Appellate Law

This Week's Supreme Court Orders & Opinions

By D. Todd Smith

The Texas Supreme Court decided six cases and issued one substituted opinion with this week's orders.  Briefly, the new decisions are:

• First American Title Insurance Co. v. Combs (No. 05-0541), affirming the Comptroller's interpretation of a retaliatory tax statute affecting foreign insurers.
  
  
• In re McAllen Medical Center (No. 05-0892) (orig. proceeding), holding that appellate courts may review the adequacy of expert reports required by the Medical Liability Act when the statute's purposes would otherwise be defeated.  The Court conditionally granted the writ and ordered the trial court to dismiss the plaintiffs' claims against the hospital.
  
  
• Canyon Regional Water Authority v. Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (No. 06-0873), deciding a state water authority's easement rights involving a lake.
  
  
• In re Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (No. 06-0886) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam), concluding that removing a case to federal court before filing an answer did not waive the defendants' right to arbitration.  Compare Perry Homes v. Cull (No. 05-0882), previously discussed here.
  
  
• Higgins v. Randall County Sheriff's Office (No. 06- 0917), holding that an uncontested affidavit of indigence entitled the appellant to pursue his appeal without advance payment of costs.
  
  
• City of Dallas v. Reed (No. 07-0469) (per curiam), determining that a two-inch variance between traffic lanes was neither a special defect nor a premises defect for purposes of the Tort Claims Act.

I expect we'll see some lively discussion of McAllen Medical Center, Citigroup, and Reed in the coming days.

Full post as published by Texas Appellate Law Blog on May 16, 2008 (boomark / email).