Houston Business Torts Lawyer | Houston Business Torts Attorney | Business Lawsuits Involving Extra-Contractual Damages

In the city of Houston, Harris County, Texas, there are transactions between consumers and businesses and businesses and businesses taking place probably every minute if not every second. Usually, these transactions are in the form of someone agreeing to something or a fee of some sort. There are usually classified as a contract of some sort. If someone "breaches" this contract, there exists a legal action for breach of contract and you should seek the assistance of a Houston Contract Lawyer.

Sometimes, especially in business to business transactions, there may be more than an ordinary breach of contract claim. These are commonly referred to as a business tort or business torts. If a Houston business torts attorney is successful in pleading and proving a business tort, then extra-contractual damages are available. These economic damages can sometimes go far beyond contractual damages which are limited to the loss of contractual benefits, i.e., the damages directly related for a failure to perform, and attorneys fees.

If you were a party to a transaction and suspect that tortuous behavior was involved, you would be well advised to seek legal advice. All too often, those who are the victim of a business tort are not fully aware of their rights and responsibilities under Texas law. Contacting a qualified local lawyer will give you guidance during your trying time.

 

What Are Business Torts?

Business torts are intentional civil wrongs that are committed by or against the economic interests or relationships of a business organization. They frequently involve harm done to the intangible assets of a business, such as its business relationships with customers or other businesses. Some common categories of business torts include fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and tortious interference.

You can never be too careful when it comes to protecting the relationships you and your business have forged over the years. Even though such relationships are not tangible things, they are usually a critical part of any successful and growing business. When you are involved in a dispute that threatens the relationships that your business has built, you should immediately consider seeking legal advice from a lawyer with experience in the field.  A Houston Business Torts Lawyer can help you protect your intangible assets.

What is Fraudulent Misrepresentation and How Can an Experienced Houston Fraudulent Misrepresentation Lawyer Help?

One of the most common kinds of business fraud is the tort of misrepresentation. Misrepresentation transpires when one party intentionally falsifies a material fact in order to get, or "induce", another party to perform or refrain from performing in a certain manner. In order to prove misrepresentation, a Houston fraudulent misrepresentation lawyer would show that his/her client relied upon the defendant’s misrepresentation and was harmed, "suffered damages", as a result. For example, if a business submits a materially misleading financial statement to a bank in an attempt to secure a loan and the bank, relying upon the statement, lends money to the business, the bank will have a fraud claim against the business if the business later defaults on the loan. A fraud claim may also arise from the failure to disclose a material fact if a defendant owed a duty to speak on account of a special relationship. For example, a financial advisor representing both a buyer and seller of real property may be liable for fraud if he knows that the property contains toxic chemicals and fails to tell this to the buyer.

What is Breach of a Fiduciary Duty and How Can a knowledgeable Houston Breach of a Fiduciary Attorney Help?

A fiduciary is a party who is charged with acting in another party’s best interests. If the fiduciary acts in a way that is adverse to the beneficiary’s interests, breach of fiduciary duty occurs. In the business context, this tort most often surfaces with corporations. Generally, a corporation’s officers and directors have fiduciary duties to their shareholders, and a breach of fiduciary duty occurs if an officer or director acts in a manner adverse to the shareholders’ interests. For example, if an officer engages in insider trading, he would be guilty of breaching his fiduciary duty to the corporation’s shareholders.

If you live in the Houston area someone owes you a fiduciary duty to act in your best interest, their failure to fulfill this duty gives you a cause for legal action. Often, people do not fully understand what it means to owe someone a fiduciary duty.

