Opinion ID: 894601
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Joe's Motion for Summary Judgment

Text: Less than two months after 239 JV filed this lawsuit, Joe moved for summary judgment based solely on the affirmative defense of official immunity. 239 JV filed a motion for continuance and a response to Joe's motion for summary judgment. The trial court denied 239 JV's motion for continuance and granted Joe's motion for summary judgment on official immunity. The court of appeals reversed the trial court's denial of 239 JV's motion for continuance. We reverse the court of appeals and address the merits of Joe's motion for summary judgment on official immunity.
In its motion for continuance, 239 JV argued that because the case had been on file for less than two months, 239 JV had been deprived of an adequate opportunity to conduct discovery to respond to Joe's motion for summary judgment. 239 JV also explained that its lead counsel had been in trial for approximately three weeks during the pendency of 239 JV's suit and attached an affidavit from counsel in support. The trial court denied 239 JV's motion for continuance. The trial court may order a continuance of a summary judgment hearing if it appears from the affidavits of a party opposing the motion that he cannot for reasons stated present by affidavit facts essential to justify his opposition. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(g). When reviewing a trial court's order denying a motion for continuance, we consider whether the trial court committed a clear abuse of discretion on a case-by-case basis. BMC Software Belg., N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789, 800 (Tex.2002). A trial court abuses its discretion when it reaches a decision so arbitrary and unreasonable as to amount to a clear and prejudicial error of law. Id. We have considered the following nonexclusive factors when deciding whether a trial court abused its discretion in denying a motion for continuance seeking additional time to conduct discovery: the length of time the case has been on file, the materiality and purpose of the discovery sought, and whether the party seeking the continuance has exercised due diligence to obtain the discovery sought. Id. (diligence and length of time on file); Tenneco Inc. v. Enter. Prods. Co., 925 S.W.2d 640, 647 (Tex.1996) (materiality and purpose); Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. v. CBI Indus., Inc., 907 S.W.2d 517, 521-22 (Tex.1995) (materiality); State v. Wood Oil Distrib., Inc., 751 S.W.2d 863, 865 (Tex.1988) (diligence); see also Perrotta v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 47 S.W.3d 569, 576 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, no pet.) (using these factors to decide whether a trial court abused its discretion in denying a motion for continuance). Here, Joe's motion for summary judgment raised a single defense to 239 JV's claims  official immunity. Official immunity protects Joe from liability if the actions of which 239 JV complains were (1) discretionary duties, (2) within the scope of Joe's authority as a city councilperson, and (3) performed in good faith under an objective reasonableness standard. Ballantyne v. Champion Builders, Inc., 144 S.W.3d 417, 422, 2004 WL 1533950 (Tex.2004); City of Lancaster v. Chambers, 883 S.W.2d 650, 656 (Tex.1994). In its motion for continuance, 239 JV argued that it needed additional discovery on the second element of official immunity, claiming that serious questions exist as to whether [Joe] acted as legal counsel for the City of Irving and certain of its constituents, rather than as councilman and more time was required to investigate the nature of the advice provided by [Jenkens and Joe] to the City of Irving and possibly members of the Valley Ranch Concerned Citizens Coalition, the faction of Irving citizens who oppose apartment construction. Specifically, 239 JV contended that it needed to depose Irving City Council members, members of the citizens group, Jenkens representatives with knowledge of the firm's representation of 239 JV, and the Irving city attorney. 239 JV attached the affidavit of Arthur Hewett, one of its principals, in support of these contentions. Hewett's affidavit stated that from information available to me and other representatives of 239 JV, it appears that Joe acted in the capacity as legal counsel to the City Council of the City of Irving and possibly gave legal advice to the citizens group in Irving opposing apartment construction. Attached to Hewett's affidavit was a Jenkens invoice for reimbursement of research expenses regarding the moratorium, which Hewett claims was sent to the City of Irving, and notes from a Jenkens librarian regarding research she performed on the moratorium. Finally, 239 JV attached correspondence in which attorneys for 239 JV attempted to work with opposing counsel to schedule depositions. We cannot conclude that the trial court's denial of the motion was so arbitrary and unreasonable as to amount to a clear and prejudicial error of law. See Marchand, 83 S.W.3d at 800-01. We acknowledge 239 JV's attempts to obtain the requested discovery in the short time the case was on file and see no indication that 239 JV was merely trying to delay the summary judgment hearing. However, we do not agree that the discovery sought by 239 JV was material to its response to Joe's motion for summary judgment on official immunity. 