Early last year, I wrote about the split among the Texas courts of appeals on whether mandamus relief is available to challenge a trial court’s ruling striking a Section 18.001 counteraffidavit. Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 18.001 counteraffidavits are used by defendants to contest the reasonableness and necessity of a claimant’s affidavit proof of
Damages
Section 18.001 Affidavits: There’s a Storm Brewing…
By Mike Northrup on
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…
Fifth Circuit Denies Attorney Fees Where Attorneys Created Claim for Purpose of Generating Excessive Fee Request
By Sim Israeloff on
The Fifth Circuit has affirmed a denial of all attorney fees under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act based on the “outrageous facts” and the conduct of the plaintiff’s attorneys.
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Denies Attorney Fees Where Attorneys Created Claim for Purpose of Generating Excessive Fee Request
Using Texas’ Anti-SLAPP Statute to Combat SSAPP (Strategic Sanctions Against Public Participation)
By Daniel Correa on
Texas, like many other states, enacted legislation to curb meritless lawsuits whose purpose lies solely in chilling a person’s right to free speech and/or to petition his or her government. Under Texas’ Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) law, a party may file a motion to dismiss a legal action which is “based on, relates…
DOES A DEPOSITION ON WRITTEN QUESTIONS IN LIEU OF AN AFFIDAVIT CONCERNING COST & NECESSITY OF SERVICES SATISFY TEXAS CIVIL PRACTICE & REMEDIES CODE §18.001?
By Daniel Correa on
If you are defense counsel in a personal injury suit, you may be accustomed to receiving an affidavit concerning cost and necessity of services from plaintiff’s counsel immediately or shortly following your answer to the suit. In many cases you may not know whether the case warrants hiring an expert to controvert the affidavit within…
The Impact of Medical Lien Funding on Past Medical Expenses “Actually Paid or Incurred”
By Helen Hutton on
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 41.0105 limits recoveries of medical care expenses by an injured claimant to those expenses actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the claimant. A number of appellate decisions have addressed what this paid-or-incurred language means in different contexts. The opinion in Katy Springs Manufacturing, Inc.