SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

GALVESTON - A lawsuit which targeted a League City attorney for reneging on a boat business deal has recently been disposed.

Galveston County 212th District Court Judge Susan Criss signed an agreed final take nothing judgment Nov. 15, concluding W. Ken Bunting III's suit against Darold Maxwell.

Bunting, a local sailboat rigger, sued Maxwell on Sept. 30, 2010, complaining the lawyer withheld his share of profits from a boating business they ran.

Court documents filed at the time allege Maxwell failed to fulfill his promise of providing monetary backing and general administration for their marine electronics business in exchange for the plaintiff's labor and contributed capital.

The plaintiff worked on the defendant's personal vessel for several years prior to the start of the business.

Bunting was first reluctant to enter the venture, but Maxwell convinced him to join on the guarantee that he would support it financially as well as purchase a 32-foot Grand Banks show boat to serve as the company's marketing tool, the original petition says.

The suit further explains that Maxwell did not purchase the vessel nor perform his obligatory services for the business, stating the respondent reportedly furthered another business instead using the resources he and the plaintiff culled together.

It also shows that the defendant persuaded Bunting to sell his real property in Kemah before completely abandoning the business, leaving the plaintiff without any chance of increasing his assets and property value.

Maxwell formally denied the allegations on Oct. 26, 2010 as well as submitted a counterclaim earlier this year.

He designated his lead counsel, attorney Timothy A. Beeton of Galveston, and League City local Boris Jones as his expert witnesses in late March.

The two-page order says both parties are to take nothing from each other.

Case No. 10-cv-3786