Insight & Commentary on Texas Appellate Law
The Fort Worth Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed that orders denying a motion to dissolve a prejudgment writ of garnishment are interlocutory and, therefore, not appealable. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the appeal. The Court’s memorandum opinion in MRI Country Bend Invest. Fund, L.P. v. Capitol Painting & Construction, Inc. dismissing the interlocutory appeal can be found here.
If you…
In a case of first impression the Texas Supreme Court recently held that the issue of whether a party has the mental capacity to contract is an issue for courts, not arbitrators. The Court traced the history of the so-called "separability" spawned by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Prima Paint Corp. v. Conklin Manufacturing Co.…
The Houston (First) Court of Appeals recently issued an interesting opinion regarding perfection of an appeal from a small claims court to a county court at law. The appellant failed to timely file an appeal bond within ten days of the judgment pursuant to to TRCP 571. Instead, the appellant "deposited $5,000 in cash .
The Dallas Court of Appeals held that plaintiffs were not entitled to take the depositions of George W. and Laura Bush in relation to the ongoing dispute over the location of the proposed Bush Presidental Library. The Court stated:
For reasons of comity and the policy considerations discussed in [United States v.]Poindexter, we
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The Collin County Bar Appellate Section will join with the Collin County Bar Association for a meeting at noon on May 15, 2009 at Ralph & Kacoo’s in Allen. Our speaker will be Justice Douglas S. Lang from the Dallas Court of Appeals. Justice Lang will discuss his book Deeds, Not Words, professionalism, and the relationships that …
The Texas Supreme Court recently held that Rule 193.6 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure applies to summary judgment proceedings. Thus, any discoverable information, including expert information under Rule 194, that has not been properly disclosed or supplemented, should be excluded. The Court stated that "the ‘hard deadline’ established by the pretrial discovery rules ensures that the…
The Texas Supreme Court recently weighed in again on the enforceability of non-compete agreements under Texas law. Specifically, the Court held that an employer need not expressly promise to provide confidential information to an employee in return for a promise not to disclose the information. Instead, the Court held that an employer impliedly promises to provide confidential information…
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hall Street Associates v. Mattel "restricts the grounds for vacatur" of an arbitration award and, thus, "manifest disregard for the law is no longer an indepdendent ground for vacating arbitration awards under the FAA." Consequently…
The Tyler Court of Appeals recently held that evidence of medical expenses billed by medical providers is legally insufficient evidence of the amount of expenses "actually paid or incurred." Plaintiff sued the defendant for injuries sustained in an auto accident. Prior to trial, the plaintiff filed a motion to exclude any evidence of reductions, insurance…
The Houston Court of Appeals (14th) recently held that a party may not avoid exclusion of an undisclosed expert by simply calling the witness to rebut previous testimony. Appellee failed to timely disclose an expert. The trial court allowed the expert to testify at trial over appellant’s objection. On appeal, the appellant argued that the…
