AZA Wins Take-Nothing Judgment from Jury for Ex-Directors of Chinatown Plaza

HOUSTON – AZA lawyers convinced a Harris County jury to award nothing on a million-dollar claim against former board directors of the largest shopping plaza in Houston’s Chinatown. 

The former directors of Dun Huang Plaza Association Inc. were sued by their largest tenant Lily He and her company Sun9028 Inc. The claim was for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty because the board amended governing documents in September 2017 to change the way the plaza assessed tenants. Sun9028’s property had a higher assessment under the new rules that accounted for the entire square footage of Sun9028’s building. AZA argued the newer assessments were fairer to all tenants than the ones these replaced. 

After a two-day trial, jurors took only 45 minutes to find that the former directors, who left those posts later in 2017, had not breached their fiduciary duties and award no damages. This follows a win in the Texas 14th Court of Appeals in a related case, which found that the amendment to the declaration was legally valid, despite the suing tenant’s years-long efforts to invalidate it and lower her assessments.  

“We are glad that we were finally able to put this issue to bed for these three hardworking and honest men, who were unnecessarily dragged into court for doing the right thing and passing the amendment,” said AZA partner Kyle Poelker. 

“The jury did not find the plaintiff credible because she was trying to push the costs she owed to the association onto others,” said AZA associate Michael Killingworth. AZA lawyers tried the case with co-counsel Patrick Yarborough of Foster Yarborough PLLC in the court of Harris County Judge Beau Miller.  

The case is Sun 9028, Inc. v. Dun Huang Plaza Association, Inc. et al. in Harris County, case number 2019-44332. 

AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, healthcare, intellectual property and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized by Chambers USA 2024 as among the best in Texas in commercial law and intellectual property; has been listed by Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms for 13 years; has been named Litigation Department of the Year by Texas Lawyer three times; and was previously dubbed a Texas Powerhouse law firm by Law360.