WPCT! # t U: % 0 w@ 4  0D 0Ja  0T 0^  0hk 0r 0|E 0 0G 1u 0dL AQ 0D 0@  BKU*h D/B) B D3DC: AM}v~v 0? 0D!HP LaserJet 4SiHPPCL5MS,,,,,,0nLh,cAZ"Arial RegularX(~$  HTR[A' LegalLh (Avery 4167 Post CardA' Legalh (Avery 4167 Post CardTXmXXX73XXdXXd7 $%D&U'D(D)D*U+U,Ӏ6z=#3|x6($$   1  2 0Indent123  H2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23    ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)P 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X!"# &C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5(3$ !  ("$     d<  9p`(Arial((' dxd% Line 7 dP Pd$$$$'dxd''''7Border 1dd!#*C << G  !  #d#%    H \RA'\#d#  ""  %   YYY FILED%XOctober1,1997CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerk  PtPtHH(FG(HH(d'hStyl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Geneva   h HD: Geneva  h HD: Geneva ((3b$ ~!  HTR[A' Legal3'A' Legal3'TX:XXX7:XXdd7   `   0  (#$  0   ! . %    H \RA'\#Xd##Xd#  ݛ %  @ ̛̜GEORGEM.BOND,   ) RutherfordCountyCircuit0      ) No.37459  Plaintiff/Appellee  )       )̜VS.      ) AppealNo.      ) 01A019704CV00149 COMTHER,INC.,    )̜!R+,*A1-j|F` . `@Rߛ      )  Defendant/Appellant ) ̛̜̜ @ INTHECOURTOFAPPEALSOFTENNESSEE@ MIDDLESECTIONATNASHVILLE ̛̜   APPEALFROMTHERUTHERFORDCOUNTYCIRCUITCOURTATMURFREESBORO,TENNESSEE HONORABLEDONR.ASH,JUDGE ̛  ӜRyanA.KurtzTrabue,Sturdivant&DeWitt2500NashvilleCityCenter511UnionStreetNashville,TN372191738andWilliamP.Suriano280ShenstoneRoadRiverside,Illinois60546ATTORNEYSFORDEFENDANT/APPELLANTJ.RossPepper222SecondAvenueNorthSuite360MNashville,TN37201ATTORNEYFORPLAINTIFF/APPELLEE @ AFFIRMEDANDREMANDED ̛̜      WILLIAMH.INMAN,SENIORJUDGE̛̜      ̜CONCUR:HENRYF.TODD,PRESIDINGJUDGE,MIDDLESECTION̜BENH.CANTRELL,JUDGE̜ GEORGEM.BOND,   ) RutherfordCountyCircuit0      ) No.37459  Plaintiff/Appellee  )       )VS.      ) AppealNo.      ) 01A019704CV00149 COMTHER,INC.,    )      )  Defendant/Appellant ) @ @ OPINION̛  Theplaintiffandthedefendantenteredintoa ContractServicesAgreementin1994whichprovided,aspertinenttothiscase,thateitherpartymightterminateitatanytimebygiving30daysnoticetotheother.OnMay19,1995,thedefendantinformedtheplaintiffbyletterthat8 ...wearediscontinuingourrelationshipwithyouforPhysicalTherapyservices,effectiveMay19,1995.8 Normalprocedurewarrantsa30daynotice,however,inlightofnumerouscomplaintsregardingyourservices,wefeelitisnecessarytoceaseservicesimmediately. ThissuitwasfiledintheGeneralSessionsCourttorecovercompensationfor30days.Theplaintiffinsiststhatbecausehewasentitledto30daysnoticeofterminationofthecontract,heisentitledtorecovercompensationduringthisperiodinaccordancewithhisearningshistory. ThecasewashearddenovointheCircuitCourtwithjudgmentbeingrenderedfortheplaintiffinaccordancewithhisevidencethathewouldhaveearned$3,240.00duringthe30daynoticeperiod. Thisisanonjurycaseandourreviewisdenovoontherecordaccompaniedbyapresumptionofthecorrectnessofthefindingsoffactofthetrialcourt.򀀀Tenn.R.App.P.,Rule13(d). Theplaintifftestifiedthatheindependentlycontractedwiththedefendantin1980toprovidehandsonphysicaltherapytopatientsreferredtohimbythedefendant,forwhichhewouldbepaid$45.00pervisit.Whenaskedhowmanyvisitshemadeeachweek,hereplied:8 Itvaried.Iwouldsayanywherefromreallyanaverageofsay18atthetimethattheyterminatedthecontract,butuptoaround40visitsperweek. ThecontractwasterminatedonMay19,1995withoutnotice,aswehaveseen.HetestifiedthatforthemonthimmediatelyprecedingMay19,1995heaveraged18visitsperweek,andfortheperiodfromMay21throughJune17,1995hewouldhavemade72visitshadthedefendantnotterminatedthecontract.