Judge Coleman rules for Jones side in sanctions hearing
Judge Coleman has ruled. He is striking the motion for arbitration and the SKG answer. All of the SKG defendants are subject to this ruling. Judge Coleman is not accepting every allegation in the complaint as true– I think he’s not accepting that the facts in the complaint add up to establishing claim for punitive damages, for instance. He is going to hold a hearing where Jones can prove the fees due him under the joint venture agreement. There won’t be a jury. He has ruled the allegations in the complaint were not sufficient on their face to support a claim for punitive damages, but that the plaintiffs are still allowed to prove their entitlement of punitive damages.
To understand the ruling, keep in mind the difference between the claims in the original complaint (a claim for SKG attorneys fees for Jones’s work) and the request for sanctions. The hearing will be about Jones’s share of SKG fees and his entitlement for punitive damages for SKG’s conduct in failing to pay him before suit was filed.
FOLO
4/16/8
Magnolia Tribune
