Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of July 19, 2021.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Upshaw v. Lacado, No. 02-20-00031-CV (July 22, 2021) (Walker, J., joined by Birdwell and Wallach, JJ.).

Held: The evidence was legally sufficient to support the jury’s findings that the franchisor breached the three franchise-agreement contracts with the franchisee and to support the jury’s calculation of the franchisee’s breach-of-contract damages. Although the trial court submitted broad-form breach and damages questions in the jury charge, the questions did not improperly commingle valid and invalid theories of recovery or measures of damages. But the issue of the franchisee’s attorney’s fees is remanded to the trial court because although the jury’s zero finding cannot be sustained, the trial court was not authorized to render an attorney’s-fee award based on the franchisee’s challenged fees evidence.