Multi-Million Dollar Judgment for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Reversed Based on Contractual Disclaimer.

January 12, 2012 in Case Summaries

Multi-Million Dollar Judgment for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Reversed Based on Contractual Disclaimer.

In a complex partnership dispute that culminated in a multi-million dollar jury verdict, Jeff Levinger persuaded the Houston First Court of Appeals to reverse the judgment against his client, Douglas Strebel.  Strebel’s former partner, John Wimberly, had obtained a $3.4 million judgment against him based on the jury’s findings that Strebel had breached alleged fiduciary duties as both the controlling member of a Delaware LLC and the limited partner of a Texas LP.  The court of appeals reversed, holding that Wimberly’s alleged loss of distributions occurred only at the LP level where the parties had contractually disclaimed any fiduciary duties on the part of the general partner and the controlling member of the general partner.  Strebel v. Wimberly, 371 S.W.3d 267 (Tex. App. ‑‑ Houston [1st Dist.] 2012, pet. filed).