Aldous Law Firm: Tarrant County Jury Awards Developer $1.8 Million Against Oncor Electric

FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A Tarrant County jury has ordered Oncor Electric Delivery Co. to pay nearly $1.8 million to Arlington-based Giovanni Homes Corp. after the utility provider stalled efforts to develop several properties in Fort Worth by delaying the relocation of a power line.

At issue in the case was an Oncor underground power line that ran through the center of property that Giovanni Homes had purchased for commercial use. Trial testimony indicated that Oncor agreed to relocate the line but waited nearly two years before moving it.

Giovanni Homes sued Oncor for unlawful trespass and breach of contract. On Dec. 16, a jury in the 48th District Court in Fort Worth found in favor of Giovanni Homes and awarded the company nearly $1.2 million in actual damages and more than $575,000 in attorneys' fees.

Oncor is the nation's sixth-largest transmission and distribution company.

"If there were ever a David and Goliath story, this was it, and we're glad David won," says Charla Aldous of the Dallas-based Aldous Law Firm, who argued Giovanni Homes' case before the jury. "Giovanni Homes is a quality developer that just wanted to improve a neighborhood in Fort Worth, but Oncor kept delaying those efforts for seemingly no good reason."

Those delays – Giovanni Homes claimed and the jury agreed – injured the developer's relationships with banks and also cost Giovanni Homes lost profits, interest and actual damages.

Also representing Giovanni Homes were attorneys William Allred, Amy Agnew and Cynthia Goosen from Dallas' Cooper & Scully PC.

Ms. Aldous is a veteran of more than 100 trials and has been named Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates. She is routinely named in The Best Lawyers in America and D Magazine's "Best Lawyers in Dallas," and has been honored among the Texas Super Lawyers list of Top 100 attorneys in Texas.

The Aldous Law Firm represents clients in general civil litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability and wrongful death lawsuits. More information about the firm can be found at http://www.aldouslaw.com.

For more information on the case involving Giovanni Homes and Oncor, please contact Robert Tharp at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE Aldous Law Firm