Williamson Leasing Co. v. Kephart

627 S.W.2d 683, 1981 Tenn. App. LEXIS 535
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedNovember 20, 1981
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 627 S.W.2d 683 (Williamson Leasing Co. v. Kephart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williamson Leasing Co. v. Kephart, 627 S.W.2d 683, 1981 Tenn. App. LEXIS 535 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

OPINION

LEWIS, Judge.

Plaintiffs Williamson Leasing Company, Inc., Donald W. Pemberton, R. L. Kirkpatrick, and Donald W. Pemberton and Raymond V. Kimble as Co-Executors of the Estate of Bilbo E. Williamson, deceased, sued defendant Capital Development Corporation (Capital) and Floyd W. Kephart, Jr. on a promissory note and sought a judgment of $250,000 plus interest and attorneys fees. Defendant Kephart counterclaimed against plaintiffs Donald W. Pem-berton individually, R. L. Kirkpatrick, and Donald W. Pemberton and Raymond V. Kimble as Co-Executors of the Estate of Bilbo E. Williamson, deceased, as co-makers of the note along with Kephart and alleged that he (Kephart) was entitled to contribution, exoneration, or indemnification from each of the other co-makers in the event he was required to satisfy the note sued on.

The Chancellor, after a bench trial, dismissed both the complaint and the counter-complaint, and plaintiffs have appealed.

The facts are as follows: Defendant Kep-hart was President and sole owner of Capital. LaFollette Mining Company (LaFol-lette) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Capital. During 1977, defendant Kephart’s primary occupation was in the coal business.

LaFollette had a contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority to supply TVA with coal. Neither Capital nor its subsidiary LaFollette had sufficient capital to conduct the mining of coal sufficient to comply with the TVA contract. It was, therefore, necessary for Capital to raise some $250,-000. This $250,000 would provide interim financing until such time as Capital could sell fifty percent of LaFollette to D. C. Transient Systems, Incorporated.

In 1977, plaintiff Kirkpatrick had discussions with defendant Kephart regarding investments in defendant Kephart’s coal mining interests. On December 1, 1977, defendant Kephart wrote plaintiff Pemberton the following letter:

December 1, 1977
HAND DELIVERY
Don Pemberton, Esquire
1st Commerce Plaza
Memphis, Tennessee
Dear Don,
Pursuant to our conversation, the following is a synopsis of the proposition between Capital Development Corporation and your group in LaFollette Mining Company.
Capital Development owns 100% of the stock in LaFollette Mining Company. LaFollette Mining has a five year contract with TVA to provide 248,000 tons of coal per year, at a price of $31.30 per ton. Capital Development has agreed to sell 50% of LaFollette Mining Company to a third party for $650,000.00, payable at time of closing, and closing is scheduled within the next sixty days.
Capital Development and your group will form a joint venture to provide the initial financing of the TVA contract to LaFollette Mining. This amount is $250,-000.00. Capital Development will borrow, in their name, said amount from the [685]*685Metropolitan Bank in Tampa, Florida. You, Williamson, Kirkpatrick and I will individually guarantee the loan. The loan will be ninety days with an option to renew for an additional ninety days. Capital Development will re-pay the loan from the sale of the 50% of LaFollette Mining.
LaFollette Mining will contract with the joint venture to pay an amount equal to 4.5% of the gross amount of the sales price of the coal under the TVA contract on a monthly basis for providing the financing. The agreement will run for the term of the contract which is five years.
Capital Development will agree to handle all of the details and provide the joint venture with monthly production reports and payments.
It will be required that you, Bilbo, Kirkpatrick and I sign the papers.in Tampa on Tuesday, December 6, 1977. I will have our attorney prepare the joint venture documents and the agreement with LaFollette Mining. They should be ready no later than Wednesday. All of the closing documents where we acquired the LaFollette property, and the executed TVA contract and all of the other agreements, are in our office and are available for your review at any time.
Thank you for cooperating with us in this matter, and we look forward to working together in the future.
Warmest personal regards,
/s/ Floyd
Floyd W. Kephart, Jr.
In response to the foregoing letter, plaintiff Pemberton wrote the following letter to defendant Kephart.
December 5, 1977
Mr. Floyd Kephart, Jr., President
Capital Development Corporation
Suite 202
4515 Harding Road
Nashville, Tennessee 37205
Re: LaFollette Mining Company Dear Floyd:
I am in receipt of your letter of December 1, 1977, concerning your proposal to me, Bilbo Williamson and Ron Kirkpatrick.
We are agreeable to endorsing a note for a loan to your company from Metropolitan Bank, Tampa, Florida, in the amount of $250,000 with the following provisos:
1. You along with the three of us will personally guarantee such loan.
2. The loan will be a 90-day loan with an option to renew for an additional 90 days.
3. You or your company agree to repay this indebtedness by its due date from the sale of a 50% interest in La-Follette Mining Company, it being our understanding that the closing of this sale will take place in the immediate future.
4. LaFollette Mining will pay to me, Mr. Williamson and Mr. Kirkpatrick an amount equal to 4½% [interlined pre-ceeding the 4½% in ink is written “one-half of the” and is initialed “DWP” and “FWK”] of the gross amount of the sales price of all coal under the TVA contract on a monthly basis for a period of 5 years.
5. In the event the loan is not paid off within 6 months, Mr. Williamson, Mr. Kirkpatrick and I shall be entitled to receive 25% interest in LaFollette Mining Company in addition to the override of 4½% on the TVA contract.
6. All of the above will be reduced to more formal documentation to evidence our agreement as contained in your letter of December 1, 1977, and in this letter.
If you agree with the above, I would appreciate your executing a copy of this letter.
Kindest personal regards.
Cordially yours,
/s/ Donald W. Pemberton Donald W. Pemberton
DWP;ef
Enel.
ACCEPTED THIS 6th DAY OF DECEMBER, 1977.
/s/ Flovd W. Kephart. Jr. Floyd Kephart, Jr.

[686]*686On December 6, 1977, the individual plaintiffs and defendant Kephart flew to Tampa, Florida, to borrow the $250,000 from the Metropolitan Bank of Tampa, Florida (Bank).

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Bluebook (online)
627 S.W.2d 683, 1981 Tenn. App. LEXIS 535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williamson-leasing-co-v-kephart-tennctapp-1981.