Dallas partner David Moran argued before the Texas Supreme Court in February 2017 on behalf of a bank client in an important case involving a claim by an alleged third party beneficiary of a loan commitment.

Jackson Walker was retained as appellate counsel after the court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment awarding substantial damages for breach of contract based upon a theory that the plaintiff was a third party beneficiary of the bank’s loan commitment.

On May 12, 2017, in a 9–0 opinion authored by Justice Jeffrey S. Boyd, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the Houston Fourteenth Court of Appeals, and rendered judgment in favor of the bank on the third party beneficiary theory. The Court held that the loan commitment was unambiguous, that it presented a question of law for the Court, not the jury, and that the jury was improperly instructed to consider extrinsic evidence in determining third party beneficiary status. After ruling in favor of the bank on the contract claim, the Court remanded the case for consideration of plaintiff’s remaining tort claim.

The appellate victory was a team effort with partner Sean D. Jordan, who co-chairs Jackson Walker’s appellate practice group, and colleague Adam W. Aston, authoring the winning briefs on the merits.