Partnership Dispute

Cheryl Mann Details Advantages for Clients Who Use Particular Texas Legal Rule

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Experienced attorney Cheryl Mann of The Law Offices of Brad Jackson recently co-authored an article for the Dallas Bar Association publication Headnotes about a simpler and more cost-effective way to resolve important issues in Texas civil lawsuits prior to trial.

Ms. Mann and Cowles & Thompson shareholder Mike Northrup wrote the piece focusing on Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166(g), which allows courts to decide a variety of legal matters before trial without the time and expense of a full-blown motion to dismiss or a motion for summary judgment.

Legal Rule Benefits Clients in All Types of Civil Lawsuits

In the article, Ms. Mann and Mr. Northrup note the 30-year history of Rule 166(g) and how Texas courts have used the rule to streamline the focus of civil lawsuits well before trial or on the eve of trial. For example, by eliminating the requirement of a 21-day notice for a hearing on summary judgment or a motion to dismiss, Rule 166(g) motions can be decided based on whatever timeline is set by the court.

Other Rule 166(g) advantages highlighted by Ms. Mann and Mr. Northrup include the ability to get a court ruling on pivotal legal issues early in the life of a lawsuit, which allows both parties to focus on discovery matters and other important case developments. Go to Page 14 at this link to read the entire article on the Dallas Bar Association website and see the many other ways Rule 166(g) may benefit your case.

Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles practically every type of business dispute, as well as cases involving serious personal injury and wrongful death.

Dallas Business Litigation Attorney Brad Jackson Named Among State’s Best

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Photo of attorney Brad Jackson sitting down while wearing glasses, a sports coat and a blue shirt with no tie.

DALLAS – Dallas attorney Brad Jackson of The Law Offices of Brad Jackson once again has been named one of the top lawyers for business disputes on the annual Texas Super Lawyers list published by Thomson Reuters.

The 2020 Super Lawyers list marks Mr. Jackson’s 17th consecutive selection among Texas’ leading business litigation attorneys. Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2005, Mr. Jackson was selected for this year’s list based on nominations from other lawyers and a thorough review process by Super Lawyers’ editors.

Additional Firm Honors

Since being named to last year’s Super Lawyers listing, Mr. Jackson earned his 10th straight listing in the Best Lawyers in Dallas list following recommendations from other attorneys and the editors of D Magazine. His selection was based on his work in business litigation, tort lawsuits, and product liability cases.

Earlier this year, Mr. Jackson and fellow firm attorney Cheryl Mann were named in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The Law Offices of Brad Jackson additionally was named on the annual Best Law Firms list published by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers.

Extensive Expertise

Companies and individuals have called on The Law Offices of Brad Jackson for more than 30 years in a variety of business disputes and commercial litigation. The firm’s expertise includes extensive work involving contract disagreements, fiduciary litigation, denial of commercial insurance claims, probate and trust litigation, professional malpractice cases, serious personal injuries and wrongful death, and other areas.

Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles practically every type of business dispute, as well as cases involving high-stakes divorce litigation, serious personal injury, and wrongful death.

Thanks from The Law Offices of Brad Jackson for a Wonderful 2019!

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The Law Offices of Brad Jackson would like to thank all of our friends for a memorable 2019 as we recap some of the firm’s more notable events before welcoming in the New Year.

Firm founder Brad Jackson started off the year by helping our clients defeat a $100,000 fraudulent transfer claim in a business dispute heard in Dallas district court. In an interesting twist, the case’s most important documents were written in Hebrew before being translated to English. We also had to rely on a translator because the people who unsuccessfully sued our clients spoke only Vietnamese.

Less than a week later, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson secured a summary judgment in another Dallas district court as part of a $2 million dispute over a business contract. In addition to ruling completely in our favor, the judge ordered our clients’ former business partner to pay their court costs.

We also had success in the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas after the court ruled in favor of our clients in a real estate dispute with the City of Dallas over $300,000 in contested property. In a completely different type of case, Brad also helped a homeowner couple win a $1 million arbitration award after the roof of their multimillion-dollar home failed and caused extensive damage.

Law Offices of Brad Jackson 2019 Professional Honors

We couldn’t wrap up the year without noting that The Law Offices of Brad Jackson once again was named to the annual Best Law Firms list based on our work for clients in business disputes. Brad also earned repeat honors as one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas in D Magazine in addition to being named one of the state’s best in the annual Texas Super Lawyers list and one of the tops in the nation in the latest edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Thanks again to all our friends, family and clients for making the past year so memorable for everyone here at The Law Offices of Brad Jackson. We look forward to continuing our work during 2020 and keeping everyone up to date on the latest news here at the firm. Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

Brad Jackson Wins Second Favorable Judgment in a Week

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business litigation

The Law Offices of Brad Jackson recently scored our second big business litigation victory in less than a week by winning a summary judgment for two clients in a multimillion-dollar contract dispute. The decision issued in Dallas district court followed our successful defense of another client in a $100,000 fraudulent transfer claim.

The most recent ruling stems from a lawsuit that was filed against our clients by their former business partner, who claimed he was wrongly fired. Brad won that case in a summary judgment that protected our clients from more than $1 million in alleged damages.

The former partner responded by filing an appeal with Dallas’ 5th District Court of Appeals. Brad won the appeal last year when the court confirmed that our clients’ former partner was owed nothing and ordered him to pay for the costs of the appeal.

Despite the clear loss, the business partner and his attorneys were not done trying to force our clients to pay him something.

