Tammy Tran
HOUSTON - The 14th Court of Appeals recently affirmed a judgment that attorney Tammy Tran and her law firm breached a settlement agreement with State Resources Corp.
The July 10 opinion stems from a breach of contract case involving a promissory note and guaranty and a subsequent settlement agreement.
Court records show States Resources sued the Tran parties for breach of the promissory note. Tran, in turn, filed counterclaims under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. While the lawsuit was pending, the parties settled.
According to the opinion, the settlement agreement provided that States Resources recover from the Tran Parties “the sum of $70,328.85.”
After signing, Tran withdrew consent to the submission of the agreed judgment to the trial court and failed to pay the final payments. States Resources then amended its petition to assert an additional claim for breach of contract, alleging that the Tran parties breached the settlement agreement.
Court records show the trial court granted States Resources’ summary-judgment motion without specifying the grounds, awarding the lender $68,661.77 in damages. Tran filed a motion for a new trial, which the court denied, resulting in the appeal.
On appeal, the Tran parties argued there was no evidence that States Resources acquired any rights under the guaranty, and that the evidence raised genuine issues of material fact as to the amount owed, the amount paid, and the amount due on the note.
Justices overruled Tran’s issues, finding that the Tran parties did not contend that summary judgment was improper on a separate ground that would independently support the judgment.
“On appeal, the Tran Parties do not challenge summary judgment on the ground that they breached the Settlement Agreement,” the opinion states. “Undisputedly, all of the Tran Parties signed the Settlement Agreement, and the Tran Parties do not suggest on appeal that the Settlement Agreement is not enforceable.
“Accordingly, without reaching the merits, we overrule the Tran Parties’ issues because they have not challenged each independent ground on which the trial court may have granted States Resources’ summary-judgment motion.”
Houston attorney Jeremy Masten represents Tran.
The law firm of Palmer Lehman Sandberg represents State Resources.
Appeals case No. 14-24-00380-CV
