Beware of using "form" language in an affidavit to establish the affiant’s personal knowledge of the facts A statement such as "I have personal knowledge of the facts in this affidavit," may not be adequate.  And the danger of getting it wrong is that the affidavit is legally insufficient.  

A good discussion of how far an affiant must go to establish personal knowledge is found in the Houston Fourteenth Court of Appeals‘ opinion in Valenzuela v. State & County Mutual Fire Insurance Co.   The court of appeals held that a "mere recitation that the affidavit is based on personal knowledge is inadequate if the affidavit does not positively show a basis for the knowledge."  "The affidavit must explain how the affiant has personal knowledge." (emphasis added).

Continue Reading Demonstration of Personal Knowledge in Affidavits

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 more time you spend studying City of Dallas v. Dallas Morning News, the more I.Q. points you lose.  This case may be more important for what it doesn’t answer than for what you hope it will answer. 

The primary issue in this appeal is whether e-mails that are sent to and from private e-mail addresses of the Mayor and other city officials and which involve matters of official public business, are public information and subject to the Texas Open Records Act.Continue Reading Open Records Act and its Application to E-mail

I’ve wanted to write something about Boenig v. Starnair, Inc. since I first read it because I believe the analysis is incorrect. 

This case involves the intersection of the responsible third party statute and a statute of repose.

Boenig sued contractor Pulte in November 2005 for injuries she allegedly sustained when she fell through the attic floor of a home Pulte built.  On July 19, 2007, Pulte filed a motion for leave to designate Starnair as a responsible third party.  Starnair was a subcontractor that performed the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning installation in the home.  On August 23, 2007, Boenig filed her fourth amended petition in which she joined Starnair as a defendant.

Starnair moved for summary judgment in reliance upon the ten-year statute of repose set out in Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.009.  The trial court granted the motion and Boenig appealed.Continue Reading Responsible Third Party Statute and Statutes of Repose

Can the non-movant in a summary judgment context use the movant’s evidence (attached to support a traditional motion for summary judgment) to challenge no-evidence grounds for summary judgment on appeal?

According to the El Paso Court of Appeals, the answer is "no." 

Continue Reading Combining No-Evidence Motions for Summary Judgment with Traditional Motions

The Beaumont Court of Appeals recently addressed the difference between judicial estoppel and a judicial admission.  Plaintiff filed a claim with the EEOC and brought suit against defendant for gender discrimination.  After her federal suit was dismissed, she sued the defendant in state court for unlawful termination based on her refusal to perform an illegal act. 

The Texarkana Court of Appeals held that a no-evidence motion for summary judgment need only identify the challenged element in order to comply with Rule 166a(i).  Plaintiff argued that the motion must list all of the elements and identify the challenged element(s).  The court of appeals disagreed and held the motion sufficient if it "merely reference[s] the element