellees Gale Hanson, Julie Praytor, and Julie Wittmer each filed putative class action petitions regarding the merger, which were consolidated on June 1, 2009 with the action filed by the Trust. (For clarity, we refer to appellees Hanson, Praytor, Wittmer, and the Trust as Plaintiffs, and the remaining appellees as Defendants.) On June 22, 2009, an amended petition was filed adding more detailed class allegations as well as a claim against [912]*912Centex and Pulte for aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty by the director defendants. The amended petition included complaints regarding the scope and content of financial analyses of the merger conducted by Goldman Sachs & Co. Only injunctive relief was sought in this petition.

In mid-June, the parties began discussing the possibility of settlement. The parties reached an agreement incorporated in a Memorandum of Understanding dated July 17, 2009. In the Memorandum, Cen-tex and Pulte agreed to disclose additional material information about the merger and Goldman Sachs’s analysis in exchange for the Plaintiffs’ agreement not to seek to enjoin shareholder meetings to be held to vote on the merger. As described by the Plaintiffs, the settlement required Centex “to make additional, material disclosures in the final proxy statement sent to Centex shareholders soliciting their vote of approval for the merger with Pulte.” These disclosures were referred to in the settlement documents as the “Supplemental Disclosures.” Cynthia I. Jones, Plaintiffs’ financial expert, described the Supplemental Disclosures as “providing] a more complete foundation for shareholders to assess the veracity of the process through which the Merger Agreement was reached; the reasonableness of the factors considered in the Boards’ recommendations for the transaction; and the reasonableness and accuracy of the analyses and factors considered by Goldman Sachs in issuing its fairness opinion.” The Supplemental Disclosures were included in the final proxy/prospectus, and the shareholders of Pulte and Centex approved the merger at special shareholder meetings held on August 18, 2009.

Plaintiffs conducted discovery on the fairness of the settlement. On January 11, 2010, the parties signed a detailed Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement with exhibits, which they filed in the trial court. The agreement provided that the Supplemental Disclosures were exchanged in consideration for “the full settlement and release of all Settled Claims” as defined in the agreement. Although the amended petition requested only injunctive relief, the agreement included an extremely broad release by class members of all known and unknown claims for damages.

Notice of the proposed settlement was sent to all members of the putative class. Appellant Rocker, a member of the putative class, filed objections. After a hearing, the trial court overruled Rocker’s objections, approved the settlement, and certified the settlement class in a judgment dated June 12, 2010. The trial court’s judgment also awarded $1.1 million in cash fees to class counsel and $750 to each named plaintiff. This appeal followed.

Issues Presented

Rocker asserts seven issues. First, he contends the trial court erred in awarding attorney’s fees in cash to class counsel. Second, Rocker argues the trial court erred by approving the settlement because it was not in the best interest of the class. Third, he complains that there was no present consideration given for the release of class members’ claims. Fourth, Rocker contends that although the trial court found that injunctive relief was appropriate for the class, none was granted.1 Fifth, Rocker complains that the trial court erred by not granting class members the right to opt out of the class. Sixth, he [913]*913argues that the trial court erred by certifying the class under Rule 42(b)(2), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, because the judgment did not include any injunctive or declaratory relief. Seventh, Rocker contends that because the trial .court did not identify any incompatible standards of conduct that would be imposed on the Defendants, certification under Rule 42(b)(1) was improper.

Standards of Review

Approval of a class action settlement is within the sound discretion of the trial court and should not be reversed absent an abuse of that discretion. Gen. Motors Corp. v. Bloyed) 916 S.W.2d 949, 955 (Tex.1996). A trial court abuses its discretion when it acts in an arbitrary or unreasonable manner or without reference to any guiding rules and principles. Downer v. Aquamarine Operators, Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238, 241-42 (Tex.1985).

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377 S.W.3d 907, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 6695, 2012 WL 3264023, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rocker-v-centex-corp-texapp-2012.