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Supreme Court of Texas Blog

Covers Texas appellate practice, with a special focus on the Supreme Court of Texas.
By Don Cruse, Esq.

Post Frequency: 2.8/day

Last Entry: March 28, 2011 at 11:39:31

What?s different about this picture?

Posted on June 21, 2010
The Court’s website doesn’t have a more formal announcement that Justice Lehrmann has been sworn in, but the large photograph on the Court’s home page speaks pretty clearly: If you have an oral argument coming up this fall, you may want to soak in the new arrangement of Justices...

Child forced into prostitution below the legal age of consent is a victim, not an offender; net-worth discovery [June 18, 2010]

Posted on June 18, 2010
The Texas Supreme Court issued two opinions and accepted one new case for oral argument with today’s orders list. Today’s list was Justice O’Neill’s last on the Court. Her last day as a Justice will be Sunday; Debra Lehrmann has been appointed by Governor Perry to replace her and will be sworn in on Monday [...

The ?back? button for Adobe e-briefs

Posted on June 14, 2010
For all the work Adobe has done to make PDF documents hyperlinked, it has not included a basic navigational feature — the back button. This weekend, I saw my one-year-old nephew operate his father’s iPhone. He swiped to unlock, saw an unfamiliar screen (the mail app), quickly clicked the home button to clear it out, [...

Sexual harassment torts found preempted by TCHRA; homeowners policy doesn?t cover water-leak mold-damage to structure [Jun. 11, 2010]

Posted on June 11, 2010
The Texas Supreme Court issued opinions in six cases today. The Court did not accept any new cases for review. With Justice O’Neill’s final day approaching on the 20th, this was her penultimate Friday orders list. She wrote one of today’s signed majorities and today’s only dissenting opinion...

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It?s (apparently) time to learn a new Bluebook

Posted on June 10, 2010
I’ve just ordered my copy of the new (and 96 pages longer) Bluebook citation guide. I ordered from Amazon; if you like paying for shipping, you can go directly to the source. The first mention I saw of the new edition was in a blog post titled “The Bluebook (19th ed...

Texas Tribune interviews Debra Lehrmann

Posted on June 05, 2010
The Texas Tribune has published an interview with soon-to-be-Justice Debra Lehrmann. Judge Lehrmann will join the Court on June 21, 2010 to serve the remainder of Justice O’Neill’s current term, standing for reelection this November. The Tribune’s interview format is a nice hybrid between a traditional article and a transcript...

One opinion today [Jun. 4, 2010]

Posted on June 04, 2010
The Texas Supreme Court issued one opinion with today’s orders list. Today’s opinion was in Gilbert Texas Construction, L.P. v. Underwriters at Lloyd?s London, No. 08-0246 (docket and briefs), about whether an insurer is bound to pay for property damage to a third party that its insured (by contract) agreed to assume [under this policy language, [...

Today?s CLE presentation on electronic briefs

Posted on June 03, 2010
I’ll be speaking today with Blake Hawthorne at the UT State and Federal Appeals Conference about some recent changes in electronic briefing rules and what they mean for appellate advocacy. The paper that goes with our presentation is posted here...

A wrinkle in the US Supreme Court?s recent decision that juveniles cannot get life without parole

Posted on May 28, 2010
When does the US Supreme Court ask for information from the federal government and bypass OSG? When does the Court do its own research into factual data underlying a party’s constitutional theory? According to the Blog of Legal Times, both those things happened in Graham v...

Lehrmann appointed to Texas Supreme Court effective June 21

Posted on May 28, 2010
Today, Governor Perry announced the appointment of district judge Debra Lehrmann to be a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, effective June 21, 2010. Judge Lehrmann will be assuming Place 3, the seat of Justice O”Neill, who a few weeks ago formally notified the Governor that she would be stepping down on June 20, 2010...

Five new grants; a remand in the interest of justice; more on contractual subrogation [May 28, 2010]

Posted on May 28, 2010
With today’s orders list, the Texas Supreme Court issued per curiam opinions in two pending cases. Leila Regina Brown Hidalgo v. Alvin Steele Hidalgo, No. 09-0415 (per curiam) (briefs). The Texas Supreme Court gave some relief to a litigant that had chosen a losing appellate strategy...

How to Make PDF E-Briefs for the Texas Supreme Court

Posted on May 26, 2010
The blog has covered the Texas Supreme Court’s new rules for electronic briefs, including a few pointers on what’s likely to trip you up.1 Today, I’m posting my own guide about how to make electronic briefs for the Texas Supreme Court...

No opinions today; two summaries from last week [May 21, 2010]

Posted on May 21, 2010
This is the week of the American Law Institute conference. Most of the Texas Supreme Court Justices are members of ALI, so it is not surprising that this week brought a very quiet orders list. But this slow orders day is a perfect opportunity for me to catch up on summaries from last Friday’s list...

Justice O?Neill to step down June 20th

Posted on May 07, 2010
Justice O’Neill will be stepping down from the Texas Supreme Court on June 20, 2010. This gives the Governor the opportunity to appoint an interim replacement to serve through the fall election. (The betting is that the Governor will appoint the Republican nominee for the seat, Debra Lehrmann...

New grant about calculating child support in divorce; seven cases decided with opinions [May 7, 2010]

Posted on May 07, 2010
With today’s orders list, the Texas Supreme Court granted one new petition for review and issued opinions in seven others. New grant: How to calculate child support obligations when one parent chooses a career path below their maximum income potential James Derwood Iliff v...

