Whether a defendant can be sued in the courts of a particular state depends upon the defendant’s presence in the state. If the defendant lives there, or in the case of an entity, has its principal place of business there or is incorporated there, the defendant has availed itself of the state’s jurisdiction and may

Mike Northrup
Mike Northrup is the chair of the appellate practice group at Cowles & Thompson, P.C. He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and is a former Chair of the Appellate Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association. He is also a former briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas.
Practice Areas
- Civil Appeals
- Labor and Employment Law
- Insurance Law
- Municipal Law
Professional Associations
- Dallas Bar Association, Appellate Law Section
- Defense Research Institute
- College of the State Bar of Texas
- State Bar of Texas, Appellate Section
- Texas Aggie Bar Association
Education
- JD, Texas Tech University School of Law (1988)
- B.S., (Political Science), Texas A&M University (1985)
Bar Admissions
- State Bar of Texas
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- United States District Court, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of Texas
Texas Anti-Discrimination Protection Held to Include Sexual Orientation
The Dallas Court of Appeals has held that the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA) and its prohibition against unlawful employment practices because of sex, encompasses claims for unlawful employment practices because of sexual orientation. This interpretation is the first for an appellate court in Texas and the court’s analysis follows the United States…
Review of Opinions and Memorandum Opinions in 2020
Last year, I reported that the Texas Supreme Court granted a record number of petitions for review in cases where the court of appeals had issued an opinion designated as a “Memorandum Opinion.” The statistics seem to dispel the notion that there is an inherent bias against review of “Memorandum Opinions.
In 2020, the number…
Texas Supreme Court statistics for 2020
This past year presented some unique challenges for the judiciary, and specifically for the Supreme Court of Texas. The court confronted a pandemic, a ransomeware attack, and some unusual election-year court filings. In spite of these challenges, the court persevered and performed. Here’s what my initial calculations show:
- During the 2020 calendar year, the court
…
Authenticating Public Records
Cases involving questions on the admissibility of evidence rarely rise to the level of importance that the Texas Supreme Court gets involved. Yet these questions routinely arise in the trial courts and are fundamental to trial practice. The Texas Supreme Court recently examined an evidence question involving the admissibility of public records.
In Fleming v. …
Superseding Prejudgment Interest
At a recent continuing education seminar, one of the presenters stated as a fact that amounts awarded in a judgment for prejudgment interest do not need to be included in the amount of a supersedeas bond. The presenter cited the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in In re Nalle Plastics Family Ltd. Partnership, 406 S.W.3d…
What is Important to the State’s Jurisprudence?
Two years ago, I noted that the data shows that the Texas Supreme Court grants a disproportionate number of petitions for review that come through certain intermediate appellate courts. One of those intermediate appellate courts is the Third Court of Appeals District, informally known as the Austin Court of Appeals. That trend continues.
Focusing on…
Texas Supreme Court Jurisdiction over Granted Petitions
The Supreme Court of Texas handed down an opinion in Regent Care of San Antonio, L.P. v. Detrick in early May. The main holding in the case addresses the application of a settlement credit. But one short paragraph at the end of the opinion has appellate practitioners talking.
The paragraph in question states:
“Regent Care
…
“Opinions,” “Memorandum Opinions,” and Texas Supreme Court Review
For many years after the Texas Supreme Court adopted rules that divided the opinions issued by the intermediate courts of appeals into “opinions” and “memorandum opinions,” many appellate practitioners privately concluded that if an opinion was designated “memorandum opinion,” the chances of getting Texas Supreme Court review were substantially reduced. But in 2018, I reported…
Section 18.001 Affidavits: There’s a Storm Brewing…
Often one of the biggest disputes at trial relates to the value of services that a claimant seeks to recover from the opposing party. At least for routine cases, the form and manner of proving the value of those services is made easier by statute, but when the value of the services is contested, things…