Breach of Contract Judgment Reversed and Vacated on Appeal

December 21, 2010 in Case Summaries

Jeff Levinger represented defendants Hampden Corporation and Fantasy Diamond Corporation in an appeal of a judgment after a bench trial awarding the plaintiff over $750,000 in damages for breach of a commission agreement. Following oral argument, the Dallas Court of Appeals held that the trial court abused its discretion by concluding that the parties tried the breach of contract action by consent and by granting the plaintiff leave to file an amended petition after the trial to assert that cause of action. The court thus vacated the judgment in its entirety and remanded the case to the trial court to allow it to consider the evidence at trial in light of the claims pleaded in the plaintiff’s earlier-filed petition. Hampden Corp. v. Remark, Inc., 331 S.W.3d 489 (Tex. App.–Dallas 2010, pet. denied).