Gordon v. Leasman

A carpenter sued a husband and wife, along with the wife's interior design company, to recover a balance owed for work he performed at the couple's home. A jury sided with the carpenter, Dennis Leasman, d/b/a Leasman Contracting. The homeowners, Lauren and Alan Gordon, and Lauren's interior design company, IBL Construction and Design L.L.C., appeal. Presentment of a claim under §38.002(2) is required to allow the debtor to pay the claim before incurring an obligation to pay attorney's fees. Leasman testified that he handed Lauren the handwritten version of the third invoice for his carpentry work. Lauren denied she received a third invoice from Leasman, but Alan admitted that the handwritten version of the invoice was in either his personal files or the IBL files. Nonpayment of a bill or invoice for 30 days satisfies the presentment requirement. Leasman's attorney argued that if the jury found only IBL liable on the agreement with Leasman, then Leasman would not recover. Based on the record as a whole, the argument was not so extreme that a juror might have been persuaded to agree with a verdict contrary to one the juror would have adopted absent the argument. The jury argument was not a personal attack on counsel or the parties. It did not strike at the core of the judicial process. The argument was not incurable. The evidence supports the jury's findings that favor the carpenter for his claim for payment for services rendered, and that his attorney's jury argument was not incurable. The judgment is modified to provide for a prejudgment interest rate of one and one-half percent per month. The judgment as modified is affirmed. Houston's 1st Court of Appeals, No. 01-10-00704-CV, 10-27-2011.

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OPINION

A carpenter sued a husband and wife, along with the wife’s interior design company, to recover a balance owed for work he performed at the couple’s home. A jury sided with the carpenter, Dennis Leasman, d/b/a Leasman Contracting. The homeowners, Lauren and Alan Gordon, and Lauren’s interior design company, IBL Construction and Design, L.L.C., appeal. They contend that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s findings that Lauren and Alan are individually liable to Leasman, and that Leasman had presented his claim for payment to them. They further assert that the Leasman’s attorney made an incurable jury argument. Leasman cross-appeals, contending that the trial court erred by awarding interest at the rate of five percent per year rather than at the statutory rate of one and one-half percent per month.

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