Remember the $14.1 million judgment awarded in February to a group of Lonoke County farmers who did business with defunct Turner Grain Inc. of Brinkley and its trading partner K.B.X. Inc. of Little Rock?
Well, Lonoke County Circuit Judge Sandy Huckabee awarded the attorneys representing the farmers $526,819 in attorneys’ fees in May.
The farmers were represented by Kendel Grooms and Don Campbell of Campbell & Grooms of Little Rock. Attorney Parker Spaulding at the firm also worked on the case. Jerry Kelly of the Kelly Law Firm in Lonoke also was an attorney for the plaintiffs.
In 2014, about 20 farmers sued Turner Grain, alleging they lost millions of dollars working with the grain broker, which ended up in Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
The farmers also named other defendants, including K.B.X., alleging conversion, fraud, theft by deception and civil conspiracy. K.B.X. buys and sells rice through brokers and other entities.
The farmers argued that K.B.X. knew about Turner Grain’s poor financial condition as far back as 2013 but didn’t warn the farmers.
In February, the jury awarded the farmers about $5.9 million in compensatory damages and $6.2 million in punitive damages. Huckabee also awarded $2 million in interest, and additional interest is accruing at 10% annually.
The jury found that Turner Grain and its former owner Jason Coleman, who died in 2019, were liable for more than 90% of the judgment.
The jury found that K.B.X., its owner and president, Steven Keith Sr.; Keith’s son, who worked at K.B.X., Steven Michael Keith Jr.; and employee Shay Sebree were liable for a total of 8% of the compensatory judgment and interest. For the punitive damages, only Steven Keith Sr., Coleman’s estate and Turner Grain are liable.
But Huckabee ruled that Steven Keith Sr. was jointly and severally liable for the damages, meaning the farmers can collect the full $14.1 million judgment from him even though the jury assigned most of the blame to Coleman’s estate and Turner Grain.
K.B.X., the Keiths and Sebree filed a notice of appeal in the case.
Last week, they asked Huckabee for more time to file the appeal.
“Because this case has been pending for five- and one-half years and has involved almost countless pleadings, motions, hearings and a month-long jury trial, the record will be very large and extensive,” according to attorneys for K.B.X., the Keiths and Sebree. A motion is pending to extend the deadline of Aug. 25 to Nov. 25 to file the record with the appeals court.
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