Texas Supreme Court takes more steps toward electronic filing

Posted on May 06, 2010
The Texas Supreme Court has issued a new order to amend and replace its original order about e-filing, which I wrote about in February. The changes go into effect May 31, 2010. The Court is taking two small steps toward electronic notifications being sent to counsel in lieu of the postcards and one-page letters that [...

U.S. Supreme Court targeted by litigant in Texas Supreme Court

Posted on May 06, 2010
Well, you don’t see this caption every day: Brumbaugh v. Justice John Roberts, et al., No. 10-0314. The “et alia” includes eight other Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. (Justice Sotomayor is off the hook; this plaintiff’s suit still names Justice Souter...

No opinions or new grants today [Apr. 30, 2010]

Posted on April 30, 2010
Today the Texas Supreme Court issued a quiet orders list. It did not issue any opinions or grant any petitions for review. The Court’s public calendar shows that the Justices will be holding a two-day private conference next week to discuss pending cases.

Guzman?s second opinion; Education Commissioner not a ?party? to appeals of his own decisions [Apr. 23, 2010]

Posted on April 23, 2010
The Court issued one opinion with today’s orders list. It did not grant any new cases for oral argument. Today’s opinion was Justice Guzman’s second since joining the Texas Supreme Court. Both have been decisions for a unanimous Court; she has not yet written or joined a dissent or concurrence...

Forum-selection clause in favor of foreign parent company; SCOTX formally accepts Ninth Circuit?s certified question [orders of Apr. 16, 2010]

Posted on April 16, 2010
With today’s orders list, the Texas Supreme Court issued five opinions — four of which relate to the long-running dispute over the Kenedy ranching fortune. I’ll have a separate post about the Kenedy cases.1 Certified question accepted...

Lehrmann wins close primary runoff

Posted on April 14, 2010
The turnout for the runoff in the 2010 Texas Republican primary was 2.55% of registered Texas voters. So it’s no surprise that the Secretary of State was able to count 100% of the ballots before the midnight hour. The results: Rick Green160...

SCOTX Place 3 primary runoff tomorrow

Posted on April 12, 2010
Tomorrow is the primary runoff day in Texas, and the only statewide race on either party’s ballot is the contest between former Representative Rick Green of Dripping Springs and Judge Debra Lehrmann of Fort Worth for the Republican nomination for Place 3 on the Texas Supreme Court...

Ninth Circuit certifies a question about Texas insurance law to the Texas Supreme Court

Posted on April 10, 2010
Yesterday, an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit certified a question of Texas insurance law to the Texas Supreme Court. The ongoing federal case is Ojo v. Farmers Group, Inc. If the Texas Supreme Court accepts the certified question, it will order merits briefing and (most likely) set the case for argument [...

Rehearing granted in the Marks hospital-bed case

Posted on April 09, 2010
In its big orders list last August, the Texas Supreme Court decided Marks v. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, No. 07-0783 (docket and briefs) a case about the reach of Texas’s medical-malpractice statute. The question was framed whether an injury caused by a defective hospital bed was covered by that statute or whether, instead, it was a [...

Zinc Nacional: The minimum contacts for personal jurisdiction must also be relevant to the tort

Posted on April 09, 2010
Zinc Nacional, S.A. v. Bouché Trucking, Inc., No. 09-0734 (per curiam) (docket and briefs) This case turned on a subtle but important distinction in personal jurisdiction. Here, Zinc is a Mexican manufacturing company that ships paper to New Mexico, Nevada, and Florida for reprocessing...

Seven new cases granted [orders of April 9, 2010]

Posted on April 09, 2010
With today’s orders list, the Texas Supreme Court issued one merits decision and granted rehearing in the most divided case from last term, the Marks v. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital case. I’ll have short posts up about each of those cases in a few minutes...

Texas Supreme Court upholds liability against a bar that did not stop a brewing fight [orders of Apr. 2, 2010]

Posted on April 02, 2010
Del Lago Partners, Inc. and Del Lago Partners, L.P., d/b/a Del Lago Golf Resort & Conference Center, and BMC-The Benchmark Management Co. v. Bradley Smith, No. 06-1022 (docket and briefs) Some fraternity members held a three-day reunion at the Del Lago Golf Resort near Lake Conroe...

If you intentionally sue in the wrong court, don?t expect mercy [orders of Mar. 26, 2010]

Posted on March 31, 2010
With Friday’s orders list, the Texas Supreme Court released two opinions: In re United Services Automobile Association, No. 07-0871 (docket and briefs), about whether a plaintiff who, for strategic reasons, sues in the wrong trial court can later file suit in the correct court; and In re Laibe Corp...

No opinions today [Mar. 19, 2010 orders]

Posted on March 19, 2010
The Texas Supreme Court did not issue any opinions with today’s orders list. (For me, at least, that’s a good thing. I’m still digesting last week’s eight decisions.)

A district court order vacating a Texas arbitration award and ordering a new proceeding can be immediately appealed

Posted on March 12, 2010
East Texas Salt Water Disposal Co. v. Richard Leon Werline, No. 07-0135 (Tex. Mar. 12, 2010) (docket and briefs) Divided 6-3, the Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Arbitration Act … allows an appeal from a trial court’s order that denies confirmation of an arbitration award and instead, vacates the award and directs [...

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