CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Supreme Court on Friday upheld a $3 million jury award to three Wyoming men who filed a lawsuit claiming that another man backed out of a deal to sell them a fishing lodge in Alaska.
Marvin N. Applequist, Val B. Jones and Bruce F. Reed, all of Wyoming, sued Alan J. Veys of Juneau, Alaska, in Converse County District Court last year. The suit charged that Veys and companies he controlled broke an agreement to sell the Pybus Point Lodge on Admiralty Island in Alaska for more than $2.6 million.
Friday's court ruling states that Veys began experiencing seller's remorse shortly after agreeing to the sale. Veys' lawyers wrote to the buyers in September 2004 stating that they didn't have an enforceable agreement, prompting the buyers to sue.
"During the trial, Mr. Veys unexpectedly admitted the parties had entered into an agreement," the Supreme Court ruling states. "The jury determined the parties had entered into an enforceable contract; the sellers breached the contract."
The jury determined that the buyers were entitled to past damages of $471,676 and future damages of just over $2.5 million.
"When Mr. Veys admitted at trial that an agreement had been reached, sellers' defense was seriously eroded, and that was reflected in the jury's verdict," the Supreme Court ruling states.
Mark W. Gifford, a Casper lawyer, represents the Wyoming men.
"We're obviously happy with the Supreme Court's decision, happy with the jury's award, and would like to close this thing out because it's been a long, tough fight for our clients," Gifford said. He said Applequist works for the state in the Cheyenne area while Jones lives in Daniel and Reed is a businessman in Douglas.
Diane Smith, an Englewood, Colo., lawyer, represented Veys.
"Obviously we're disappointed," Smith said Friday.
She said there's no chance of an appeal because the ruling addresses questions of state law on which the state Supreme Court is the last word.
Veys and the companies named in the lawsuit, Lone Eagle Properties, Inc. and Alan J. Veys Properties Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Western District of Washington last year. Albert N. Kennedy, a Portland, Ore., lawyer, represents Veys in the bankruptcy proceeding.
Kennedy said Friday that Veys intends to pay the Wyoming men and keep ownership of the fishing lodge.
"It will affect the manner and timing of the payment. It will not affect the merits of the decision," Kennedy said of the Wyoming court ruling.
Kennedy said Veys has proposed a reorganization plan in the bankruptcy case that calls for the Wyoming men to be paid approximately $800,000 on the effective date of the plan, which he said could be within the next couple of months. Kennedy said the remainder of the money would be paid over the next 15 years with a balloon payment due in five years.
If Veys does decide to sell the fishing lodge to another party, Kennedy said he would have time to make a deal in an orderly fashion and not in a rush.
Kennedy said he hadn't seen the fishing lodge but said it has won awards as one of the premier fishing lodges in Alaska.
"It is supposed to really be quite spectacular," Kennedy said.