The Texas Supreme Court issued four new decisions and one substituted opinion with today’s regular orders. In General Electric Co. v. Moritz (No. 0871), the Court reaffirmed that a landowner owes an independent contractor’s employees no duty to warn of obvious hazards they already know about, rejecting the plaintiff’s argument that his knowledge of the hazard was simply… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Restricted Appeal
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
No-Answer Default Divorce Decree Reversed
Posted in Opinions & JudgmentsIn Wolk v. Wolk, the Third Court of Appeals has reversed a no-answer default divorce decree challenged in a restricted appeal, holding that error was apparent on the face of the record because the plaintiff presented no evidence identifying, describing, and valuing community assets awarded in the decree. Without this evidence, the trial court could… 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 2/9/07
Posted in Supreme Court OrdersToday’s Texas Supreme Court orders show that last week’s prediction of at least four opinions wasn’t totally off base. In Norris v. Thomas, on a certified question from the Fifth Circuit, the Court determined that a houseboat did not qualify for the Texas Constitution’s homestead exemption because it is a moveable chattel that does not… Continue Reading