Opinions & Judgments

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If you’ve got a pending interlocutory appeal from a temporary injunction, or if you are considering filing such an appeal, you will want to pay attention to this.

The Dallas Court of Appeals has held that interlocutory appeals of temporary injunctions should be dismissed because they seek advisory opinions.  In Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board v. Association of Taxicab Operators, USA, the Association of Taxicab Operators sought temporary and permanent injunctive relief against the Airport Board’s new airport policy favoring taxicabs with dedicated CNG-powered engines.  After the trial court granted a temporary injunction, the Airport Board appealed.  Notably, at the oral argument, the court of appeals panel asked about the status of the trial on the permanent injunction and the parties advised the court that they had agreed to continue the case because of the pendency of the appeal of the temporary injunction.Continue Reading Demise of Interlocutory Appeal of Temporary Injunctions?

A couple of opinions–one state and one federal–reiterate the effect of an appellate court’s mandate following remand of the case back to the trial court.

 The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prior decision decertifying a class certification "foreclosed the re-litigation of the class certification" on remand to the trial court.  Gene and Gene, L.L.C. filed suit against BioPay, L.L.C. alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 due to the sending of unsolicited advertisements from one fax machine to another.  After the district court certified the class, BioPay filed an interlocutory appeal.  The Fifth Circuit reversed the certification, held that the issue of consent precluded certification, and remanded to the district court "for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion."  After remand, Gene & Gene discovered a searchable datebase that it contended established a common method of establishing the issue of consent.  Gene & Gene moved to recertify and the district court granted recertification.  A second appeal followed. 

Two judges on the Fifth Circuit panel held that the law-of-the-case doctrine or mandate rule foreclosed the district court from reconsidering the certification.  Alternatively, the two-judge majority held that the evidence discovered on remand was not substantially different from the evidence before the court in the first opinion.  The third judge on the panel concurred in this latter holding.  The court’s opinion in Gene & Gene, L.L.C. v. BioPay, L.L.C., may be found here.Continue Reading Follow Thy Mandate

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a district court overstepped the bounds of a court’s inherent authority by sanctioning conduct that occurred in connection with an arbitration proceeding. 

In Positive Software Solutions, Inc. v. New Century Mortgage Corp., the district court invoked its inherent authority to sanction and sanctioned the attorney…

The Dallas Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s order denying a plea to the jurisdiction that had been filed by the Texas attorney general, who had intervened in the proceeding for the purpose of contesting jurisdiction.  The court of appeals held that Texas district courts lack jurisdiction to grant divorces to same-sex couples legally married in…

The Dallas Court of Appeals recently held that a trial court abused its discretion by ordering production of irrelevant net worth information.  The Court first acknowledged that "net worth is relevant and discoverable when punitive damages may be awarded."  The Court  noted the "corollary to that rule is that when punitive damages are not recoverable, information…