May 3, 2022 in Case Summaries

Jeff Levinger teamed with Locke Lord partners David Swanson  and Tom Loose to obtain the reversal of a judgment of over $18 million in a long-running partnership dispute between their client, Craig Power, and his brother and business partner, Braden Power.  In an opinion authored by Justice Erin Nowell and joined by Justices Ken Molberg and Bonnie Goldstein, the Dallas Court of Appeals held that the trial court had abused its discretion in admitting evidence of document spoliation and instructing the jury on spoliation without the requisite findings of duty and intent.  And because the harm from the erroneous admission of the evidence and the spoliation instruction was “substantial,” the Court remanded the case for a new trial on all issues.  After Levinger filed a petition for review in the Texas Supreme Court challenging the court of appeals’ failure to address several rendition issues, the case settled on terms favorable to Craig Power.  Power v. Power, No. 05-19-01557-CV, 2022 WL 1314944 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 3, 2022, pet. dism’d by agr.) (mem. op).

Courts:  Texas Intermediate Courts; Texas Supreme Court

Subject Matter:  Business Litigation; Procedural and Evidentiary Issues