Damages awards, reviewed; punitive damages, waived.

In an important opinion for several basic commercial-law concepts, the Fifth Court’s opinion was affirmed in part and reversed in part by the Texas Supreme Court in Bombadier Aerospace v. SPEP Aircraft Holdings. More to follow, but the supreme court’s review of Dallas precedent on these topics is of substantial interest for area litigators. In particular, the supreme court enforced a waiver of exemplary damages: “We must respect and enforce terms of a contract that parties have freely and voluntarily entered…. Bombardier and the purchasing parties—sophisticated entities represented by attorneys in an arms-length transaction—bargained for the limitation-of-liability clauses to bar punitive damages.”