Songer v. Archer

23 S.W.3d 139, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 3543, 2000 WL 690134
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 31, 2000
DocketNo. 06-99-00113-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 23 S.W.3d 139 (Songer v. Archer) 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
Songer v. Archer, 23 S.W.3d 139, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 3543, 2000 WL 690134 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice GRANT.

Kenneth Songer and Helen Songer (the Songers) appeal from a summary judgment holding that they breached a Rule 11 agreement and awarding Joe Archer, d/b/a Archer Excavating and Economy Insurance Company (Archer) $116,000.00 in liquidated damages for breach of the contract.

The Songers contend that the trial court erred in granting Archer a summary judgment because: (1) there was insufficient evidence on which to grant a summary [141]*141judgment, and (2) the judge enforced a liquidated damages provision in the Rule 11 agreement after the Songers raised a fact issue as to the illegality of that provision.

In the underlying case, Kenneth and Helen Songer sued Billy and Mary Clements, d/b/a Cede Clement & Sons, and Joe Archer, d/b/a Archer Excavating, in the Sixth Judicial District Court of Lamar County. The Songers alleged that a sand pit being operated by the Clements caused both property damage and personal injuries, namely, various ailments involving the Songers’ lungs and respiratory systems. The facts of the underlying case are more fully set out in Songer v. Clement, 20 S.W.3d 188 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2000, no pet. h.).

The issues involved in the present case involve only a purported settlement agreement between the Songers and Archer. This purported agreement was made after the defendants’ Motions for Sanctions had been filed, but before a hearing on the motions. The agreement is governed by Tex.R. Civ. P. 11. This rule states as follows:

RULE 11. AGREEMENTS TO BE IN WRITING
Unless otherwise provided in these rules, no agreement between attorneys or parties touching any suit pending will be enforced unless it be in writing, signed and filed with the papers as part of the record, or unless it be made in open court and entered of record.

By its title and substance, this rule emphatically requires that to be enforceable agreements involving a pending suit must be in writing, signed, and made a part of the court’s record, or be made in open court and entered of record to be enforceable.

In the present case, a written agreement was mentioned in court and apparently was prepared by one of 'the attorneys and sent to the other attorney. This agreement was never signed; therefore, it is not enforceable and, to the extent that this suit may refer to this agreement in court and in the motion for summary judgment, Rule 11 prohibits it from being enforced as a contract.

We next turn to the enforcement of the agreement made in open court under Rule 11. The following occurred in open court:

TRIAL COURT: ... Fust of all, Mr. Orr, I understand that you have arrived at some agreement with one or more defendants.
MR. ORR [Attorney for the Songers]: Yes, Your Honor. The Songers have communicated to me and have agreed to let everybody go, agreed not to appeal, dismiss people, everyone go their own separate ways, with each party bearing their own costs. I think that that agreement has been reached with Mr. Wynn and my clients in the process of signing some documents that Mr. Wynn faxed over to my office in that regard. Mr. DeVoss I think has stated that he’s in agreement with that if the whole case is done and everybody is out, and I think that the only hangup right now is Clements and that Mr. Harrison has not heard anything from his client.
THE COURT: Mr. Wynn, how do you respond?
MR. WYNN [Attorney for Archer]: Judge, that in substance is our agreement. We can dictate this into the record, Jim, if you would like. The agreement is this: That Archer will withdraw its Motion for Sanctions that was previously filed and will not refile that motion. In exchange, the Songers give up any of their post-trial or appellate remedies. That’s the gist of the agreement. Is that correct, Jim?
MR. ORR: That’s correct.
MR. WYNNE: And we have faxed to your office the proposed compromise settlement agreement, a joint motion to dismiss, and proposed order of dismiss[142]*142al, and I’m asking the court to I guess defer doing anything as far as this motion until I get that signed agreement.
Jim, I trust you completely, but given the history of this case I would much prefer to have a signed agreement faxed to my office before I leave the courthouse here today. My legal assistant has been instructed to contact me when that’s done.
MR. ORR: Okay.
THE COURT: I do note that there is one difference between what the two of you said about this, and that is Mr. Orr said that that included parties paying their own costs.
MR. WYNNE: Yes, sir, that’s correct.
MR. WYNNE: And there are a couple of other terms, Jim, that you and I talked about that I probably didn’t mention. In the compromise settlement agreement between Archer and Songer, there is a liquidated damage provision if they breach the agreement they would have to pay — in addition, Jimmy had assumed that there would be an indemnity provision within that compromise settlement agreement. Is that your understanding?
MR. ORR: I have no problem with that as long as it’s limited to if they appeal any decision by the court with respect to Archer, then the liquidation damage provision would come into effect.
MR. WYNNE: Okay.
MR. ORR: I mean I have no problem with the indemnity provision. They are not going to appeal it, so it’s never going to come into play.

This constitutes the entirety of the agreement that was made in open court.

Summary Judgment

A summary judgment is proper only when a movant establishes that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tex.R. .Civ. P. 166a(c). In reviewing a summary judgment, the appellate court reviews all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Nixon v. Mr. Property Management, 690 S.W.2d 546, 549 (Tex.1985). ' The court must also indulge every inference in favor of the nonmovant and resolve all doubts in the nonmovant’s favor. Science Spectrum, Inc. v. Martinez, 941 S.W.2d 910, 911 (Tex.1997). Once the movant has established a right to summary judgment, the burden then shifts to the nonmovant to respond with any issues that would preclude a summary judgment. The nonmovant may do this by presenting either controverting evidence or by raising a fact issue on each element of his affirmative defenses. Brownlee v. Brownlee, 665 S.W.2d 111, 112 (Tex.1984).. To establish a breach of contract, Archer was required to present proof of the Rule 11 agreement’s terms and proof of the breach of one or more of those terms. See TCI Cablevision of Texas, Inc. v. South Texas Cable Television,

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Bluebook (online)
23 S.W.3d 139, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 3543, 2000 WL 690134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/songer-v-archer-texapp-2000.