In a unanimous decision, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled for the first time that two legal principles appellate courts use to limit or overturn damage awards also can be applied to attorney fees.
On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court affirmed the 1st Court of Appeals’ decision to significantly reduce the damages awarded in Barker and Barker v. Eckman, a suit involving the distribution of proceeds from the sale of bull semen collected, stored and sold under a bailment agreement. The high court concluded that the Houston appeals court was correct when it held that the statute of limitations barred breaches of the agreement that occurred more than four years before Walter Eckman sued Emzy and Ava Barker.