Amarillo Appellate Court Upholds Vacatur of Multi-Million Dollar Arbitration Award.

February 14, 2017 in Case Summaries

Working closely with Michael Gruber and his trial team at Gruber Elrod Johansen Hail Shank, Jeff Levinger wrote the appellee’s brief that persuaded the Amarillo Court of Appeals to uphold the vacatur of a $2.3 million arbitration award against Raeanne Martin in a dispute among the shareholders of a closely-held Texas corporation. Although the Court noted that review of an arbitration award is “extraordinarily narrow,” it held that the three-member arbitration panel had exceeded its powers by hearing and deciding the dispute even though the parties had previously signed a Rule 11 settlement agreement. Having affirmed the vacatur of the award on that ground, the Court did not reach the second basis for vacatur that the panel also had exceeded its powers by granting relief that was not authorized under the parties’ shareholder agreement. Higginson v. Martin, No. 07-15-00343-CV, 2017 WL 603626 (Tex. App.-Amarillo Feb. 14, 2017, pet. denied).

Courts: Texas Intermediate Appellate Courts
Subject Matter: Business Litigation, Procedural and Evidentiary Issues

By Levinger| February 14th, 2017|Comments Off

Judgment Against General Contractor Is Reversed Based On Erroneous Jury Charge Submission

October 27, 2016 in Case Summaries

Led by the advocacy of Carl Cecere, Levinger PC persuaded the Dallas Court of Appeals to reverse a judgment of nearly $1.5 million against general contractor Viking Healthcare in favor of Zeig Electric, a subcontractor, in connection with the construction of a specialty hospital in Sherman, Texas. The appellate court determined that no evidence supported the liability question submitted to the jury, which asked whether Viking and a project manager that was not a party to the subcontract “failed to comply with the Agreement” with Zeig. Despite the absence of evidence, the court remanded the case for a new trial “in the interest of justice.” The Supreme Court denied review after requesting briefing on both Zeig’s petition and its motion for rehearing. Viking Healthcare, LLC v. Zeig Electric, Inc., No. 05‑15‑00835‑CV, 2016 WL 7448335 (Tex. App. — Dallas Oct. 27, 2016, pet. denied) (mem. op.).

Courts: Texas Intermediate Appellate Courts, Supreme Court of Texas

Subject Matter: Business Litigation, Procedural & Evidentiary Issues

By Levinger| October 27th, 2016|Comments Off

Dallas Court of Appeals Sets Aside New Trial Order Based on Claimed Violation of Disciplinary Rule

May 6, 2016 in Case Summaries

Assisted by trial counsel Ken Chaiken and appellate co-counsel Carl Cecere, Jeff Levinger convinced the Dallas Court of Appeals to grant mandamus relief compelling the trial court to set aside its order granting a new trial in a hotly-contested real estate dispute. Following a week-long trial, a Dallas County jury found that Levinger PC clients Douglas Hickok and VSDH Vaquero Venture did not defraud or breach their contract with the plaintiffs. The trial court, however, granted the plaintiffs a new trial, finding that Vaquero’s trial counsel had violated Texas Disciplinary Rule 3.08 by acting as both an advocate and a witness at trial. Invoking the recent Texas Supreme Court trilogy of cases allowing mandamus review of orders granting new trials, Hickok and Vaquero claimed that a purported violation of Rule 3.08 was not a legally appropriate basis for granting a new trial. The Court of Appeals agreed, and ordered the trial court to render a take-nothing judgment on the jury’s verdict. In re VSDH Vaquero Venture, Ltd., No. 05-15-0513-CV, 2016 WL 2621073 (Tex. App.-Dallas May 6, 2016, pet. denied).

Courts: Texas Intermediate Appellate Courts
Subject Matter: Ethics & Professional Malpractice, Procedural & Evidentiary Issues

By Levinger| May 6th, 2016|Comments Off

Levinger Named as Director of Prestigious State Bar Appellate CLE Course

February 11, 2016 in News
Jeff Levinger has been selected by the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section to serve as the course director for the 30th Annual Advanced Civil Practice seminar to be held on September 8-9, 2016 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. Offering nearly 14 hours of CLE credit, the seminar is one of TexasBar CLE’s most popular events, and features presentations from judges, practitioners, and academicians about a wide range of appellate-related topics. As course director, Levinger is responsible for selecting a planning committee, identifying topics and speakers, presiding over the two-day seminar, and planning the Appellate Section’s annual meeting on September 8. He is assisted by April Farris, a Kelly Hart associate and former Texas deputy solicitor general, who is overseeing the popular “Nuts and Bolts” course that precedes the advanced seminar.

Subject Matter: Procedural & Evidentiary Issues

By Levinger| February 11th, 2016|Comments Off

Levinger PC Teams With Gruber Hurst Elrod to Defeat Claims of Stanford Receiver

July 10, 2015 in News
Jeff Levinger served as appellate counsel to client Dillon Gage of Dallas and its trial team at Gruber Hurst Elrod Johansen Hail Shank, who dealt a rare defeat to the Stanford receiver appointed to represent the financial victims of the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by R. Allen Stanford. In a 7-0 verdict rendered after a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge David Godbey, the jury rejected the Receiver’s claim that Stanford Coins & Bullion acted with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud its creditors when it made over $5.1 million in payments to Dillon Gage in the weeks before the Stanford receivership. Levinger was responsible for handling the jury charge and the Rule 50(a) motions for judgment. The jury charge, which included an important instruction that fraud cannot be inferred from a debtor’s mere intent to prefer one creditor over another, can be found here. A short Texas Lawyer article about the trial is here.

Subject Matter: Business Litigation, Procedural and Evidentiary Issues

By Levinger| July 23rd, 2015|Comments Off