This is the second installment of my series entitled "20 Questions About Texas Appellate Practice." The question answered here is: "What kinds of orders are subject to appeal in Texas?" Visit the original post (linked above) for the list of questions updated with links to their respective answers. Generally, a trial court’s rulings in civil cases are not subject to appeal until… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Jurisdiction
Subscribe to Jurisdiction RSS FeedFDLS Appeal(s) Will Come to Austin
Posted in Jurisdiction, News & Politics, ProcedureThe West Texas town of Eldorado is more than 200 miles from Austin. So imagine my surprise when I realized that any appeals coming out of the drama surrounding the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints "Yearning for Zion" Ranch (which the ABA Journal describes as "what surely will be among the largest child custody cases in U.S…. Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 4/11/08
Posted in Interlocutory Appeals, Jurisdiction, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued 11 decisions, all but three of them per curiam, with this week’s orders. They are: In re H.V. (No. 06-0005), a juvenile justice case involving the suppression of evidence and appellate review under Section 56.03(b) of the Texas Family Code. Lewis v. Funderburk (No. 06-0518), resolving a 12-2 split among the… Continue Reading
Request Did Not Extend Time for Appealing Summary Judgment
Posted in Jurisdiction, Perfecting Appeal, ProcedureIn Finney v. Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Inc. (No. 03-07-00329-CV), the Third Court of Appeals reminds us that a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law does not extend the deadline for filing a notice of appeal from a summary judgment. Other than for accelerated appeals, such requests push the deadline from 30… Continue Reading
“Bad Result” Instruction Properly Refused in Pre-HB4 Case
Posted in Jurisdiction, Jury ChargesIn Austin Periodontal Associates, Inc. v. Husak (No. 03-07-00125-CV), a pre-House Bill 4 dental malpractice case, the Third Court of Appeals has affirmed a $503,923 judgment rendered after a jury trial. The dentist and hisemployer challenged the judgment on several grounds, most of which involved evidentiary complaints. This decision is noteworthy, however, because the trial… Continue Reading
Bad Day for the Belts
Posted in Interlocutory Appeals, JurisdictionAppellants surnamed Belt had a rough day in the Third Court of Appeals. In opinions written by Justice Jan Patterson (pictured), the Court dismissed for want of jurisdiction two restricted appeals brought by Robert Belt and one brought by Justin Belt. All three cases are styled Belt v. Point Venture Property Owners’ Association, Inc., and… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 1/11/08
Posted in Jurisdiction, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court released four opinions with this week’s orders: In PAJ, Inc. v. Hanover Insurance Co. (No. 05-0849), a five-member majority (Justice O’Neill, joined by Chief Justice Jefferson and Justices Brister, Medina, and Green) held that an insured’s failure to timely notify its insurer of a claim does not defeat coverage if the… Continue Reading
Second Motion for New Trial Did Not Extend Trial Court’s Plenary Power
Posted in Jurisdiction, Original Proceedings, Procedure, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued its first decision of 2008 with today’s orders. In In re Brookshire Grocery Co. (No. 05-0300), the Court held that a motion for new trial filed within 30 days of judgment, but after a preceding motion for new trial had been overruled, did not extend the trial court’s plenary power… Continue Reading
Omitting Costs Did Not Affect Judgment Finality
Posted in Jurisdiction, Opinions & JudgmentsIn Saudi Refining, Inc. v. Combs, the Third Court of Appeals has held that it lacked jurisdiction to decide an appeal from a summary judgment signed in 2003. In an opinion authored by Chief Justice W. Kenneth Law (pictured), the court rejected an argument that the omission of costs sought by the defendants was sufficient… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 9/28/07
Posted in Jurisdiction, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued four opinions with today’s orders. In National Plan Administrators, Inc. v. National Health Insurance Co. (No. 05-0006), the Court held that a third-party administrator did not owe a general fiduciary duty to an insurer in light of the parties’ agreement and certain provisions in the Insurance Code. The Court therefore… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinion 9/7/07
Posted in Jurisdiction, Supreme Court OrdersAfter a very busy couple of weeks, the Texas Supreme Court released one opinion with today’s orders. In Texas A&M University System v. Koseoglu, the Court held that a plaintiff who, due to pleading defects, loses a plea to the jurisdiction based on sovereign immunity is not entitled to a remand when amending the pleading… Continue Reading
