IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT NASHVILLE
February 4, 1999 Session
FIRST AMERICAN TRUST CO. v. FRANKLIN-MURRAY
DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
Appeal from the Chancery Court for Williamson County
No. 22922-R5 Henry Denmark Bell, Chancellor
No. M1998-00984-COA-R3-CV - Filed May 2, 2001
This appeal involves a post-judgment receivership proceeding commenced while the case was
pending on appeal. The seller of a large tract of Brentwood property obtained a judgment against
the defaulting purchaser in the Chancery Court for Williamson County. While the purchaser’s
appeal was pending, the seller proceeded to execute on its judgment and requested the trial court to
appoint a receiver to protect the interests of the purchaser’s creditors. After the trial court appointed
a receiver, the purchaser’s former law firm filed a claim with the receiver for over $100,000 in
unpaid legal expenses. When the seller’s judgment against the purchaser was satisfied outside of
the receivership proceeding, the trial court granted the receiver’s motion to dissolve the receivership
without addressing the law firm’s claim. The law firm asserts on this appeal that the trial court
should not have closed the receivership until its claim was addressed. We have determined that the
trial court lacked jurisdiction to establish the receivership and, therefore, that the receivership
proceedings were null and void. Accordingly, the trial court did not err by declining to address the
law firm’s claim in the receivership proceeding.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed
WILLIAM C. KOCH , JR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM B. CAIN and
PATRICIA J. COTTRELL , JJ., joined.
Winston S. Evans, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Shumacker & Thompson, P.C.
Alan Mark Turk, Brentwood, Tennessee, and Guy C. Nicholson, Los Angeles, California, for the
appellee, Franklin-Murray Development Co., L.P.
OPINION
Ms. Frances Oman died in May 1992 owning several large tracts of valuable realty. In
accordance with Ms. Oman’s will, First American Trust Company (“First American”) served as the
executor of her estate in the probate proceedings that followed. One of the first tasks facing First
American was to raise money to pay estate taxes. Accordingly, in April 1994, First American
entered into a contract with Franklin-Murray Development, L.P. (“Franklin-Murray”), a Williamson
County limited partnership, in which First American agreed to sell Franklin-Murray a 224-acre tract
of property in Brentwood for $5,750,000. The contract also required Franklin-Murray to pay earnest
money to an escrow agent and provided for a closing within sixty days.
Franklin-Murray paid $100,000 into escrow. However, when time came to close the sale,
Franklin-Murray refused to close. It asserted that First American could not convey good and
marketable title because of the estate tax liens on the property. In October 1994, after negotiations
to resolve this impasse proved unsuccessful, First American filed suit in the Chancery Court for
Williamson County seeking a declaration that it was entitled to keep the earnest money because
Franklin-Murray had breached the contract. Franklin-Murray counterclaimed for damages on the
theory that First American had breached the contract by failing to furnish good and marketable title.
In January 1995, First American changed its approach and requested an order of specific
performance directing Franklin-Murray to close on the Brentwood property. It asserted that it had
provided security for the outstanding tax liens and, therefore, that it could deliver good and
marketable title. Franklin-Murray opposed First American’s request for specific performance;
however, the trial court was persuaded, and in March 1995 entered an order decreeing specific
performance on the condition that First American obtain releases of all estate taxes against the
property.
Franklin-Murray declined to close on the property despite the trial court’s order of specific
performance. Accordingly, First American returned to court seeking a summary judgment on its
original claim for the earnest money being held in escrow. In June 1995, the trial court gave First
American a judgment for the escrowed earnest money plus an additional $100,000 described by the
court as “the remaining [e]arnest money due . . . under the Agreement.” The trial court also
dismissed Franklin-Murray’s counterclaim. On June 15, 1995, Franklin-Murray filed its notice of
appeal and an appeal bond.
