James Donald Ebarb v. Morian Kahla, Attorneys at Law ( 2013 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont
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NO. 09-12-00471-CV
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JAMES DONALD EBARB, Appellant
V.
MORIAN KAHLA, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, Appellee
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On Appeal from the 1st District Court
Jasper County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 32486
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is an appeal from a default judgment entered in a suit for breach of a
contract to pay for legal services. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
Appellee Morian Kahla, Attorneys at Law, L.L.P. (“Morian”) filed suit
against appellant James Donald Ebarb, in which Morian contended it represented
Ebarb in a criminal case in Newton County, and that Ebarb failed to pay the
outstanding balance of attorney’s fees due in the amount of $4000 under the terms
of the parties’ contract. Morian also pleaded that it had demanded payment, but
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Ebarb had refused to pay the balance due. Morian requested general damages in
the amount of $4000, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees, and
costs of suit. Attached to Morian’s petition was a citation and return that showed
Ebarb had been personally served with the lawsuit. Morian also filed a certificate
of Ebarb’s last known mailing address. In addition, the appellate record contains a
letter from Morian to Ebarb, in which Morian asked Ebarb “to let us know if you
will come in and sign the Assignment we have prepared stating that you intend to
pay the attorney’s fee that you owe us out of your portion of your mother’s estate.”
When Ebarb failed to file an answer or otherwise appear in the case, the trial
court conducted a hearing, at which William Morian stated on the record that the
remaining principal amount due for attorney’s fees was $3900, which gave Ebarb
“the credits and offsets that he should have for payments that he made[.]” After the
hearing, the trial judge signed a default judgment in favor of Morian for $3900 as
the principal amount due, attorney’s fees of $500 if Ebarb did not appeal, court
costs of $369.95, and interest in the amount of 5% per year. Morian also requested
and obtained an abstract of judgment. Ebarb filed a “motion for appeal,” in which
he pointed out that he had made two payments of $50 each, which reduced the
principal amount owed from $4000 to $3900, and indicated that he would continue
to pay $50 per month.
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In his pro se brief, Ebarb neither sets forth any appellate issues nor cites to
any authorities or the appellate record. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(f), (i) (Briefs must
state the issues presented for review and contain appropriate citations to authorities
and to the record.); Amir-Sharif v. Hawkins, 246 S.W.3d 267, 270 (Tex. App.—
Dallas 2007, pet. dism’d) (A pro se litigant must comply with applicable laws and
rules of procedure, and a court “cannot speculate as to the substance of”
appellant’s issues when they are inadequately briefed.). We therefore affirm the
trial court’s default judgment.
AFFIRMED.
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STEVE McKEITHEN
Chief Justice
Submitted on June 10, 2013
Opinion Delivered June 27, 2013
Before McKeithen, C.J., Kreger and Horton, JJ.
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