Cain & Skarnulis

$8

Insurance Claim

A local drilling contractor in Kendall County received a record jury award of $8.3 million in their suit over an unpaid insurance claim on an oil well in Louisiana.

$8

Wrongful Eviction

C&S clients were wrongfully evicted from a commercial property in New Braunfels. The clients secured a 20-year lease agreement with the property owner that expressly allowed them to sublease the space. When the owners saw subleases that were more than 3 times the rent they agreed to accept from the C&S clients, they evicted the clients for pretextual reasons. Turner and Evans successfully argued to the jury that the property owner breached the leases and the jury returned $7.68 million dollars in damages for lost sublease revenue, lost profits, and 100% of attorneys’ fees. Recognized on Top Verdict’s list of top 50 plaintiff’s jury verdicts in Texas for 2023.

$2

Fraud

Cain & Skarnulis recently won a fraud trial in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, along with a ruling that the judgment of approximately $2 million cannot be discharged by the bankruptcy process. C&S filed its application for more than $400,000 in attorney’s fees May 2, 2017. Fort Apache, an oil and gas operator, proved that the defendant fraudulently induced it into drilling a well without payment for nearly $2 million in expenses. The defendant represented that he had not raised the money necessary from investors. At trial, Fort Apache proved that not only had the investor money been raised, it had been misappropriated by the defendant for personal expenses. Judge Stacey G.C. Jernigan found that Fort Apache proved that it agreed to the project based on false pretenses. She further determined that the fraud was sufficient to give rise to a nondischargeable debt, meaning that even after the bankruptcy discharges other debts, the defendant will continue to be liable for the judgment.

$2

Construction Litigation

The lawyers of Cain & Skarnulis won a settlement in a case following a creative mediation process put together by a federal magistrate judge. T.J. Turner, Pat Fitzgerald, and Steve Skarnulis represented Liberty Steel Erectors in a case involving delays in the construction of a $500 million medical center on Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. Liberty, a Florida company specializing in reinforcing steel for concrete, sued Penick Nordic Joint Venture, a California company responsible for the building’s superstructure. Liberty’s claims against PNJV were for unpaid change orders and delays. The case settled, with Cain & Skarnulis securing a settlement for their client in the amount of $1.65 million.

$1M

Wrongful Foreclosure

The lawyers of Cain & Skarnulis recently won two judgments totaling just over $1.0 million in a rare wrongful foreclosure victory, for a small Austin business. Steve Skarnulis and Pat Fitzgerald represented Larry Mathis, owner of SmartMail of Austin, who lost his commercial building. Mathis purchased the property in 2000 with a mortgage, as well as a Small Business Administration loan. In 2008, Mathis’ business suffered losses, and he was unable to make anything but sporadic payments on the building. His mortgage company, DCR Mortgage III Sub I, LLC of St. Petersburg, Florida, threatened foreclosure in early 2009. Mathis tendered all amounts owing under his note, but the payment was refused. Mathis filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court in April 2009, to try to stop the foreclosure. While that lawsuit held off foreclosure for a year, ultimately the state court ruled against Mathis, and allowed DCR to foreclose. The court found that DCR had properly accelerated all amounts owing on the note. Mathis appealed the state court’s judgment, but during the appeal, DCR foreclosed and took the building. Mathis estimated the building to be worth approximately $1.5 million at the time of foreclosure. He owed just a little over $250,000 on the note to DCR. Following the foreclosure, Mathis won the appeal. But it was too late to get the property back. A second lawsuit was filed and was referred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Judge Sam Sparks, presiding. Cain & Skarnulis then tried two cases on behalf of Mathis. First, in a September 2014 trial on remand from the appeal of the state court ruling, the firm won a judgment for approximately $220,000, after a bench trial in front of Travis County District Judge Amy Clark Meachum. A second trial was held April 27, 2015, in Judge Sparks’ federal district court in Austin. Judge Sparks presided over a 3-day jury trial. After deliberating for more than a day, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Mathis on April 30, 2015. They found that DCR had wrongfully foreclosed. Recently, on June 25, 2015, and after extensive post-trial briefing, Judge Sparks entered final judgment for more than $800,000. The two judgments now held by Mathis total $1,018,000.

$1

Class Action

C&S secured a $1 million dollar settlement in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of former tenants at the D Street, East First Street, and F Street Apartments in Salida. The D Street apartments were deemed uninhabitable by the Chaffee County Building Department and Salida Police Department in 2017. Tenants of the Mehos properties endured appalling conditions, including insect infestations, lack of heat or hot water, mold, and various other substandard conditions. The settlement resulted in substantial payments to class members, including reimbursement of rent and damage deposits, non-economic damages, and additional damages for minor tenants.