Richard Kasaine, et al. v. Samuel Opoku, et al.

Summary

The court denied as moot defendants’ motion for summary judgment concerning plaintiffs’ assignment of rights to recover medical expenses to a healthcare provider. Applying both Texas and Louisiana law, the court held that the parties’ written mutual revocation operated as a valid rescission or dissolution of the assignment, restoring the parties to their prior positions. The court therefore did not reach the assignment’s validity or potential public-policy concerns.

Holdings

1. Under Texas law, parties may mutually rescind an existing contract notwithstanding language making the assignment or related power of attorney irrevocable. The written Mutual Revocation unequivocally discharged the parties' remaining duties and terminated the Partial Assignment.
2. Under Louisiana law, a contract may be abrogated or revoked by mutual consent, and the Mutual Revocation dissolved the Partial Assignment.
3. The motion for summary judgment was moot because the assignment on which defendants' argument depended had been terminated by mutual rescission or dissolution.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the parties' written mutual revocation terminated the partial assignment of Kasaine's claims for past and future medical expenses.
2. Whether an assignment containing an irrevocability clause may nevertheless be mutually rescinded under Texas law.
3. Whether the same agreement was dissolved by mutual consent under Louisiana law.
4. Whether the assignment's termination rendered defendants' motion for summary judgment moot.
5. Whether the court needed to decide the validity or public-policy status of the original assignment.

Disposition

denied