The case changed course again after Franklin-Murray perfected its appeal. Because Franklin-
Murray had not sought a stay pending appeal, First American decided to execute on its judgment
while the appeal was pending. 1 In July 1995, First American returned to the trial court requesting
a distringas writ under Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-1-105 (2000) and the appointment of a receiver for
1
Executing on a judgment while an app eal is pendin g can pro ve risky. See gen erally Orlando Residence, Ltd.
v. Nashville Lodging Co., No. M1998-00221-COA-R3-CV, 1999 WL 1040544, at *2 (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 17, 1999)
(No Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application filed) (involving a judgment creditor’s execution on a judgment that was
subsequently reversed).
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Franklin-Murray.2 First American alleged that Franklin-Murray was disposing of its assets in order
to avoid satisfying the trial court’s June 1995 judgment.
On August 9, 1995, the trial court granted First American’s motion and appointed a receiver
over “all the property and assets, both tangible and intangible, real and personal, of Franklin-Murray
Development, L.P. and its general partner . . ..” The order authorized the receiver to collect
Franklin-Murray’s property and assets and clothed him with the power to make all demands and to
bring all claims and suits to recover any monies due the limited partnership, including the power to
compromise and settle civil actions on behalf of the limited partnership. It further provided that all
parties having claims against Franklin-Murray should present their claims to the receiver who could
then disburse Franklin-Murray’s assets to pay claims.
Franklin-Murray had been represented by the Chattanooga firm of Shumacker & Thompson,
P.C. during the litigation with First American. Following the June 1995 judgment, Franklin-Murray
discharged Shumacker & Thompson and retained new counsel. Franklin-Murray also declined to
pay Shumacker & Thompson’s legal fees because of the firm’s unsatisfactory handling of the case.
In December 1995, Franklin-Murray, without the receiver’s knowledge or participation, filed a legal
malpractice claim against Shumacker & Thompson.3
In February 1996, this court affirmed the trial court’s June 1995 judgment finding that
Franklin-Murray had breached the contract to purchase the property and awarding First American
a judgment. First American Trust Co. v. Franklin-Murray Dev. Co., 925 S.W.2d 545 (Tenn. Ct.
App. 1996). Franklin-Murray thereafter filed an application for permission to appeal with the
Tennessee Supreme Court. In April 1996, while Franklin-Murray’s Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application
was pending with the Tennessee Supreme Court,4 Shumacker & Thompson filed a $100,000 claim
for its unpaid legal fees with Franklin-Murray’s receiver. It also requested the receiver to dismiss
the newly-filed legal malpractice action because the receiver had neither filed nor authorized it.
The trial court thereafter entered various orders in the receivership proceeding, including an
order directing the parties to “enter an agreed order” staying the pending legal malpractice
proceeding between Franklin-Murray and Shumacker & Thompson. For approximately the next
year, First American, Franklin-Murray, and Shumacker & Thompson continued to jockey back and
2
First American was appa rently attempting to reach a $700,000 “demand subscription” that was allegedly due
Franklin-M urray. It requested the trial court to appo int a receiver “to pursue [that] apparently viable source of capital
which could satisfy [First Amer ican’s] judgm ent.”
3
The lawyer representing Franklin-Murray in its legal malpractice suit against Shumacker & Thompson later
informed th e receiver tha t he was unaw are that Fran klin-Murra y was in receive rship when h e filed the suit.
4
The Tennessee Supreme Court denied Franklin-Murray’s application for permissio n to appe al in July 1996.
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forth in the receivership with little practical effect. Finally, in early August 1997, First American
filed a notice that the trial court’s June 1995 judgment had been satisfied.5
Shortly after First American notified the trial court that its June 1995 judgment had been
satisfied, Franklin-Murray’s receiver filed, and the trial court entered, a combination “Receiver’s
Final Report and Agreed Order.” The document recited that with the satisfaction of First American’s
judgment, “the Receiver feels there is no longer any need or purpose for his further involvement in
this case.” It also acknowledged Shumacker & Thompson’s claim against Franklin-Murray for over
$100,000 in legal fees but concluded “that the malpractice case should proceed on its own merits and
that any claim of Shumacker & Thompson, P.C. against [Franklin-Murray] for unpaid legal fees
should be pursued as a counterclaim in [that] action.” The order concluded by discharging the
receiver and terminating the two-year-old receivership.
