David F. Johnson co-presented with Zachary S. Davis from Stoel Rives LLP, in Portland, Oregon, on “Limitation of Liability Clauses in Business Contracts: Limiting Potential Damages and Avoiding Pitfalls” on January 31, 2023, for national CLE provider Strafford. This CLE webinar was intended to guide business counsel and owners to draft and negotiate appropriate limitation
David F. Johnson presented “Trustee’s Obligation to Inform Beneficiaries: Avoiding Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims” to a national audience on November 16, 2021, via Strafford publishing with his co-presenter Scott E. Rahn, founder of RMO LLP. A critical obligation for trustees of irrevocable trusts is the duty to inform beneficiaries of the trust’s existence and
David F. Johnson presented “Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Trustees/Managers of Closely-Held Businesses” with Kenneth J. Fair of Wright Close & Barger, LLP, on July 22, 2021, for Strafford Webinars to a national audience. This presentation covered various issues involved in a trustee owning an interest in a closely-held business when disputes arise. The
David F. Johnson recently published his article “Fiduciary Compensation and Forfeiture in Texas” in the Texas Tech Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal. This article addresses many of the interesting issues that arise in trustee compensation disputes. The article addresses a trustee’s authority to compensation under the trust document, statutes, and common law, and
David F. Johnson presented his paper on “Administering A Trust In A Recession: Trust Loans To Beneficiaries” to the Houston Bar Association’s Probate and Estate Section on October 27, 2020 via a webinar format. 
This presentation addressed, among other things, a trustee’s authority to loan trust assets to beneficiaries, co-trustee issues, conflicts of interest, the
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
David F. Johnson will discuss the potential remedies that plaintiffs can obtain for breach of fiduciary duty claims with an emphasis on trust disputes, and will cover: 1) pretrial remedies of temporary injunctive relief, receiverships, and audits; 2) legal remedies of damages, attorney’s fees, pre-judgment interest; 3) equitable remedies
In Hagood v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., a borrower sued a lender for several claims, including breach of fiduciary duties. No. A-17-CA-00784-SS, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165943 (W. D. Tex. October 6, 2017). The defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and the district court granted same:
Without providing
In Byrom v. Penn, Byrom was appointed executor of his mother’s estate, and he was later removed as executor for breach of fiduciary duty by using estate funds to build a house for himself. No. 12-15-00033-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 7680 (Tex. App.—Tyler July 20, 2016, no pet. history). The court imposed a constructive
A. Introduction
Plaintiffs often seek discovery on a financial institution’s policies and procedures with an eye towards using that evidence against the institution. If a financial institution’s representative or representatives did not live up to the policies and procedures, a plaintiff may argue that the institution did not live up to its fiduciary duty or