239 JV describes its claims as arising from Joe and Jenkens's failure to disclose a conflict of interest created by Joe's involvement with the moratorium while Jenkens represented 239 JV in ongoing efforts to sell a tract of land for an apartment building and failure to disclose matters that were material to Jenkens's representation of 239 JV (including the Council's September 1994 special meeting to consider the moratorium). 239 JV argued that to respond to Joe's defense that he was officially immune from any liability from these causes of action, it needed additional discovery to determine whether Joe acted as legal counsel for the City of Irving and possibly a faction of Irving citizens who opposed apartment construction in the area and to uncover the nature of the advice Joe and Jenkens provided to the City and the citizens group. However, none of the discovery described could have raised a fact issue as to whether Joe was acting within the scope of his authority as a city councilperson as he conducted legal research on issues related to the moratorium, met with constituents, prepared for the City Council meetings, and participated in the deliberation and vote at the Council meeting. These are the type of activities that Joe has a duty to participate in as a city councilperson and therefore fall well within the scope of his authority as a public official. The fact that Joe, as a City Council member, utilized his legal experience in evaluating and discussing issues on the Council's agenda does not mean that he became the Council's attorney. We conclude 239 JV failed to identify facts essential to justify [its] opposition to Joe's motion for summary judgment, and therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying 239 JV's motion for continuance.
In reviewing the trial court's summary judgment in favor of Joe on official immunity, we consider whether Joe established each element of the defense as a matter of law. Ballantyne, ___ S.W.3d at ___. A city councilperson is immune from liability for actions taken (1) within the scope of authority (2) in performing the discretionary duties of the office in (3) good faith. See id. In his motion for summary judgment, Joe argues that on the occasions in question he was performing his discretionary duties as Irving City Councilperson and Mayor Pro Tem, in good faith, and was acting within his authority as City Councilperson and Mayor Pro Tem and is therefore, immune from suit. Joe attached his affidavit to support his motion. [3] 239 JV contended that serious questions exist as to whether [Joe] acted in good faith and within the scope of his authority. 239 JV contends its evidence creates a fact issue that precludes summary judgment in favor of Joe. 239 JV attached the following evidence to its response: the affidavit of Arthur Hewett (a principal of 239 JV), Jenkens's billing statements addressed to 239 JV, a letter to the Irving city attorney from Bill Thau, two memos from the city attorney to Joe, an unaddressed expense reimbursement from Jenkens, a Westlaw research cover page containing written notes, and the minutes from the June 22, 1995 Irving City Council meeting. 239 JV claims that Joe's position and actions related to the moratorium created an impermissible conflict of interest that Joe had a duty to avoid or disclose to 239 JV. Assuming that a conflict of interest between Joe's obligations to 239 JV as a firm client and his actions as a city councilperson existed, we hold that official immunity extends to protect Joe from liability for any conflict of interest that his vote or other discretionary duties undertaken in good faith and within the scope of his authority as a councilperson may have created. We now analyze whether Joe established as a matter of law that he was acting in good faith and within the scope of his authority as a city councilperson in performance of the discretionary duties of the office. In his affidavit, Joe explains that he was a member of the Irving City Council on September 7, 1994, and after considering alternative courses of action, he voted to adopt an ordinance that imposed a moratorium on the acceptance and processing of multi-family development permits for 90 days at the September 7 City Council meeting. We conclude that Joe's affidavit established as a matter of law that his actions involved personal deliberation, decision, and judgment characteristic of a discretionary act that was delegated to him as a public official. See Ballantyne, ___ S.W.3d at ___. In its response to Joe's motion for summary judgment, 239 JV did not dispute that Joe was performing discretionary duties as a councilperson. Joe's affidavit establishes that voting on the moratorium was within the scope of his authority as an Irving city councilperson, and 239 JV does not dispute that. However, 239 JV argues that Joe's other activities concerning the moratorium fall outside the scope of Joe's authority as a councilperson. Joe's affidavit states that in the spring of 1995, he conducted legal research, with the assistance of his firm's librarian, to study the legality of extending the moratorium because of threatened litigation against the City regarding the legality of the moratorium and to confirm that an extension of the moratorium was in Irving's best interest. In its response to Joe's motion for summary judgment, 239 JV argues that Joe's legal research on the legality of the moratorium was inappropriate because (1) his actions were beyond the scope of authority of a councilperson and created an attorney-client relationship between the City and Joe, and (2) Joe developed an attorney-client relationship with the Citizen's Coalition Group in Irving by apparently [giving] citizens of Irving the legal research he developed to help them further his cause. 