Court Opinion

ID: 9478706
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:55:47.912333+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:34.592967
License: Public Domain

RALPH B. GUY, Jr., Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The majority states that the determinative issue in this appeal is “quintessentially a question of fact.” I agree. However, I do not believe that the record supports a conclusion that the district judge was clearly erroneous in his findings of fact. The majority decides this case in a plausible manner and reaches a result for which there is evidentiary support. In doing so, however, I believe they have substituted their judgment for that of the district court. I would affirm.
In the course of affirmance, I would look closely at the damages awarded. The plaintiff appears to have emerged from all of this better off financially than if he had been retained. Perhaps this is at least a partial, if unspoken, reason for the reversal.