Financial advisors are a good example of people who owe a fiduciary duty to others. Like most professionals who deal with fiduciaries, financial advisors are required to act with the best interests of their client in mind. As such a large city with such a large economy, Houston and its surrounding areas are home to thousands of financial advisors. Some of the more notable firms offering financial advice to Houston residents are:

Houston, Texas Money Managers and Financial Advisors

Horizon Advisors, LLC
5851 San Felipe
Suite 700
Houston, TX 77057
713-748-7000
Posey Capital
Management, Inc.
2415 Sunset Boulevard
Houston, TX 77005
713-490-7000
Ronald Blue & Co., LLC
952 Echo Lane
Suite 190
Houston, TX 77024
713-465-2900

The Life Planning Group
3355 West Alabama
Houston, TX 77098
Busch Financial Planning
15840 Farm to Market 529
Suite 211
Houston, TX 77095
832-529-4518
CEP Financial LLC
12345 Jones Road
Suite 190
Houston, TX 77070
281-685-9715
Matthew Goff Investment Advisor, LLC
4400 Post Oak Parkway
Suite 2150
Houston, TX 77027
713-850-8900 
McHenry Capital, LLC
4265 San Felipe
Suite 1100
Houston, TX 77027
888-968-9815
Patriot Wealth Management, Inc
5847 San Felipe
Suite 200
Houston, TX 77057
713-344-9305
PartnersInWealth, Inc.
3400 Bissonnet Street
Suite 145
Houston, TX 77005
713-964-4028
Rexford Capital
Wealth Management
5420 Braeburn Drive
Bellaire, TX 77401
713-838-8383
Parker Financial Advisors
14800 St. Mary’s Lane
Suite 245
Houston, TX 77079
877-752-6228

 

What is Interference with Contractual Relations and How Can an Experienced Houston Interference with Contract Lawyer Help?

The business tort of interference with contractual relations permits a plaintiff to recover damages based upon a claim that a defendant interfered with the plaintiff's contractual relations. Interference with contract rights generally takes place when a meddling person or business convinces a company to breach its contract with another company or the meddling party prevents a company from fulfilling its contractual obligations to another company. The elements of an intentional interference with contractual relations claim are (1) a valid contract between plaintiff and a third party; (2) defendant's knowledge of this contract; (3) defendant's intentional acts designed to induce a breach or disruption of the contractual relationship; (4) actual breach or disruption of the contractual relationship; and (5) resulting damage.

What is Interference with Prospective Business Relations and How Can an Experienced Houston Interference with Business Relations Attorney Help?

The business tort of interference with prospective business relations protects economic interests that have not yet been formalized into a contract. Business relations interference occurs when a meddling person or business intentionally prevents a company from establishing a business relationship. The elements of this business tort are (1) an economic relationship between the plaintiff and some third person which has the probability of future economic benefit to the plaintiff, (2) defendant's knowledge of the existence of the relationship, (3) defendant's intentional acts designed to disrupt the relationship, (4) actual disruption of the relationship, and (5) damages to the plaintiff proximately caused by the acts of the defendant.

A Houston Business Torts Lawyer will help you with your business tort claim

Business tort claims are often pursued in actions between competing businesses. Typical actions giving rise to liability include inducing customers or vendors to breach contracts, enticing employees to leave, and making false statements about a competing business. As with any tort claim, the monetary damages that a plaintiff can recover in a business tort claim include all damages directly caused by the acts of the defendant. In contrast to the damages a plaintiff may recover for a breach of contract, which are generally limited to the reasonable value of the contract, a business tort plaintiff may potentially recover attorney’s fees, general damages, and in those cases where there is egregious misconduct, the plaintiff could also  be awarded punitive damages.

Contact a Houston Business Torts Lawyer today for a free consultation.

Serving clients throughout Southeastern Texas, including Aldine, Baytown, Bellaire, Beaumont, Channelview, Cloverleaf, Conroe, Deer Park, Friendswood, Galena Park, Galveston, Hedwig Village, Highlands, Hilshire Village, Humble, Jacinto City, Katy, League City, Magnolia, Mission Bend, Missouri City, Pasadena, Pearland, Porter, Sealy, South Houston, Spring Valley, Stafford, The Meadows, The Woodlands, Waller, West University, and other communities in Fort Bend County, Harris County, and Montgomery County.