Shumacker & Thompson promptly objected to the termination of the receivership. On
September 5, 1997, it filed a Tenn. R. Civ. P. 59.04 motion requesting the trial court to reinstate the
receivership and to require the receiver to marshal Franklin-Murray’s assets to pay its claim for
unpaid legal fees. In its order denying Shumacker & Thompson’s motion, the trial court held that
the “claim for breach of contract for unpaid legal fees . . . is a compulsory counterclaim to the
[pending] legal malpractice action . . . and should be prosecuted in that cause and not [in the closed
receivership].” Dissatisfied with the dissolution of the receivership, Shumacker & Thompson have
appealed, thus bringing this case here a second time.
I.
The only issue on this appeal involves Shumacker & Thompson’s challenge to the trial
court’s decision to terminate the post-judgment receivership proceeding. 6 The law firm asserts that
the receivership should not have been closed without some resolution of its claim for unpaid legal
fees. All of Shumacker & Thompson’s arguments are premised on the mistaken assumption that the
post-judgment receivership proceedings were proper. Because the case was pending on appeal when
the trial court created the receivership, we have concluded that the trial court had no authority to
open the receivership and, therefore, that the entire receivership proceeding is of no effect.
5
As best we can gather from the rec ord, the funds used to satisfy First American’s judgment did not flow
through the receivership. Apparently, Robert Gerringer and Donald Corliss, two individuals arguably i ndebted to
Franklin-M urray, stepped forward a nd paid an agreed amount ($75,0 00) to First American with the exp ress
understand ing that First Am erican wou ld agree to w ind up the re ceivership im mediately.
6
Shumacker & Thompson’s lawyer conceded during oral argument before this court that this appeal is driven
by Shumack er & Th ompso n’s defensive strategy in the pending legal malpractice action. The law firm believes that if
it can convin ce the cour ts to reopen the receiversh ip procee ding, it will be ab le to obtain a ruling that only the receiver
could have sued it for legal m alpractice. The law firm envisions that it can use this ruling to gain the dismissal of the
legal practice action and that no other legal malpractice action can be filed because the statute of limitations has expired.
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A.
A proper analysis of this case must begin at the beginning by addressing two fundamental
jurisdictional principles. Even though neither party has addressed the question of the trial court’s
jurisdiction, we must do so because Tenn. R. App. P. 13(b) requires us to address jurisdictional
issues even if they have not been raised on appeal by the parties. Moore v. Chandler, 675 S.W.2d
153, 154 (Tenn. 1984); Morrow v. Bobbitt, 943 S.W.2d 384, 391-92 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1996);
Wunderlich v. Fortas, 776 S.W.2d 953, 957 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989). Issues concerning subject matter
jurisdiction are so important that appellate courts must address them even if they were not raised in
the trial court. Manning v. Feidelson, 175 Tenn. 576, 578, 136 S.W.2d 510, 510-11 (1940); Morrow
v. Bobbitt, 943 S.W.2d at 392; Gillespie v. State, 619 S.W.2d 128, 129 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1981).
The first principle is subject matter jurisdiction which involves a court's power to adjudicate
a particular controversy brought before it. Northland Ins. Co. v. State, ___ S.W.3d ___, ___ (Tenn.
2000);7 Turpin v. Conner Bros. Excavating Co., 761 S.W.2d 296, 297 (Tenn. 1988); Cashion v.