Fired Partner Argues for Stock Buyback

After he was fired, the former partner claimed that a contract among the owners obligated our clients to purchase his company stock, which he claimed was worth roughly $2 million. The Court initially denied summary judgment motions from both sides before scheduling a jury trial for last October to decide the contract dispute.

Prior to the trial, Brad helped convince the Court that an interpretation of the partners’ agreement should be determined by the Judge as a matter of law. The trial was postponed so both sides could brief the Court on the disputed issues.

Court Agrees with Brad Jackson in Ruling

In his brief, Brad argued that the contested contract did not include an obligation for our clients to buy back their former partner’s stock. Instead, Brad told the Court that the contract created an option for them to buy the stock if they chose to do so.

After considering arguments from both sides, the Court agreed with Brad and issued a final judgment representing a complete victory for our clients.

In the decision, Presiding Judge Maricela Moore of Dallas’ 162nd District Court ruled in our clients’ favor by granting both our previous and current summary judgment motions. In addition to awarding the business partner zero damages, the ruling also requires him to pay our clients’ court costs.

Although the former partner has lost multiple summary judgment decisions and appeals court rulings, he already has indicated that he intends to appeal this latest loss as well. Of course, we will continue to defend our business litigation clients and protect their legal rights through the appellate process.

Brad Jackson Earns Spot on 2018 Texas Super Lawyers List

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attorney, Texas Super Lawyers, commercial litigation, Brad Jackson

Experienced attorney Brad Jackson of the Law Offices of Brad Jackson in Dallas has earned his 15th consecutive selection among the state’s best on the exclusive Texas Super Lawyers list.

Mr. Jackson, who is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, is recognized in the 2018 listing for his accomplishments in business litigation. His selection is based on nominations from other attorneys and an extensive editorial review conducted by Super Lawyers, a division of Thomson Reuters.

Recent Legal Successes

Last month, Mr. Jackson and fellow firm attorney Cheryl L. Mann successfully represented a group of business owners in a partnership dispute where their company’s former president sought more than $1 million.

In a 15-page opinion, the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas affirmed an earlier summary judgment that Mr. Jackson won for the same clients, clearing them of allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, and misappropriation and conversion of corporate funds.

Earlier this year, Mr. Jackson and Ms. Mann successfully defended a group of seller and business broker clients in a lawsuit over the sale of an insurance agency. The plaintiffs sought more than $3 million but decided to dismiss their claims after only three days of trial. They also agreed to pay $200,000 to one of the firm’s clients.

Attorney Provides Civil Litigation Expertise

These are just two examples of the many types of cases Mr. Jackson handles for companies and individuals from all walks of life. He represents both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts throughout Texas and across the U.S.

In addition to serving as lead counsel in the firm’s cases, Mr. Jackson also is regularly called on by other lawyers and out-of-state clients for his advice and legal expertise. He maintains strong working relationships with lawyers and judges in North Texas and beyond.

Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles practically every type of business dispute, as well as cases involving high-stakes divorce litigation, serious personal injury and wrongful death.

Law Offices of Brad Jackson Wins Appeal in $1M Partnership Dispute

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Last week, the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas affirmed an earlier summary judgment won by The Law Offices of Brad Jackson in a $1 million dispute partnership dispute.

While Brad Jackson and Cheryl Mann are best known for their work helping plaintiffs and defendants at the trial level, this case demonstrates their ability to make those results stand up if the case reaches the court of appeals.

Partnership Turns Into Lawsuits

The dispute began in 2012 when our clients voted to remove their business partner (who was a fellow shareholder) as president of a Dallas-based company that manufactures printed labeling for various products.

The business partner responded by filing a lawsuit, which he later dismissed, nonsuiting all his claims. He continued to threaten our clients and sent a letter indicating that he intended to file a new lawsuit. We responded by filing our own lawsuit for declaratory judgment seeking a court declaration that our clients had acted appropriately in dealing with the terminated partner, who then launched a series of counterclaims seeking more than $1 million in damages from our clients.

In addition to asking the court to appoint a receiver to oversee the company, the business partner also accused our clients of breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, and misappropriation and conversion of corporate funds, allegations that our clients denied.

We also prevailed in a mid-case appeal after the trial court refused to dismiss an out-of-state client (one of our clients’ relatives), who was also sued. The appellate court agreed with us and dismissed the relative from the lawsuit.

After contentious litigation in the partnership dispute (including a series of depositions, court motions and hearings) the trial court issued a summary judgment in our clients’ favor in late 2016. The court’s ruling dismissed all claims against our clients and granted a declaratory judgment that helped them avoid a costly trial. In the final judgment, the court concluded that our clients were within their rights to terminate the partner as president of the company.

We Know How to Handle Legal Appeals

After losing in the trial court, the terminated partner went on to file an appeal at the 5th District Court of Appeals based on 13 different areas where he claimed the trial court had erred.

In oral arguments before the appeals court, Brad Jackson defended the trial court judge’s reasoning and successfully argued that none of the terminated business partner’s claims should withstand legal scrutiny.

The 5th District Court of Appeals agreed in a 15-page opinion that affirmed the trial court in full and ordered the terminated business partner to pay for the costs of the appeal.

Good Companies Not Immune from Lawsuits

Lawsuits like this one shouldn’t happen to honest people who are trying to operate a successful business, but a partnership dispute is more common than you might think. Even though they were in the right from day one, our clients still faced the potential of over $1 million in damages.

Thankfully, they were protected by the law and we were able to prove it at both the trial and appellate level based on the facts and our many years of work in similar cases.

In the end, our clients are grateful they can now continue to operate their company without the distractions that caused them to remove their former partner as president in the first place.