Jurisdiction Vested When Administrative Period Expired
Posted in Jurisdiction, Opinions & JudgmentsIn Wallace v. Texas Department of Health, the Third Court of Appeals has held that the trial court acquired subject-matter jurisdiction over a prematurely filed Texas Commission on Human Rights Act claim when the statutory administrative period ended. Under the statute, the Commission had exclusive jurisdiction over the dispute until 180 days after the employee… Continue Reading
Sovereign Immunity Barred A&M Bonfire Claims
Posted in Jurisdiction, Opinions & JudgmentsIn Texas A&M University v. Bading, a case stemming from the 1999 Aggie bonfire disaster, the Waco Court of Appeals has reversed the trial court’s denial of the University’s plea to the jurisdiction based on sovereign immunity. The appellees were defendants in wrongful death and personal injury actions who brought various claims against the University… Continue Reading
Appealing an Otherwise Non-Final Order Under FRCP 54(b)
Posted in Interlocutory Appeals, JurisdictionHow Appealing blogger and Law.com correspondent Howard J. Bashman has this thoughtful commentary on the ups and downs of trying to get an otherwise-unappealable federal district court order certified as final under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b). If you have issues unrelated to the remaining portion of the case and immediate appellate review (as opposed… Continue Reading
Correcting Cause Number Did Not Extend Appeal Deadline
Posted in Jurisdiction, Opinions & Judgments, Perfecting AppealIn Charles v. Texas Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, the Third Court of Appeals has held that the trial court’s signing of an order nunc pro tunc to correct the cause number in a dismissal order did not extend the deadline for filing a notice of appeal. Accordingly, the appellate court determined that it… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 3/2/07
Posted in Jurisdiction, Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersIt’s been a busy week at the Texas Supreme Court. Today’s orders included opinions in the following six cases: In Citizens Insurance Co. v. Daccach, the court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s certification of a worldwide class of securities purchasers. The supreme court reversed,decertified the class, and remanded the case to the trial court,… Continue Reading
No Jurisdiction Over Attempted Appeal From Class Action Orders
Posted in Interlocutory Appeals, Jurisdiction, Opinions & Judgments, Perfecting AppealIn Rainbow Group, Ltd. v. Wagoner, the Third Court of Appeals has dismissed a class action defendant’s interlocutory appeal from an order denying its motion to decertify the class and an order granting the plaintiffs’ motion to amend the certification. The court of appeals held that it lacked jurisdiction becausethe first order was not subject… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 2/23/07
Posted in Jurisdiction, Supreme Court OrdersThe Supreme Court of Texas issued three per curiam opinions with today’s orders: In Hood v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the Court held that the court of appeals erred by dismissing the appeal without providing an opportunity to cure when the plaintiff filed an indigence affidavit within the time the appeals court gave him to pay… Continue Reading
Front-Pay Claim Is Part of Amount in Controversy
Posted in Jurisdiction, Supreme Court OrdersYesterday’s prediction was way off, although the Texas Supreme Court did release its first opinion of 2007 with today’s orders. In United Services Automobile Association v. Brite, the Court held that a claim for front pay must be included when determining whether a case meets the amount-in-controversy requirement for a limited jurisdiction court. Because a… Continue Reading
State Immune From Suit for Injunction That Was Really a Claim for Monetary Relief
Posted in Jurisdiction, Opinions & JudgmentsIn In re C.S., the Third Court of Appeals has held that an ad litem’s request for an injunction to remove "unconconstitutional barriers" to an adoption by increasing subsidies was really "an attempt to force the State to pay money to [the prospective adoptive parents] that the State is not willing to pay on its… Continue Reading
Which Court of Appeals Has Jurisdiction Over Your Case?
Posted in Appellate Practice, JurisdictionWhen revamping the Texas appellate court web sites (except for the Dallas Court of Appeals, which has always done its own thing), the Office of Court Administration included a PDF color-coded map showing the boundaries of all fourteen appellate court districts. (A list of counties in each appellate district is available here.) This is a… Continue Reading