Judgment against Amerijin Energy, LLC in a lawsuit over fees for representation with Ashby, LLP was affirmed in the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas on March 31.
Amerijin Co., LLC, Amerijin Energy, LLC and Xi “Peter” Zhu took issue with the 334th District Court in Harris County’s ruling for Ashby in Ashby’s breach of contract claim, and the appellants’ counterclaim for breach of fiduciary duty. The appellants said the lower court shouldn’t have denied their motions for summary judgment and to disregard jury findings for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). Judges Julie Countiss, Evelyn Keyes, and Charles Goodman of the appeals court affirmed.
They didn’t speak on the summary judgment ruling, pointing out that the record doesn’t indicate a trial court ruling on the motion. “Thus, we hold that any complaint about the trial court’s purported denial of appellants’ motion is not preserved for appellate review,” wrote Justice Countiss.
Texas First District Court of Appeals Justice Julie Countiss
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For the denied jury findings and JNOV motion, the court affirmed the denial of that against Amerijin and looked at the lower court’s right to ignore a jury’s verdict and deliver a JNOV if there’s a lack of evidence that backs the jury’s findings. In this case, there was no evidence of important facts, and the evidence that could be presented is less than a scintilla.
As for the money owed, Zhu also took the witness stand and said If Ashby LLP reached a settlement in the lawsuit in question, Ashby would be owed 40% of what Amerijin was granted. But while the appellants claim that Amerijin wasn’t granted recovery for the lawsuit in question, since it had to pay, the judges point out that Amerijin was awarded $1.7 million.
The appellants also failed to preserve their claim that Ashby breached fiduciary duty when it didn’t disclose certain information to a bankruptcy court.
Ashby LLP sued Amerijin after they entered into a contingency-free agreement, where Ashby would represent Amerijin in litigation against Sandia Drilling Co., Ltd, LLP, and Amerijin would pay Ashby a portion of the money awarded. Things went left after the suit had a mistrial and Amerijin filed for bankruptcy and hired a different firm, Tow & Koeing, PLLC to represent it. Still, while the bankruptcy was pending, Ashby LLP and Julie Koening came to a settlement agreement in the Sandia lawsuit, entitling Ashby LLP to 40% of the amount. But Amerjin allegedly didn’t pay, leading to Ashby’s lawsuit, and Amerijin’s subsequent appeal.