Robertson, 955 S.W.2d 60, 63 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997). Courts derive their subject matter jurisdiction
from the Constitution of Tennessee or from legislative act, Meighan v. U.S. Sprint Communications
Co., 924 S.W.2d 632, 639 (Tenn. 1996); Kane v. Kane, 547 S.W.2d 559, 560 (Tenn. 1977), and
cannot exercise jurisdictional powers that have not been conferred directly on them expressly or by
necessary implication. Dishmon v. Shelby State Cmty. College, 15 S.W.3d 477, 480 (Tenn. Ct. App.
1999).
A court's subject matter jurisdiction in a particular circumstance depends on the nature of the
cause of action and the relief sought. Landers v. Jones, 872 S.W.2d 674, 675 (Tenn. 1994). It does
not depend on the conduct or agreement of the parties. Shelby County v. City of Memphis, 211 Tenn.
410, 413, 365 S.W.2d 291, 292 (1963); James v. Kennedy, 174 Tenn. 591, 595, 129 S.W.2d 215, 216
(1939). Thus, the parties cannot confer subject matter jurisdiction on a trial or an appellate court by
appearance, plea, consent, silence, or waiver. State ex rel. Dep’t of Social Servs. v. Wright, 736
S.W.2d 84, 85 n.2 (Tenn. 1987); Caton v. Pic-Walsh Freight Co., 211 Tenn. 334, 338, 364 S.W.2d
931, 933 (1963); Dishmon v. Shelby State Cmty. College, 15 S.W.3d at 480.
Judgments or orders entered by courts without subject matter jurisdiction are void, Brown
v. Brown, 198 Tenn. 600, 610, 281 S.W.2d 492, 497 (1955); Riden v. Snider, 832 S.W.2d 341, 343
(Tenn. Ct. App. 1991); Scales v. Winston, 760 S.W.2d 952, 953 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1988). The lack
of subject matter jurisdiction is so fundamental that it requires dismissal whenever it is raised and
demonstrated. Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12.08; Tenn. R. App. P. 13(b). Thus, when an appellate court
determines that a trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, it must vacate the judgment and
dismiss the case without reaching the merits of the appeal. J.W. Kelly & Co. v. Conner, 122 Tenn.
339, 397, 123 S.W. 622, 637 (1909); Dishmon v. Shelby State Cmty. College, 15 S.W.3d at 480.
7
Northland Ins. Co. v. S tate, No. M1998-00307-SC-R11-CV, 2000 WL 1800547, at *1 (Tenn. Dec. 8, 2000).
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The second principle involves the allocation of jurisdiction between the trial and appellate
courts in our hierarchical system. While jurisdictional lines are not always bright, several recent
cases have worked out important guiding rules in this area. It should now be plain that once a party
perfects an appeal8 from a trial court’s final judgment, the trial court effectively loses its authority
to act in the case without leave of the appellate court. Perfecting an appeal vests jurisdiction over
the case in the appropriate appellate court.9 State v. Pendergrass, 937 S.W.2d 834, 837 (Tenn.
1996); Suggs v. Suggs’ Executors, 1 Tenn. (1 Overt.) 2, 3 (1794); Spann v. Abraham, 36 S.W.3d 452,
461 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999). An appellate court retains jurisdiction over a case until its mandate
returns the case to the trial court. Raht v. Southern Ry. Co., 215 Tenn. 485, 498, 387 S.W.2d 781,
787 (1965) (holding that issuance of mandate by an appellate court reinvests the trial court with
jurisdiction over a case); Hall v. Pippin, No. M2001-00387-COA-OT-CV, 2001 WL 196978, at *3
(Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 28, 2001) (No Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application filed). These principles keep
cases together during the appellate process and prevent undesirable consequences of permitting a
case to be pending in more than one court at the same time. Spence v. Allstate Ins. Co., 883 S.W.2d
586, 596 (Tenn. 1994).
B.
