Shamlin v. Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc.

272 S.W.3d 128, 101 Ark. App. 164, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 48
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 23, 2008
DocketCA 07-308
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 272 S.W.3d 128 (Shamlin v. Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shamlin v. Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc., 272 S.W.3d 128, 101 Ark. App. 164, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 48 (Ark. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

Larry D. Vaught, Judge.

This appeal involves the wrongful cutting of timber from land owned by appellee Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc. (Quadrangle). Quadrangle sued appellants Ron ShamHn, Sr., Ron Shamlin, Jr., and Arkansas Timber & Logging (ATL), the company owned by Shamlin Sr., as well as Kenneth Harper and his company, Real Estate Development, Inc. (REDI), under Ark. Code Ann. § 18-60-102 (Repl. 2003). The jury awarded Quadrangle $11,500 for the value of its timber, trebled under the statute to $34,500. The Shamlins and Harper were made jointly and severally Hable for this award. The jury also awarded Quadrangle its costs of remediation of $12,000, apportioning 85% to Harper and 15% to Shamlin Jr. Finally, the jury awarded $1,000 for additional timber taken by Harper and trebled it to $3,000, as well as punitive damages of $25,000. The Shamhns raise four points on appeal. Quadrangle cross-appeals from the circuit court’s order extending the time for the Shamhns to file the record, contending that the Shamhns had not ordered the record from the court reporter when they filed their notice of appeal. We affirm on both direct appeal and cross-appeal.

Quadrangle owns over 1,000 acres in Saline County. Its lands surround a tract of approximately forty-seven acres that belongs to Harper. On May 6, 2003, Harper and ATL entered into a written agreement whereby ATL was to cut and sell the timber on part of Harper’s tract. ATL was a sole proprietorship owned by Shamlin Sr., but Shamlin Jr. managed its day-to-day operations. As such, he executed the contract with Harper on behalf of ATL. The contract included a legal description of the acreage from which ATL was to cut and remove timber. The contract also contained language certifying that Harper had title to the property and was solely responsible for marking the boundaries of the property.

An ATL crew began cutting and removing the timber off Harper’s property. Shortly after completing the work, Harper called Shamlin Jr. to ask ATL to come back and remove the timber from other property he had recently purchased. The ATL crew returned to what Harper represented was his property and spent two weeks logging approximately seventeen to twenty acres. During the latter stages of this second job, Harper went to the job site and realized that ATL was logging Quadrangle’s property. Although he thought ATL was logging the wrong property, Harper did not stop the ATL crew nor did he notify Quadrangle. 1

On March 8, 2004, Quadrangle filed suit against Harper, REDI, Shamlin Jr., and ATL, alleging causes of action for trespass to land and conversion of timber under section 18-60-102. The complaint sought damages jointly and severally against the defendants, treble damages, and punitive damages. 2 The Shamlins denied the material allegations of the complaint.

On December 19, 2005, Quadrangle filed a motion for partial summary judgment as to liability against the Shamlins and ATL, arguing that Shamlin Jr. was liable for his own actions in the trespass upon Quadrangle’s land and that Shamlin Sr. was liable under the doctrines of negligent supervision and respondeat superior. The Shamlins argued that summary judgment was improper because the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2003 (CJRA), codified at Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-55-201 to 16-55-220 (Repl. 2005), abolished joint and several liability except upon a finding that Shamlin Jr. and Harper acted in concert, which they asserted was a fact question for a jury.

At the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the Shamlins again raised the issue of whether the CJRA abolished joint and several liability. By order entered on February 21, 2006, the circuit court granted Quadrangle’s motion for partial summary judgment on liability as to Shamlin Jr. However, the court denied the motion as to Shamlin Sr. “on the present state of the pleadings, subject to review in the event [Quadrangle] amends its pleading.” The circuit court noted that the pleadings did not sufficiently allege that Shamlin Jr.’s actions were taken during the course and scope of his employment with ATL and Shamlin Sr.

Quadrangle filed its third amendment to the complaint on January 30, 2006, in which it alleged that ATL was a sole proprietorship of Shamlin Sr. and that all actions taken by the Shamlins and ATL, particularly Shamlin Jr., were taken within the course and scope of employment in the service of Shamlin Sr. The Shamlins admitted that ATL was a sole proprietorship but denied the remaining allegations of the amendment to the complaint.

By order entered on June 29, 2006, the circuit court reconsidered and granted Quadrangle’s motion for summary judgment as to the liability of Shamlin Sr. The court found that Shamlin Sr. would be liable to the same extent as Shamlin Jr. on the basis of respondeat superior. The court also found that the CJRA did not affect Quadrangle’s trespass and conversion claims nor its claims for treble or punitive damages. The court did find that the CJRA would require apportionment as to Quadrangle’s remediation costs for the damage to its land.

A jury trial was held August 8 through 10, 2006, as to Quadrangle’s damages, as well as the apportionment of damages on Quadrangle’s remediation costs. The case was submitted to the jury on a “Specific Verdict Form,” consisting of a series of interrogatories. The jury answered the interrogatories as follows:

1. Did the Plaintiff Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc. demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that Kenneth Harper, individually and as agent of Real Estate Development, Inc. was responsible in whole or in part for damages caused by the trespass onto Plaintiffs lands, including the cutting and conversion of the Plaintiff s timber?
Yes.
(if no, you may skip questions 5, 6, 8 and 10, and your answer to question 9 as concerns Kenneth Harper should be $0)
2. Did the Plaintiff Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc. demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that Arkansas Timber & Logging had sufficient notice in advance of the activity on Plaintiff s lands that Ron Shamlin, Jr. posed an elevated risk of committing the type of activities of which Plaintiff complains, and that it ignored that risk?
Yes.
3. How much was the Plaintiff Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc. proximately damaged on account of the value of the harvested and converted timber east of the Real Estate Development, Inc. property?
$11,500
4. How much was the Plaintiff Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc. proximately damaged on account of the costs of remediation of that property from which timber had been harvested (east of the Real Estate Development, Inc. property), and/or by the lessening of the value of that property as a result?
$12,000
5.How much was the Plaintiff Quadrangle Enterprises, Inc.

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

Related

Russell v. Northeast Texas Land & Timber
372 S.W.3d 816 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2009)
Eggestein v. Eggestein
2009 Ark. 262 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
272 S.W.3d 128, 101 Ark. App. 164, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 48, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shamlin-v-quadrangle-enterprises-inc-arkctapp-2008.