Insight & Commentary on Texas Appellate Law
In the heat of the rush to get a mandamus filed with the court of appeals, it’s easy to overlook basic mandamus requirements. That appears to be what happened in In re Moffitt, a mandamus proceeding filed in the Amarillo Court of Appeals.
Mr. Moffitt sought a mandamus to compel the Hutchinson County District…
The Tyler Court of Appeals has held that a trial court has no authority to extend the deadline for a party to respond to an offer of settlement made under Texas Civil Procedure Rule 167. In In re Complete Rx, Ltd., Good Shepherd Hospital sued Complete Rx for an accounting. Complete RX invoked…
The Dallas Court of Appeals recently weighed in (again?) on whether a trial court’s erroneous ruling regarding designation of a responsible third party is subject to mandamus. In this case, the trial court denied relator’s motion to designate a responsible third party. The trial court did not allow relator to replead. A divided panel held…
The Dallas Court of Appeals granted a petition for writ of mandamus in a case in which the trial court ordered production of a personal computer hard drive and e-mail account.
Misty Jordan sued Gajekse, Inc. alleging that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and then fired for reporting it. The trial court…
The Dallas Bar Association Appellate Law Section is having its monthly meeting Thursday, March 15, 2012, at noon at the Belo Mansion.
The speaker is Diana Faust of Cooper & Scully, P.C. She will be addressing Supersedeas Issues in State and Federal Court. One hour of CLE credit is available.
The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed that "[t]he fact that a lawyer serves as both an advocate and a witness does not, standing alone, compel disqualification." Here, the court also restated the well-settled rule that disqualification of counsel is subject to mandamus. The court reiterated that Rule 3.08 only requires disqualification if the…
Since 1985, the test for whether a writ of mandamus will issue in connection with a trial court’s refusal to grant a plea in abatement under the doctrine of dominant jurisdiction has required proof of an active interference by one court with the jurisdiction of another court. The loosening of mandamus standards does not appear…
The Fort Worth Court of Appeals recently held that it was error for a trial court to order that an attorney not file a notice of appeal until his client directed him to do so. After trial, Relator’s counsel sought to have appellate counsel substiuted in for any possible appeal. The Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory…
The Amarillo Court of Appeals dismissed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus against a justice of the peace because a court of appeals does not have jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus against a justice of the peace.
In In re Smith, the relators sought a writ of mandamus against a justice of…
Here’s one to put in your mandamus file. The Dallas Court of Appeals has held that the trial court abused its discretion by denying a special exception and that the relators had no adequate remedy by appeal. Of course, there’s more to this holding than meets the eye.
This is a sharolder derivative suit governed…
