The Texas Supreme Court released two new opinions with this week’s regular orders, both of which involved petitions for writ of mandamus. In In re Hall (No. 07-0322), the Court held that an indigent adult who had been adjudicated delinquent as a minor and received a 40-year sentence had no statutory right under the Juvenile… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Original Proceedings
Subscribe to Original Proceedings RSS FeedTexas Supreme Court Orders & Opinion 1/23/09
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued one decision with this week’s exceptionally short set of regular Friday orders. In In re Watkins (No. 06-0653), the Court denied mandamus relief from an order granting the plaintiff a 30-day extension of time for filing an expert report under CPRC § 74.351(a). The Court released concurring opinions from Chief Justice Jefferson (joined by Justice O’Neill), Justice… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 12/5/08
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued four new decisions with this week’s orders. Links to the opinions are available here. The two signed opinions involved mandamus actions. (The other two were per curiam opinions on petitions for review.) I haven’t looked at the statistics, but it seems as if the Court has put out more mandamus decisions than usual… Continue Reading
If An Appeal Is Not Available, Do I Have Any Other Options for Obtaining Higher Court Review?
Posted in Appellate Practice, Original ProceedingsThis is the fourth installment of my series entitled "20 Questions About Texas Appellate Practice." The question answered here is: "If an appeal is not available, do I have any other options for obtaining higher court review?" Visit the original post (linked above) for the list of questions updated with links to their respective answers. If a court order cannot be appealed because it… Continue Reading
“A Whole New World”: Recent Developments in Texas Mandamus Practice
Posted in Original ProceedingsThat was the title of a CLE presentation I gave last Friday to members of the Austin Bar Association as part of its Fourth Friday CLE series. In addition to some basic mandamus principles, I covered recent rule changes affecting mandamus practice and how recent Texas Supreme Court decisions have treated the requirement that relator have no adequate remedy at… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders 10/24/08
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued no opinions with this week’s orders. Of interest, the Court issued stays in three mandamus cases, a subject on which I happen to be speaking today (mandamuses, not stays).
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 6/27/08
Posted in Opinions & Judgments, Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued four decisions—two of which were among the older cases on its docket—with this week’s regular orders. In Pleasant Glade Assembly of God v. Schubert (No. 05-0916), the Court held that a church was not estopped from asserting its constitutional rights, reversed a money judgment against the church, and rendered judgment of dismissal because the case represented an ecclesiastical dispute… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 6/6/08
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued three opinions with today’s regular Friday orders. In In re Roberts (No. 05‑0362) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam), the Court concluded that allowing plaintiffs a 30-day grace period to amend expert reports in a health-care liability case "does not substantially prolong litigation or allow for extensive discovery" and therefore does not cause the… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Lets FLDS Decision Stand
Posted in Opinions & Judgments, Original ProceedingsI’m a little late to this party—I just happened to be at a conference today and another function this evening with some of the lawyers involved—but the Texas Supreme Court denied the State’s mandamus petitions in the FLDS cases this afternoon. The Supreme Court of Texas Blog discusses the per curiam decision in the lead case and… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 5/23/08
Posted in Opinions & Judgments, Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued two decisions with today’s regular orders. In Providence Health Center v. Dowell (No. 05-0386) (consolidated with Petit v. Dowell (No. 05-0788)), a negligence action against emergency-room personnel for failing to prevent a suicide, the Court concluded that any connection between releasing the patient and the patient’s death was too attenuated for proximate cause. The… Continue Reading
Third Court Cancels FLDS Oral Argument
Posted in Oral Argument, Original ProceedingsBy this order, the Third Court of Appeals has canceled the oral argument on the application for emergency stay in In re Sara Steed, et al. (No. 03-08-00235-CV) and has summarily denied the stay. The court also denied the stay sought in the companion case, In re Faithann Jessop, et al. (No. 03-08-00236-CV). Before you rush to criticize this decision, consider… Continue Reading
Third Court to Hear FLDS Mandamus April 29
Posted in News & Politics, Original ProceedingsIt turns out that Tuesday’s post about FLDS appeals coming to Austin was timely. According to this press release and what I can gather from the Third Court of Appeals’ web site, lawyers for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid filed a mandamus petition yesterday asking the court to order District Judge Barbara Walther to hold hearings at… 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
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 11/30/07
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court handed down six decisions with this week’s orders. In Mid-Century Insurance Co. v. Ademaj (No. 05-0016), a declaratory judgment action, the Court held that insurers may lawfully collect Texas Automobile Theft Prevention Authority fees from auto insurance policyholders without including such fees in rate filings required under Article 5.101 of the… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 10/12/07
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court issued four opinions with this week’s orders. In In re U.S. Home Corp. (No. 03-1080) (per curiam), a dispute between a homebuilder and purchasers, the Court conditionally granted mandamus relief from a trial court order refusing to compel arbitration, holding that no evidence supported any of the asserted defenses to enforcement… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Ends Summer Recess
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Texas Supreme Court ended its summer recess with a bang by issuing seven opinions today. In In re H&R Block Financial Advisors, Inc., the per curiam Court conditionally granted mandamus relief from a trial court’s order refusing to stay the plaintiffs’ lawsuit in light of an arbitration clause. The Court rejected the plaintiffs’ attempts… Continue Reading
Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration Stands
Posted in Interlocutory Appeals, Opinions & Judgments, Original Proceedings, Perfecting AppealIn AXA Financial, Inc. v. Roberts, a consolidated interlocutory appeal and mandamus proceeding previously discussed here, the Third Court of Appeals has turned away efforts to compel arbitration under both the Texas and federal statutes. The court first held that it lacked jurisdiction over the interlocutory appeal because the notice of appeal was not filed… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Roundup
Posted in Original Proceedings, Standards of Review, Supreme Court OrdersWith last week’s orders, the Texas Supreme Court decided five cases, four of which involved per curiam opinions. In Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Mayes, the Court concluded that the plaintiff failed to raise fact issues sufficient to preclude summary judgment. Reversing a divided court of appeals for failure to apply the proper standard… Continue Reading
Legislature Considering FAA Interlocutory Appeal
Posted in Interlocutory Appeals, Original ProceedingsI must admit, SB 1167 has flown under my radar. This bill addresses a problem I ranted about earlier and, if passed, could eliminate "dual track" review of orders denying arbitration. View the bill analysis here.
Mandamus and Interlocutory Appeal Consolidated (Whee!)
Posted in Interlocutory Appeals, Original ProceedingsIn In re AXA Financial, Inc., the Third Court of Appeals has consolidated a mandamus with an interlocutory appeal from an order denying the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration. To be honest, this event is not terribly noteworthy, but with the legislature in session, it seems timely to mention the procedural gaffe that triggers such… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Orders & Opinion 3/23/07
Posted in Original Proceedings, Supreme Court OrdersThe Supreme Court of Texas released one opinion with today’s orders. In In re Derzapf, a father/custodial parent discontinued the maternal grandmother and step-grandfather’s access to the deceased mother’s children. The per curiam Court held that the step-grandfather lacked standing to modify custody and that the grandmother failed to meet the high threshold for overcoming… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 3/9/07
Posted in Original Proceedings, Perfecting Appeal, Supreme Court OrdersWith today’s orders, the Texas Supreme Court has issued per curiam opinions in six cases. In Zipp v. Wuemling, the Court held that an appeal from the district court’s guardianship decision was not rendered moot merely because the ward had died while the appeal was pending. Because issues remained with respect to who should settle… 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