Interlocutory Appeals: Appeal Now or Later
Imagine that your trial counsel informs you that the trial judge has just made a significant adverse ruling against you, but then he tells you that you could file [...]
Get Out of Jail Cards for Leveraged Buyout Fraudulent Transfers
Though the pandemic is the cause of the rising number of retail bankruptcies, major retailers were facing cash flow and insolvency issues prior to COVID-19. Many of them were [...]
Absurdity Doctrine Disfavored by the Courts
The Fifth Circuit and the Texas Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the high bar that must be met to find that the plain language of a statute violates the absurdity doctrine. [...]
What is Important to the State’s Jurisprudence?
Two years ago, I noted that the data shows that the Texas Supreme Court grants a disproportionate number of petitions for review that come through certain intermediate appellate courts. [...]
Texas Supreme Court Jurisdiction over Granted Petitions
The Supreme Court of Texas handed down an opinion in Regent Care of San Antonio, L.P. v. Detrick in early May. The main holding in the case addresses the application of [...]
Analysis of the Recent Legislative Changes to Section 18.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code
The 2019 Texas legislative session made significant changes to an important provision of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code that aids parties in proving up charges for services without [...]
Eight (Corners) is Enough – Texas Supreme Court Says So – When it Comes to an Insurer’s Duty to Defend
In a certified question from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to the Texas Supreme Court, our state’s highest civil appellate court recently re-affirmed the long-standing, “eight-corners” duty to [...]
“Opinions,” “Memorandum Opinions,” and Texas Supreme Court Review
For many years after the Texas Supreme Court adopted rules that divided the opinions issued by the intermediate courts of appeals into "opinions" and "memorandum opinions," many appellate practitioners privately [...]
Section 18.001 Affidavits: There’s a Storm Brewing…
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 [...]
2019 Courts of Appeals Reversal Rates
I've run the numbers on the reversal rates for the intermediate appellate courts in Texas for the calendar year 2019. The overall reversal rate for the year was 77%. To [...]
