Benson And Ford, Inc. v. Wanda Petroleum Co.

833 F.2d 1172 (5th Cir. 1987)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Wanda (D) was dismissed from Benson's (P) suit in that P's claims were precluded by a prior judgment in a case where P was not a party. In the prior case, Shelby sued D alleging various antitrust claims. During the pendency of that litigation, P filed a separate suit alleging the same antitrust claims against the same defendants in the Shelby case. P voluntarily appeared to testify as a witness for Shelby. The jury found against Shelby on all its theories and after that verdict D moved for a summary judgment against P in the present suit. D argued that P, who had voluntarily testified, had the same lawyer and asserted the same claims arising from the same facts, was barred from relitigating the issues. The district court granted the motion and issued a Rule 54(b) certificate.