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### D AVID 

### K ELTNER 

### david.keltner@kellyhart.com T ELEPHONE 

### : (817)878-3560

F AX 

### : (817)878-9760



# May 4, 2015

Via Electronic Filing Mr. Christopher A. Prine Clerk, First Court of Appeals
301 Fannin Street Houston, Texas 77002-2066

Re: No. 01-13-00782-CV; Bandier Realty Partners, LLC and Switchback Ventures, LLC v. SSC Opportunity Partners, LLC and Douglas Britton

Dear Mr. Prine:

This case is set for May 5, 2015. Please circulate this response to Appellant’s letter brief of April 2, 2015.

Because National Property Holdings, L.P. v. Westergren , 453 S.W.3d 419 (Tex. 2015) (per curiam) was decided on significantly different facts, the Bandier Defendants’ suggestion that it forecloses fraudulent inducement is wrong.

There, the plaintiff had ample opportunity to read the release. But here, the Bandier Defendants deliberately delayed sending the release until SSC had only minutes to review or risk defaulting on its multimillion dollar real estate deal.

More importantly, the Bandier Defendants were SSC’s fiduciaries. The Westergren defendants were not. This is a legally important distinction.

The Westergren court quoted and cited with approval the earlier decision of Thigpen v. Locke , 363 S.W.2d 247, 251 (Tex. 1962). In that case, the Supreme Court held that a party has the obligation to read the contracts it executes unless the defendants owed a fiduciary duty to the plaintiff. Id. at 252.

As a result, the Westergren opinion does not foreclose justifiable reliance when the fiduciaries were involved in an undisclosed scheme against the plaintiff.

Thank you for your courtesy and assistance. ACCEPTED 01-13-00782-CV FIRST COURT OF APPEALS

HOUSTON, TEXAS 5/4/2015 11:49:21 AM CHRISTOPHER PRINE

CLERK

### Page 2

May 4, 2015

Kelly Hart & Hallman, a Limited Liability Partnersh ip | www.kellyhart.com 

# Sincerely yours,

/s/ David Keltner

David E. Keltner

DEK/nlb

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

1. This letter brief complies with the type-volume limitations of Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.4(i)(2)(D) because it contain s 190 words, excluding the parts of the letter brief exempted by Texas Rul e of Appellate Procedure 9.4(i)(1).

2. This letter brief complies with the typeface req uirements of Texas Rule of Procedure 9.4(e) because this letter brief has been prepared in a proportionally spaced typeface using “Microsoft Wor d 2010” in fourteen (14) point “Times New Roman” style font.

/s/ David Keltner
David E. Keltner

### Page 3

May 4, 2015

Kelly Hart & Hallman, a Limited Liability Partnersh ip | www.kellyhart.com 

# CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of th e above and foregoing has been served on the following counsel of record via electronic filing on the 4th day of May, 2015:

Brian B. Kilpatrick brianbkil@gmail.com
T HE 

# K ILPATRICK 

# L AW 

# F IRM 

# 1811 Bering Drive, Suite 125 Houston, Texas 77057 Counsel for Appellees W. Craft Hughes craft@crafthugheslaw.com Jarrett L. Ellzey jarrett@crafthugheslaw.com
H UGHES 

# E LLZEY 

# , LLP
Galleria Tower I 2700 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1120 Houston, Texas 77056 Counsel for Appellees

David M. Gunn dgunn@beckredden.com
Erin H. Huber dgunn@beckredden.com
B ECK 

# R EDDEN 

# LLP 1221 McKinney, Suite 4500 Houston, Texas 77010 Counsel for Appellants Bandier Realty Partners, LLC and Switchback Ventures, LLC Kenneth T. Fibich
tfibich@fhl-law.com
Sara J. Fendia
sfendia@fhl-law.com
F IBICH



# , H AMPTON



# , L EEBRON



# , B RIGGS 

# & J OSEPHSON 

# , LLP
1150 Bissonnet Houston, Texas 77005 Counsel for Appellees

Sean Michael Reagan sreagan@lpmfirm.com
L EYH


# , P AYNE 

# & M ALLIA 

# , PLLC 9545 Katy Freeway, Suite 200 Houston, Texas 77024 Counsel for Appellees

/s/ David Keltner
David E. Keltner