Townsend v. Collard

575 S.W.2d 422, 1978 Tex. App. LEXIS 4099
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 28, 1978
Docket18038
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 575 S.W.2d 422 (Townsend v. Collard) 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
Townsend v. Collard, 575 S.W.2d 422, 1978 Tex. App. LEXIS 4099 (Tex. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

SPURLOCK, Justice.

An employee appeals an award of attorney’s fees pursuant to a judgment enforcing a covenant not to compete in his employment contract. He claims the trial court erred as a matter of law in making the award pursuant to the attorney’s fee provision of the contract because the employer failed to prove the reasonableness of the terms of the covenant.

We affirm.

Larry Townsend prosecutes this appeal without a statement of facts. Appellees state in their brief that Townsend’s statements of the nature and facts of the case in his brief are incorrect and incomplete. It appears that Townsend was employed under an employment contract by Guardian Title Company. Although Townsend’s original petition states that a copy of the contract is attached as exhibit “A”, it does not appear there in the transcript. It does appear in the transcript apparently attached to Guardian’s counterclaim. There is no indication in the record this copy was admitted into evidence. In absence of a statement of facts or agreement of the parties, we cannot be certain this was the contract proved.

Both parties state that Townsend was employed by appellees in Johnson and Tar-rant counties of Texas. Townsend terminated his employment and accepted employment with a competitor of Guardian. Townsend brought this action seeking rescission of his contract with Guardian, or a declaration that it is unenforceable. Appel-lees counterclaimed for enforcement of the covenant not to compete. The trial court, based on the jury’s answers to special issues, rendered a judgment enjoining Townsend from competing with appellees and awarding appellees attorney’s fees. The jury’s answers to the special issues are recited in the judgment included in the record. We do not know what the special issues were because the court’s charge was not included in the transcript.

Townsend limits his appeal pursuant to Rule 353 * to this point of error:

“The trial court erred as a matter of law in awarding attorneys’ fees to the employer pursuant to an employment contract containing a restrictive covenant not to compete where the employer failed to prove the reasonableness of the terms of the restrictive covenant in the employment contract.”

Appellees claim since this point of error was not raised in Townsend’s motion for new trial, he has waived his point of error and has failed to properly preserve it on appeal. Because this case was tried prior to the 1978 amendment to Rule 324 *, a motion for new trial may be required to raise this point on appeal. Townsend filed a motion for new trial which was overruled by operation of law. The only complaint therein relating to attorney’s fees is as follows:

“The Court erred in submitting Special Issue Number 23 over the objections of Plaintiff because Defendant did not plead any right of recovery for attorney’s fees, and as a matter of law is not entitled to recover any attorney’s fees.”

Appellees claim Townsend’s complaint in his motion for new trial is insufficient to predicate his point on appeal because the complaints differ. Since under our facts inclusion of the point in a motion for new trial is a prerequisite to appeal, it is our opinion that Townsend cannot raise his point of error for the first time on appeal. Also special issue number 23 is not before us because it was not included in the transcript.

The purpose of a motion for new trial is to give the trial judge the opportunity to cure any errors by granting a new trial. Rule 322 * requires that complaints in a motion for new trial be made with sufficient specificity to enable the trial judge to clearly understand what is alleged *424 as error. He should not have to speculate, but should be directed to the matters upon which he is called to rule.

Townsend’s complaint directed the trial court to the pleadings and whether appel-lees were entitled to recover any fees as a matter of law. In the context of a complaint about the right to attorney’s fees, as far as we can determine it without a statement of facts, the complaint, in our opinion directed the judge to determine whether there was any pleading for recovery of attorney’s fees and whether any statutory or contractual provision authorized their recovery.

Upon careful consideration of Townsend’s point of error, we conclude it presents a no evidence question. He claims there is no evidence of reasonableness of the terms of the covenant not to compete and therefore the court erred as a matter of law in making the award. Had this been his complaint in his motion for new trial, it is our opinion that this would have directed the trial court to review the evidence on attorney’s fees. We do not believe Townsend’s complaint in his motion directed the trial court to review the evidence, since we have held it directed him only to review the pleadings. Therefore, he cannot raise his point of error for the first time on appeal.

Even if his point had been properly preserved, it would have been overruled. He appeals without a statement of facts. Ap-pellees state in their brief that the statement of the nature of the case and facts in Townsend’s brief is incorrect and incomplete. Neither party states that the only evidence on the agreement of the parties is the written contract, assuming it was admitted.

It is well settled that where there is no statement of facts, a reviewing court usually presumes there was evidence supporting the judgment. Thompson v. Republic Acceptance Corporation, 388 S.W.2d 404 (Tex.1965). Therefore, we must presume there is evidence supporting the award of attorney’s fees until the record reveals or the parties agree otherwise. We cannot presume a state of evidence exists which supports a contention of error. The record must reveal error, if any. Williamson v. Johnson, 492 S.W.2d 327 (Tex.Civ.App.—Tyler 1973, no writ).

Townsend’s position is that a statement of facts is unnecessary. He would have us compare the covenant not to compete with the judgment of the court. He claims because the covenant was not enforced as written, it therefore was unreasonable. We do not agree. The covenant not to compete in the copy of the contract attached to appellee’s counterclaim is as follows:

Employee covenants and agrees that if for any reason except the discharge of Employee without due cause, his employment with Employer terminates, he will not, within Two (2) years from the date of cessation or termination of employment, directly or indirectly, engage in or become associated with or employed by any individual, firm, corporation or other organization in competition with Employer in the business of insuring land titles in Tarrant or Johnson Counties, Texas, and further will not, directly or indirectly, for himself or on behalf of any person or business entity, solicit land title insurance business in Tarrant or Johnson Counties, Texas, of any type from any of Employer’s customers (determined as of the date of cessation in (sic) employment) for a period of Two (2) years from the date of cessation in (sic) employment. . . .

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
575 S.W.2d 422, 1978 Tex. App. LEXIS 4099, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/townsend-v-collard-texapp-1978.