(Download) "Pecha v. Smith" by Supreme Court of the United States ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Pecha v. Smith
- Author : Supreme Court of the United States
- Release Date : January 14, 1997
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 53 KB
Description
These appeals are taken from a Trial Decision/Order entered by the trial court after the case had been remanded for further proceedings by this Court. The case represents a third effort by the partners (actually two partnerships) in an accounting firm, Dorr, Keller, Bentley &; Pecha (DKBP), to have this Court adjust the obligations flowing from the dissolution of the accounting partnership. The first efforts are represented by our opinions in Dorr, Keller, Bentley &; Pecha v. Dorr, Bentley &; Pecha, 841 P.2d 811 (Wyo. 1992) (Dorr I) and Smith, Keller &; Associates v. Dorr &; Associates, 875 P.2d 1258 (Wyo. 1994) (Dorr II). The focal issue of this case is the right of Smith, Keller &; Associates (SKA), or the Trustee in Bankruptcy for Dorr &; Associates (Trustee) to recover damages from Stephen H. Pecha; Steven K. Bentley, P.C.; Steven K. Bentley; Mark Dorr; and Barbara Elizabeth Dorr (collectively the Dorr Faction) for breach of their fiduciary duty, owed to DKBP, by violating a covenant not to compete. Additional issues raised by the parties include the enforceability of arbitration awards against the Dorr Faction, and a ruling that the Trustee failed to raise claims against the new firm within the statutory period of time. The District Court awarded judgment in favor of SKA against the Dorr Faction in the amount of $112,716.00 for breach of a fiduciary duty owed to DKBP and $1,451.96 for the value of work in process. It denied all other relief in accordance with its opinion letter, specifically incorporated by reference in the Judgment. We hold that any damages attributable to any violation of the covenant not to compete were included in the damage award made by the arbitrators on August 24, 1989, and the judgment for $112,716.00 for breach of a fiduciary duty must be reversed. We affirm the district court in all other respects.