Rohrmoos Venture, Eric Langford, Dan Basso, and Tobin Grove, Petitioners v. Utsw Dva Healthcare, LLP, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court held that a commercial tenant may terminate a commercial lease based on the landlord's prior material breach, concluding that Davidow's implied warranty of suitability does not forbid termination on that ground, and that Rohrmoos preserved that issue even though it failed to preserve any sufficiency challenge to the jury's material-breach finding. The Court further held that UTSW qualified as the lease's prevailing party because its successful defense produced a take-nothing judgment that materially altered the parties' legal relationship, yet it reversed the $1,025,000 attorney-fee award because counsel's generalized testimony was legally insufficient under the lodestar method, which the Court confirmed governs every fee-shifting situation. The court of appeals' judgment was affirmed in part, reversed as to fees, and the case remanded for a redetermination of fees.