Mission West Properties, L.P. v. Republic Properties Corp.

After a court trial, appellants Mission West Properties, L.P., and Mission West Properties, Inc., failed to recover on their complaint for breach of a partnership agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, and related causes of action, while respondents, their partners, recovered on their cross-complaint for reciprocal claims. Appellants assert both substantive and procedural errors in the trial court’s legal and factual conclusions. We will affirm the judgment.

*709 Background.

Appellants and respondents were partners in the Hellyer Avenue Limited Partnership, abbreviated by both sides as HALF. Appellant Mission West Properties, L.P. (MWLP), owned a 50 percent interest in HALF and was HALP’s general managing partner. The general partner of MWLP was appellant Mission West Properties, Inc. (MWI), which operated as a publicly held real estate investment trust. Carl Berg was the president of MWI. His construction management company, Berg & Berg Enterprises (Berg & Berg), is also an appellant, but it was not one of the original partners in HALF.

The other 50 percent of HALF was held by respondents Republic Properties Corporation (Republic Properties), 1 percent; Steven A.…