The original lawsuit between First American and Franklin-Murray did not involve a
receivership. After the trial court filed its final judgment in June 1995, Franklin-Murray perfected
its appeal by filing its notice of appeal and appeal bond. At that very instant, the trial court lost its
jurisdiction over the case, and jurisdiction became vested in this court.
First Tennessee invoked Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-1-103 (2000) as authority for the trial court
to appoint a post-judgment receiver. However, this statute empowers trial courts to appoint receivers
only in cases that are pending before them. William H. Inman, Gibson’s Suits in Chancery § 359
(7th ed. 1988). When the trial court opened the receivership in August 1995, the case was not
pending before the trial court. It was, instead, pending before the appellate court. Thus, the trial
court had no subject matter jurisdiction over the case when it opened the receivership.10
8
Perfecting an appea l consists of filing a time ly notice of app eal and eithe r an appe al bond o r affidavit o f
indigency. Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Tenn. v. Eddins, 516 S.W .2d 76, 7 7 (Tenn . 1974) (h olding that an appeal is
perfected when the ap peal bon d is filed).
9
Of course, perfecting an appeal does not prevent the trial court from acting with regard to ancillary matters
relating to the enforcement or collection of its judgment. For example, Tenn. R. Civ. P. 69 permits judgment creditors
to engage in post-judgm ent discove ry using the same discovery m ethods that a re used in pr e-trial discove ry. If a
judgment debtor d eclines to respond to a request for post judgment discovery, a trial court could, on proper application,
enter an order under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 37 to compel a response.
10
First American could have requested this court to appoint a receiver or could have filed a new action
requesting the appointment of a re ceiver. Th e pende ncy of an ap peal doe s not depriv e a trial court o f jurisdiction to
entertain a new , original action between the same partie s. State v. Mixon, 983 S.W.2d 661 , 671 (Tenn. 1999).
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Orders entered by a trial court after it loses jurisdiction are nullities. New River Lumber Co.
v. Tenn. Ry., 141 Tenn. 325, 329, 210 S.W. 639, 640 (1919); Hutchison v. Pyburn, 567 S.W.2d 762,
763-64 (Tenn Ct. App. 1977). Accordingly, the receivership established by the trial court in this case
and all subsequent orders involving the receivership are coram non judice. All of the issues raised
by Shumacker & Thompson on this appeal relate to the receivership. We need not address these
questions because we have concluded that the trial court acted without jurisdiction when it appointed
the receiver in this case. The fact that the receivership was a nullity obviates the need to consider
the conduct of either the trial court or the receiver during the receivership proceeding.
Our conclusion that the receivership proceeding itself was a nullity does not leave Shumacker
& Thompson without a remedy. In its August 6, 1997 order, the trial court observed that the claim
for unpaid legal fees “can and should be pursued as a counterclaim in the [legal malpractice] action.”
That is undoubtedly correct. Starks v. Browning, No. 01A01-9801-CV-00038, 1999 WL 562032,
at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 3, 1999) (No Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application filed). Accordingly,
Shumacker & Thompson may seek to recover their legal fees in Franklin-Murray’s pending legal
malpractice action.
II.
Based on our conclusion that the receivership proceeding was a nullity, we affirm the trial
court’s decision refusing to permit Shumacker & Thompson to use the receivership proceeding to
collect its unpaid legal fees from Franklin-Murray.11 We remand the case to the trial court for
whatever further proceedings may be appropriate, and we tax the costs of this appeal to Shumacker
& Thompson and its surety for which execution, if necessary, may issue.
_____________________________
WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., JUDGE
11
The Court of Appeals may affirm a judgment on different grounds than those relied on by the trial court when
the trial court reached th e correct re sult. Contine ntal Cas. C o. v. Smith , 720 S.W .2d 48, 5 0 (Tenn . 1986); Allen v.
National Bank of Newport , 839 S.W .2d 763 , 765 (T enn. Ct. Ap p. 1992 ); Clark v. Metropolitan Gov’t, 827 S.W.2d 312,
317 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1991).
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