BEAUMONT – Texas' 9th District Court of Appeals at Beaumont affirmed a reformed final judgment in favor of Patriot Security Inc. after plaintiffs Sherman Moore and George Adams filed a motion for a mistrial stating there was no agreement of a settlement between the parties.
Moore and Adams argued that the 58th District Court in Jefferson County erred in granting a summary judgment because the agreement did not have "all the necessary elements of an agreement to support the judgment." They further argued that there were disputed facts in the case and the recitation "provides no basis for the award of liquidated damages."
The court, however, determined that Patriot was entitled to the judgment as a matter of law after finding that neither Moore nor Adams made their $50,000 payments to Patriot per the parties' agreement.
Counsel for the defendants argued that the trial court relied on "the representations of defendants and their previous counsel" to settle the case.
To prevail in the claim, Patriot had to prove a valid contract between the parties existed, the claimant's performance or tender of performance, one party breached the contract, and there were damages resulting from such a breach.
Patriot contends that the plaintiffs interfered with a contract and committed a "misappropriation of trade secrets" with more than 39 clients in Orange and Jefferson Counties. Patriot filed the lawsuit in 2011.
The court argued that Patriot established "through its motion and summary judgment evidence" that a contract existed between the parties and the company incurred damages resulting from the breach, thereby warranting a summary judgment in their favor.
It further argued that Moore and Adams' response to the judgment "included no citations to any legal authority" and failed to raise a material fact of issue which would nullify a summary judgment.
Justice Leanne Johnson delivered the opinion of the court on March 8 before Judges Charles Kreger and Hollis Horton.