Newsletters
Issue v. Argument Preservation
The record provides the raw material of an appeal; it is the closed universe in which appellate practitioners work. The Texas courts of appeal, after all, do not consider matters outside the record on appeal.[1] That’s old hat. The record is important, critically so. And, so, we are all well-acquainted with the appellate record’s preparation. The clerk and reporter—by rule and request—assemble the papers and transcripts, combine them, file them, number them, and so on.[2] Their contents turn on rule and the parties’ designations.[3] You know all that. But what about supplementing the record, say, with relevant but missing materials, after an appeal has progressed from its early administrative stages and into the merits? Can a party do that in Texas appellate courts?
Appellate Considerations in a Contested Special Master Appointment
by Nicholas Bruno The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure allow the appointment of a “master in chancery” “in exceptional cases” and “for good cause.” Tex. R. Civ. P. 171. Such appointments may be by agreement. But oftentimes that appointment may be contested—and appellate...
Case Updates from the Fifth Circuit
by Kelsi White Standing: This quarter, the Fifth Circuit issued a handful of standing decisions analyzing the impact of TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190 (2021), on Fifth Circuit precedent. Anyone looking at moving to dismiss for lack of standing should do...
Case Updates from the First Court of Appeals
by Parth Gejji Amelang v. Harris County Appraisal District, No. 01-20-00623-CV, __ S.W.3d __, 2022 WL 4371518 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Sept. 22, 2022, no pet. h.). Panel consisted of Justices Landau, Hightower, and Rivas-Molloy. Opinion by Justice Hightower....
Case Updates from the Fourteenth Court of Appeals
by Eleanor Mason, Staff Attorney for Justice Hassan, Fourteenth Court of Appeals Lennar Homes of Tex., Inc. v. Rafiei, 652 S.W.3d 532, (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Aug. 16, 2022, no pet. h.) (Zimmerer, J., majority; Jewell, J., dissenting). In Lennar Homes of...
Did You Know?
by JoAnn Storey, JoAnn Storey, P.C. It is improper for the trial court to conduct a conflicts-of-law analysis regarding the application of Chapter 33’s provisions governing proportionate responsibility in a tort case. See Smith v. Cudd Pressure Control Inc., 126...
A Couple Developments in Preserving Evidentiary Errors in Summary Judgment Practice
The record provides the raw material of an appeal; it is the closed universe in which appellate practitioners work. The Texas courts of appeal, after all, do not consider matters outside the record on appeal.[1] That’s old hat. The record is important, critically so. And, so, we are all well-acquainted with the appellate record’s preparation. The clerk and reporter—by rule and request—assemble the papers and transcripts, combine them, file them, number them, and so on.[2] Their contents turn on rule and the parties’ designations.[3] You know all that. But what about supplementing the record, say, with relevant but missing materials, after an appeal has progressed from its early administrative stages and into the merits? Can a party do that in Texas appellate courts?
Permissive Interlocutory Appeals Under Texas Law
by Nicholas Bruno Litigators are well aware of the “general rule” that only final judgments are appealable. While not a true “appeal,” the availability of review of an (often interlocutory) order at an appellate court through mandamus is often an exception to that...
Case Updates from the Fifth Circuit
by Kelsi White Rolls v. Packaging Corp. of Am. Inc., 34 F.4th 431 (5th Cir. 2022). In Rolls, the Fifth Circuit affirmed (1) the denial of a motion to remand and (2) the grant of summary judgment on a Louisiana plaintiff’s wrongful-death claims for the death of her...
Case Updates from the First Court of Appeals
by Parth Gejji Budget Rent a Car System, LLC v. Ozumba, No. 01-20-00408-CV, 2022 WL 2347742 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] June 30, 2022, no pet. h.) (mem. op.) (Rivas-Molloy, J.). This case reinforces a fundamental lesson regarding jury charges: be careful about...