Stanley v. Crowell & Owens, LLC

141 So. 3d 316, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 1425, 2014 WL 2116473, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1325
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 21, 2014
DocketNo. 13-1425
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 141 So. 3d 316 (Stanley v. Crowell & Owens, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stanley v. Crowell & Owens, LLC, 141 So. 3d 316, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 1425, 2014 WL 2116473, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1325 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

AMY, Judge.

12After the plaintiff developer filed suit seeking to have underlying attorney fee agreements declared null and void, the defendant law firm filed a reeonventional demand seeking enforcement of a promissory note entered into by the plaintiffs president and his wife. The defendant alleged that the promissory note reflected indebtedness for all sums due under the previous agreements. The plaintiff filed the initial petition seeking annulment of the underlying agreements and the promissory note, arguing that the note was unenforceable. The defendant law firm filed a reeonventional and third party demand and, ultimately, sought enforcement of the promissory note through a motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment in the defendant law firm’s favor. The plaintiffs appeal. For the following reason, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Harlton K. Stanley, now deceased, and Machal, L.L.C.1, the limited liability corpo[318]*318ration of which Mr. Stanley served as president, instituted the underlying matter in September 2011, seeking to have an engagement agreement with their attorneys, Crowell and Owens, L.L.C., declared null and void. The legal representation pertained to the plaintiffs’ development and management of the Jena Choctaw Pines Casino. In pertinent part, the plaintiffs alleged that the initial agreement violated Rule 1.8(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct in its construction and anticipation of a contingency fee for the defendant law firm and that a subsequent assignment of that agreement was null and void for want of consideration.

|aIn turn, the defendant law firm filed a reconventional and third-party demand against Mr. Stanley and Stanley Holdings, L.L.C. Mrs. Carolyn Gay Chevallier Stanley was later substituted as a plaintiff in her capacity as the administrator of Mr. Stanley’s succession. In its demand, the defendant law firm sought recognition of the assignment of the engagement agreement. Through the April 2007 assignment, Mr. Stanley, Stanley Holdings, and Machal agreed to pay the law firm $750,000.00 on or before December 1, 2007, in partial payment of services rendered. In turn, the defendant law firm’s remaining contingency arrangement was reduced. In its demand, the defendant law firm contended that, despite the assignment of the agreement, no payment was made. In March 2011, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley entered into a promissory note, agreeing to pay the defendant law firm $989,375.00 plus interest. The stated purpose of the promissory note was to “satisfy all the rights, duties and obligations of the parties to that certain Agreement styled Assignment of Engagement Agreement dated April 25, 2007 by and between Stanley Holdings, L.L.C., H.K. Stanley, and Crowell and Owens, L.L.C.” In its reconventional and third party demand, the defendant law firm sought payment of the note.

Thereafter, the trial court denied a motion for summary judgment in which the plaintiffs sought recognition that the engagement agreement and the subsequent assignment of the agreement were null and void due to an alleged failure to follow the dictates of Rule 1.8(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. In opposition to the motion, the defendant law firm attached, in part, an August 2012 letter written by plaintiffs’ counsel to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, alleging the violation of Rule 1.8. The defendant law firm further attached the January 2013 response letter from the Board’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel to counsel for the 14defendant law firm, reporting the Office’s dismissal of the complaint upon a “determination that there is not clear and convincing evidence to support the complainant’s allegations of unethical conduct against your client.” The trial court ultimately denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment in this regard.

Subsequently, the defendant law firm filed its own motion for summary judgment, seeking full payment on the promissory note. The defendant noted that no payments had been made under the promissory note, despite the opening of the gaming facility, causing Mr. and Mrs. Stanley to be in default under the note. Accordingly, the defendant law firm sought payment of the promissory note and attorney fees as permitted under the terms of the note. In support of the motion, the defendant law firm attached the engagement agreement, the assignment of engagement agreement, the promissory note, the defendant law firm’s demand letter to Mrs. Stanley for collection of the [319]*319note, the deposition of Mr. Stanley, as well as the deposition of William Owens, a member/manager of the defendant law firm.

The plaintiffs opposed the motion for summary judgment, noting various pleadings in the history of the case and re-urging the Stanley and Owens depositions. The plaintiffs also submitted the affidavit of Mr. Stanley’s daughter who represented that her father had engaged another law firm to perform work that he felt his arrangement with the defendant should have covered. The plaintiffs argued that this documentation demonstrated that genuine issues of material fact existed “surrounding the validity of the Engagement Agreement, and whether the Succession and Ma-chal are entitled to offset against any claim of Crowell and Owens, LLC the sums paid to the firm of Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues and Rundell for representation of the Stanley interests related to the Jena Casino project.”

|sFollowing a hearing, the trial court rendered summary judgment in favor of the defendant law firm against Mrs. Stanley, individually and as executor of Mr. Stanley’s succession, and also against Stanley Holdings, L.L.C. in the amount of $989,275.00 plus interest and attorney’s fees under the promissory note. It deferred the issue of the quantum of attorney fees until a later date.

The plaintiffs have appealed,2 asserting that the summary judgment was entered in error. Within that context, the plaintiffs question:

I. Whether the engagement agreement as amended provides a basis for the promissory note sued upon;
II. Whether the promissory note is sufficient evidence of the reasonableness of the attorney’s fees represented by the note;
III. Whether the Succession of Harlton Kenneth Stanley and Machal, LLC are entitled to a credit or offset for the sums paid to Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues and Rundell; and
IV. What was the scope of Crowell and Owens, LLC’s representation of Harlton K. Stanley and Machal, LLC.

Discussion

Summary Judgment

As explained by La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(A)(2), the motion for summary judgment is favored and is to be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of actions. A summary judgment “shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions, ^together with the affidavits, if any, admitted for purposes of the motion for summary judgment, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is [320]*320entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(B)(2). Although the moving party bears the burden of proof, if the movant will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the matter at issue, he or she is not required to negate all essential elements of the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense. La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(C)(2).

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Related

Stanley v. Crowell & Owens, LLC
175 So. 3d 1204 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
Carolyn Gay Stanley v. Crowell & Owens, LLC
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015

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Bluebook (online)
141 So. 3d 316, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 1425, 2014 WL 2116473, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stanley-v-crowell-owens-llc-lactapp-2014.