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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Bell Nunnally Settles Legal Malpractice Suit

DALLAS (CN) - A pair of telecom equipment and wireless network field services firms settled their legal malpractice lawsuit against Dallas-based Bell Nunnally & Martin.

American Communications LLC and Tricon/Towerwerks LLC sued Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP and partner Trey Deloach in Dallas County Court in 2011, alleging the lawyers left drafting errors in the agreement, and that the transaction improperly granted Tricon owner Ron Tripido a minority interest in the new entity that made it difficult to jettison him after the closing of the merger.

In a letter to Judge Tonya Parker in Dallas, mediator and attorney Christopher Nolland said the parties appeared at mediation on Monday to resolve their differences.

"I am pleased to report that the mediation has been successful and the litigation has been fully resolved by mutual agreement of all of the parties," Nolland wrote in a letter filed with the court on Wednesday afternoon. "A Rule 11 settlement agreement and term sheet was drafted and fully executed at my offices on the day of the mediation."

Attorneys for both sides are drafting formal settlement documents and will file them with the court shortly, Nolland wrote. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

As Courthouse News reported first, the defendants asked Parker to dismiss the suit on Friday. They disagreed that they should have advised their clients to structure the deal to give Tripido no equity interest.

"Defendants maintain they were not retained to advise plaintiffs on how to structure the transaction as plaintiffs and Mr. Tripido had already reached a written understanding on the agreed upon structure of their transaction before they even retained the plaintiffs," that 30-page motion said. "Moreover, plaintiffs were experienced businesspeople and had significant prior dealings with majority/minority ownership issues, including several prior legal disputes."

Ensuring that Tripido would receive no equity is an "entirely unattainable" request, the lawyers insisted.

Tripido's affidavit testimony allegedly showed that he never would have agreed to such a deal, and he even rejected such a deal in the past, according to the motion.

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