239 JV argues that these actions created a conflict of interest that Joe was required to avoid or disclose and resolve with 239 JV. We conclude that 239 JV's evidence does not create a fact issue that Joe was acting beyond the scope of his authority as a city councilperson. Conducting legal research in preparation for a city council vote does not create an attorney-client relationship between Joe and the City, and sharing that information with fellow council members as part of deliberations does not change that conclusion. 239 JV points to a Jenkens billing statement titled Gen. Expense Reimbursement-H. Joe as evidence that Joe and the City had an attorney-client relationship. The statement, which 239 JV argues was submitted to the City for payment, is an administrative reimbursement for the librarian's retrieval of requested case law and did not include any charges for Joe's services. Thus, Joe's motion for summary judgment establishes that Joe's research was in preparation for a city council meeting, was not part of legal services provided to the City of Irving, and does not create an attorney-client relationship between Joe and the City as a matter of law. The only evidence that 239 JV cites to support its contention that Joe developed an attorney-client relationship with the Citizen's Coalition Group in Irving is the following paragraph from Hewett's affidavit: I was present at the Irving City Council Meeting held on or about June 22, 1995, wherein 239 JV's request for an exemption from the moratorium was considered. At one point during the meeting, a gentleman named Jim Parrow, identified himself by name and as a proponent of the moratorium. This gentleman then cited 5th Circuit case law to the City Council in support of the legality of the moratorium. Based upon these and other facts, it is my belief that Mr. Joe requested that legal research be performed at [Jenkens] for the purpose of advising the Irving City Council of the power of the City Council to impose the moratorium and supporting the citizens group favoring the moratorium. Nothing in this paragraph indicates that Joe served as a lawyer for a citizens group. Hewett's speculation is not evidence of an attorney-client relationship between Joe and a citizens group and therefore, does not create a fact issue on whether Joe was acting outside the scope of his authority as a councilperson during his interactions with constituents or during his preparations and research for city council meetings. Joe's evidence establishes that he acted within the scope of his authority as a councilperson as a matter of law. We now turn to whether Joe acted in good faith while executing the discretionary functions required of him as a city councilperson. To determine whether a public official has acted in good faith, we use an objective standard, asking whether a reasonably prudent official, under the same or similar circumstances, could have believed that his conduct was justified based on the information he possessed when the conduct occurred. Ballantyne, ___ S.W.3d at ___; Chambers, 883 S.W.2d at 656. The standard of good faith as an element of official immunity is not a test of carelessness or negligence, or a measure of an official's motivation. Ballantyne, ___ S.W.3d at ___. Joe's motion for summary judgment and accompanying affidavit establishes that he acted in objective good faith when he prepared for the Council meetings and voted on the moratorium and its extensions. In his affidavit, Joe details Irving's growing number of multi-family dwellings compared to single family residences and contrasts that ratio to neighboring communities with specific numbers. He explains his constituents' and the mayor's concerns regarding the increase of multi-family dwellings in Irving and the increasing ratio of multi-family dwellings to single family dwellings. In addition, Joe states that the council members, including himself, considered alternative actions before voting to impose a temporary moratorium on the acceptance and processing of multi-family development permits. In his affidavit, Joe also explains that when the City Council considered extending the moratorium in May 1995, Joe concluded that the moratorium should in fact be extended, at least until the City of Irving was able to adopt a new comprehensive plan for further multi-family development [a]s a result of input from citizens, and based upon [his] own observations. 239 JV's response to Joe's motion for summary judgment provides no relevant evidence to support its contention that Joe failed to act in objective good faith when voting on the moratorium or conducting research in preparation to vote on the moratorium. Instead, in its briefing to this Court, 239 JV argues that Joe misrepresented the existing attorney-client relationship between [Jenkens] and 239 JV to avoid any accusations of a conflict of interest and that [n]o reasonable private attorney/public official would completely disregard his private clients in pursuing his political agenda thereby ignoring potential conflict issues. Neither this argument, nor 239 JV's evidence in response to Joe's motion for summary judgment, refute Joe's evidence that he acted in objective good faith. Joe established, as a matter of law, that a reasonably prudent official, under the same or similar circumstances, could have believed that his conduct, preparing for and voting in favor of the moratorium, was justified. Thus, Joe established as a matter of law that he was officially immune from liability for the alleged conflict of interest arising from his activities as an Irving city councilperson.