̜ Thepleadingbydefendantwasoretenus,butitdevelopedduringthetrialthatitsdefensetotheclaimwastheallegedpoorperformanceoftheplaintiffinrenderingtherapytopatientsreferredtothedefendantbyCenturyHealthServices[hereafter Century].AnofficialofthedefendanttestifiedthatCenturydirectedhiscompanynottoassigntheplaintiffanyCenturypatients.SinceCenturyfurnishedallofthedefendantspatients,thisactionwouldhavelefttheplaintiffwithnothingtodo;hence,theearlytermination. Asthetrialjudgeobserved,thecontract,preparedbythedefendant,issilentonthepreciseissue.Hestated  8 You[thedefendant]senthimalettercold,whichviolatedthecontract.Anybreach,evenifhedidallthosethings[i.e.,negligentlytreatedϜpatients]anybreachisnotaddressedinthiscontract.Itprobablyshouldhavebeen.Ithinkifyouaregoingtoprovidemedicalservicestheyoughttobehighqualityandpeopleshouldntbeabused,butthatisnotinthere...   Whethertheplaintiffbreachedthecontractisnotrelevant,giventhepostureofthecase,andtheplaintiffwasclearlyentitledto30daysnotice.Hadhebeengivensuchnotice,thedefendantmighthave,withimpunity,simplyrefusedtoassignpatientstohim;butindirect,admitteddefianceofthecontractthedefendantchosenottogivetherequirednotice.Consequentlythecourtsmustenforcethecontractaswritten.Scandlynv.McDillColumbusCorp.,895S.W.2d342(Tenn.App.1994);CobleSystemsInc.v.GiffordCo.,627S.W.2d359(Tenn.App.1981). TheargumentoftheappellantthattheplaintiffcannotrecoverbecausenopatientscouldhavebeenassignedtohiminviewofCenturysdirectiveisunavailing  underthecontractwhichmakesnoreferencetoCentury,andinanyeventdoesnotprovidethatthedefendantmaydisregardthenoticerequirement. Thetrialjudgechosetoaccreditthetestimonyoftheplaintiffthathecouldhavemade72visitsduringthenoticeperiod.Theissuelargelyturnsuponthecredibilityofthewitnesses,adeterminationwithintheprovinceofthetrialjudge.Wallsv.MagnoliaTruckLines,622S.W.2d526(Tenn.1981).Wecannotfindthattheevidencepreponderatesagainstthejudgment. Theappelleewasawardedalimitedattorneyfeeof$371.08.Hecomplainsoftheminimalnatureofthisfeeandpresentsitforreview,insistingthatheisentitledtoanadditurincludingafeeforservicesinthisCourt. Thecontractualprovisionsrespectingattorneyfeesissomewhatunusual.Itprovidesthatthedefendantagreestoindemnifyandholdtheplaintiffharmlessfromalllosses,expenses,fees,includingattorneyfees,costsandjudgmentsthatmaybeassertedagainsttheplaintiffthatresultfromtheactsoromissionsofthedefendant.Giventhelackofevidenceontheissue,wecannotfindanabuseofdiscretiononthepartofthetrialjudgeinlimitingtheamountoftheawardofattorneyfees. Inlightoftheobviousintentofthepartieshowever,wefindthattheplaintiffisentitledtohisreasonableattorneyfeesforthisappeal,andthecaseisremandedforthispurpose. Affirmed,withcoststaxedtotheappellant.      ___________________________________      WilliamH.Inman,SeniorJudgeCONCUR:______________________________________HenryF.Todd,PresidingJudge,MiddleSection______________________________________̜BenH.Cantrell,Judge