This Week's Supreme Court Orders & Opinion
The Texas Supreme Court denied one petition for review and issued one per curiam opinion this week with what must be close to the shortest set of orders ever issued. The Court issued the orders on Thursday, instead of the usual Friday, because of the Good Friday holiday.
In State of Texas v. Precision Solar Controls Inc., another in a long series of soveriegn immunity cases, the Court held that the plaintiff should have an opportunity to establish waiver in light of the "new" opinion in Reata Construction Corp. v. City of Dallas. In its one-paragraph analysis, the Court stated:
The court of appeals relied on our first opinion in Reata Construction Corp. v. City of Dallas, which we have since withdrawn and replaced. 197 S.W.3d 371 (Tex. 2006). We held that a governmental entity that brings an action waives immunity from suit for claims that are germane to, connected with, and properly defensive to its action, to the extent of an offset. Id. at 373. The State argues that it has not by its action waived immunity for an intentional tort claim like Precision's. Such arguments should be further considered by the lower court in light of Reata.
The supreme court vacated the court of appeals' judgment and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
