Pesca Holding LLC v. Bengt Skoldeberg and Gudrun Skoldeberg

Summary

The Fourth Court of Appeals of Texas considered Pesca Holding LLC’s appeal from a take-nothing judgment in favor of Bengt and Gudrun Skoldeberg in a fraud action arising from the purchase of a business and assets. The court held that the evidence supported the jury’s finding that the Skoldebergs did not commit fraud, but that the Skoldebergs waived their claim for attorney’s fees by failing to submit the issue to the first jury and lacking a clear agreement for a separate trial. The court reversed and rendered the attorney’s-fee award and affirmed the remaining portions of the judgment.

Holdings

1. The evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support the jury's finding that the Skoldebergs did not commit common-law or statutory fraud; Pesca did not conclusively establish fraud or show that the adverse finding was clearly wrong and unjust.
2. The Skoldebergs waived recovery of attorney's fees because they failed to present evidence concerning the reasonableness and necessity of the fees and failed to request a jury question on attorney's fees before the first jury was dismissed.
3. The record did not contain a clear and unambiguous written or open-court Rule 11 agreement allowing attorney's fees to be tried separately after the first jury trial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support the jury's findings rejecting Pesca's common-law and statutory fraud claims.
2. Whether the Skoldebergs waived recovery of attorney's fees by failing to present attorney's-fee evidence or submit an attorney's-fee question to the first jury.
3. Whether the parties had a valid and enforceable agreement under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 11 to try attorney's fees separately after the liability trial.
4. Whether the exclusion of Pesca's expert testimony concerning the reasonableness and necessity of the Skoldebergs' attorney's fees required reversal.

Disposition

other