In Gooden v. Mackie, a borrower sued a mortgage servicer after the servicer foreclosed on the property. No. 4:19-CV-02948, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25142 (S.D. Tex. January 22, 2020). Among other claims, the borrower filed a breach of fiduciary duty claim. The federal magistrate recommended dismissing that claim. The magistrate held:

The mortgagor-mortgagee relationship

When the economy has a downturn, trustees are under more pressure to make distributions. Beneficiaries lose jobs, their individual asset portfolios decrease, and they may make the decision to go back to school. Moreover, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, health care expenses may increase. Due to these factors, trustees are under more pressure to make

In Taylor v. Rothstein Kass & Co., PLLC, a receiver for a failed business sued an accounting firm for various claims arising from the auditor’s issuance of a clean audit report concerning certain financial statements. No. 3:19-CV-1594-D , 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17435 (N.D. Tex. February 4, 2020). The defendants filed a Federal Rule of

Plaintiffs in civil litigation often seek punitive or exemplary damages. “Exemplary damages” means any damages awarded as a penalty or by way of punishment but not for compensatory purposes. Exemplary damages are neither economic nor noneconomic damages. “Exemplary damages” includes punitive damages. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 41.001(5). A jury may only

In Budri v. FirstFleet, Inc., an employee sued his employer and supervisor for a number of causes of action, including a claim for breach of fiduciary duty. No. 3:19-CV-0409-N-BH, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188251 (N.D. Tex. September 20, 2019). The federal magistrate recommended dismissing the breach of fiduciary duty claim because there were no

In Herring v. Am. Paper & Janitorial Prods., the plaintiff was a subcontractor who provided janitorial services for a bank and was also a depositor of the bank. No. H-17-3474, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215765 (S.D. Tex. December 24, 2018). After the plaintiff’s representatives were found stealing food after a party, the plaintiff’s contract

In Thunder Patch II, LLC v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., plaintiffs filed suit against a trustee in state court seeking a declaration regarding the enforceability of a mineral lease, and the trustee removed the case to federal court based on diversity of citizenship. No. 5-18-CV-00629-OLG-RBF, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207696 (W.D. Tex. December 10,

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Thank you to everyone who joined us on June 13 for the webinar “Recent Developments In Trustees’ Use Of Exculpatory, Release, and Disclaimer-Of-Reliance Clauses In Texas.”  The recorded webinar link is now available.  If you are interested in joining our next complimentary webinar, please send your request to [email protected]