Sandra Bullock’s construction lawsuit against Austin builder M.B. “Benny” Daneshjou ended in an October 14, 2004 jury verdict of roughly $7 million in her favor over defects in a Lake Austin mansion he had built for her. The parties later settled the case for $4 million while an appeal was pending, and in 2009 a Texas appeals court affirmed most of the underlying judgment.1Myplainview.com. Actress Wins About $7 Million in Lawsuit Over Home2FindLaw. Daneshjou v. Bateman PLLC
What the House Was Supposed to Be
Bullock hired Daneshjou in late 1997 to build a 10,000-square-foot home on Lake Austin. Construction started in 1998. She ultimately spent between $6.5 million and $7 million on the property, but the house was never completed to a livable standard and she never moved in.3Today.com. Bullock Awarded Millions in Home Dispute4Today.com. Sandra Bullock Takes Builder to Court
Who Sued First
Daneshjou filed suit in June 2001, claiming Bullock owed his company money for the construction work.5Rediff.com. Sandra Bullock Wins Nearly $7 Million Bullock countersued. She alleged the home was riddled with defects and that Daneshjou had used underhanded billing practices.6Carlson Associates. Hollywood Star’s Court Win a Victory for Homeowners
Her countersuit also raised fraud allegations tied to a separate real estate deal. Bullock had loaned Daneshjou $331,225, interest-free, to help develop 13 lots in a subdivision called “The Cove at Lake Austin,” in exchange for repayment plus half the profits. The lawsuit alleged Daneshjou changed the subdivision plans without telling Bullock or her father, reducing the number of lots and cutting off water access for some properties.7Chicago Tribune. Actress Bullock Sues Over Texas Land Deal
The Defects at Trial
The case went to trial in Travis County District Court in August 2004, docketed as No. GN101929 before Judge Paul Davis.8vLex. Daneshjou Company Inc. v. Bullock9SFGate. Bullock Wins Battle With Builder6Carlson Associates. Hollywood Star’s Court Win a Victory for Homeowners Bullock’s attorneys said the house needed $4 million in repairs.1Myplainview.com. Actress Wins About $7 Million in Lawsuit Over Home
Daneshjou denied wrongdoing. His defense argued that the project’s construction superintendent, David Shrum, and various subcontractors bore responsibility for the problems.9SFGate. Bullock Wins Battle With Builder The jury found that Shrum had breached his duties as an independent contractor but assigned him zero percent of the responsibility for Bullock’s damages.8vLex. Daneshjou Company Inc. v. Bullock
The $7 Million Verdict
On October 14, 2004, the jury sided with Bullock and awarded her about $7 million. The award included more than $2 million for house repairs, $400,000 for maintaining the property since February 2000, and $280,425 for labor overcharges by Daneshjou’s company. The rest covered attorney’s fees.1Myplainview.com. Actress Wins About $7 Million in Lawsuit Over Home
The $4 Million Settlement and Appeal
Daneshjou said immediately that he would appeal.3Today.com. Bullock Awarded Millions in Home Dispute By February 2005, Bullock still had not been paid and filed a secondary lawsuit alleging Daneshjou was hiding assets to avoid paying creditors. Those allegations had not been proven in court as of mid-2005.6Carlson Associates. Hollywood Star’s Court Win a Victory for Homeowners
Rather than litigate the full appeal on the construction claims, the parties reached a post-trial settlement. According to later court records, the settlement totaled $4 million: $2 million paid by Daneshjou’s insurer, and the remaining $2 million through the purchase of the judgment by Daneshjou’s wife. Daneshjou and his company then dismissed that portion of the appeal.2FindLaw. Daneshjou v. Bateman PLLC
What remained of the appeal moved forward. On March 27, 2009, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s judgment in most respects but reversed the assessment of attorney’s fees against Daneshjou individually. The court also upheld Shrum’s entitlement to attorney’s fees of $133,407 and rejected Daneshjou’s attempts to revive claims against subcontractors, finding the appellate record insufficient to support reversal.8vLex. Daneshjou Company Inc. v. Bullock
The Builder’s Malpractice Suit Against His Own Lawyer
The legal fallout did not end with Bullock. Daneshjou sued his defense attorney, Robert H. Bateman, for legal malpractice. A jury found that Bateman’s negligence caused $300,000 in damages out of the roughly $8.2 million original verdict. Applying the settlement-credit formula from the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Keck, Mahin & Cate v. National Union Fire Insurance Co., the trial court concluded that because the $4 million settlement was less than the jury-calculated “true value” of the underlying case, Daneshjou had suffered no compensable harm, and it entered a take-nothing judgment.2FindLaw. Daneshjou v. Bateman PLLC
On January 17, 2013, the Texas Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth District affirmed. The court noted that Daneshjou had failed to provide a complete trial record, so the appellate court had to presume the missing evidence supported the lower court’s ruling. Concurring justices acknowledged that the settlement-credit formula was an imperfect fit where the settlement came after a jury verdict rather than before one, but agreed the incomplete record left no basis to reach a different outcome.2FindLaw. Daneshjou v. Bateman PLLC10Law360. Builder for Sandra Bullock Can’t Revive Malpractice Suit