Cain & Skarnulis

$7.7M

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.

$1.6M

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.

$8.3M

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.

$2M

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.

$1M

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.

$116,901

Construction Litigation

Cain & Skarnulis PLLC recently won a complete plaintiff’s verdict for its client, KB Concrete Construction. The jury returned a unanimous verdict, awarding more in damages than KB actually sought, and awarding all attorney’s fees. The case was filed by KB in response to a demand for $150,000 by Young, who alleged construction defects in a slab poured by KB. KB initially filed the suit over nonpayment by Young as a preventive measure. The jury unanimously found breach of contract by nonpayment and unjust enrichment, and awarded KB damages in excess of the price of the foundation, $26,901. Significantly, the jury also awarded $90,000 in attorney’s fees.