Opinion ID: 10012
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Benefit-of-the-bargain measure of damages

Text: 24 Alternatively, Apprill attacks the district court's computation of his benefit-of-the-bargain loss because the district court found the represented value of the stock to be $5.00 per share, when the evidence reveals that one shareholder was paid approximately $6.00 per share. To support the $6.00 per share amount, Apprill points to a single statement at trial by Quest's President: 25 Q How much did you ultimately pay to Walter Braun? 26 A I don't remember. As we discussed earlier, we paid him about a million two, and if I'm not mistaken eventually we paid him two hundred thousand more dollars. So I think it's about a million four which was probably about six dollars a share, something like that. 27 Without addressing whether $5.00 per share or $6.00 per share is the appropriate represented value of the stock, we recognize that neither value gives rise to a benefit-of-the-bargain loss even remotely approaching $270,000. 11 Additionally, 28 Under Texas law, damages must be established with a reasonable degree of certainty. There can be no recovery for damages which are speculative or conjectural. The damages must be ascertainable in some manner other than by mere speculation or conjecture, and by reference to some fairly definite standard, established experience, or direct inference from known facts. Furthermore, [w]hile mathematical precision is not required to establish the extent or amount of one's damages, one must bring forward the best evidence of the damage of which the situation admits, and there must be some basis for reasonable inferences. 29 Richter, S.A. v. Bank of Am. Nat'l Trust & Sav. Ass'n, 939 F.2d 1176, 1188 (5th Cir.1991) (citations omitted). The lone statement by Quest's President fails to substantiate with the requisite certainty Apprill's claim that the represented value of his HemoTec stock was $6.00 per share.