HOUSTON – For the better part of a decade now, a dispute between an attorney and his former law firm has occupied the courts in Harris County.
Court records show Sean Roberts, a former Abraham Watkins attorney, complained of a trial court’s refusal to set supersedeas bond on a judgment for receiver Seth Kretzer.
On Sept. 10, the First Court of Appeals granted Roberts’ petition, concluding the trial court had a duty to permit Roberts to supersede the judgment.
The opinion
Roberts left the firm after a dispute arose. Abraham Watkins filed a lawsuit and the parties entered into an agreed judgment requiring Roberts to pay the firm $63,883.36. When Roberts did not pay the judgment, Abraham Watkins sought appointment of a receiver and the trial court appointed Kretzer on March 18, 2019.
The trial court ordered Roberts to pay $800 in reasonable and necessary legal fees to Abraham Watkins for the motion to appoint a receiver, $650 of which was to be paid to the receiver. The trial court also stated that the receiver’s fee was 25 percent of all gross proceeds that came into the receiver’s possession. On May 6, 2019, Roberts paid the judgment plus interest, which was approximately $107,000.
On July 12, 2019, the trial court entered an order requiring Roberts to pay Kretzer $650 plus $26,750 for reasonable and necessary receivership fees and expenses, and to pay Abraham Watkins $800.
Roberts filed a notice of appeal on Aug. 10, 2019. Kretzer began collection activities by intervening in Roberts’ cases on file in Harris County, seeking to attach prospective fees that Roberts might be awarded in those cases. Roberts moved to strike the interventions. On Oct. 20, 2019, Kretzer filed an application for a charging order seeking to satisfy the award of fees for his work as the receiver from Roberts’ membership interest in partnerships.
On Dec. 6, 2019, the trial court declined to enter a charging order, but ordered Roberts to deposit $28,200 into the court’s registry. Roberts then filed a motion for clarification, stating that he was willing to post the entire amount ordered as a supersedeas bond and asked the trial court to accept his check for the $28,2000 into the court’s registry as a supersedeas bond suspending enforcement of the July order on appeal.
After a hearing, the trial court issued an order on April 6, denying Roberts’ motion for clarification and reiterating that Roberts was to comply with the December order requiring him to deposit the funds into the trial court’s registry.
Roberts deposited the funds into the court’s registry and filed his petition, challenging the trial court’s denial of his motion for clarification concerning supersedeas.
Appeals case No. 01-20-00370