Supreme Court of Texas Decisions 2020
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1187
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over the meaning of an oil and gas lease covering an 11,300-acre tract in Howard County, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's grant of summary…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0343
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and remanded Petitioner's factual sufficiency complaint for the court's consideration, holding that the court of appeals erred in finding that Petitioner…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0561
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing a jury's finding that Jeffery Lee Stoddard was a sexually violent predator (SVP) and civilly committing him under Tex. Health & Safety Code…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0877
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Alfred Brown's petition for writ of mandamus challenging the determination of the Comptroller of the State of Texas denying Brown's compensation claim brought after he was found to…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1109
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief to Mother on her petition for mandamus and directed the trial court to vacate its order holding Mother in contempt, holding that Mother was entitled to her requested…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0309
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals' judgment notwithstanding the verdict but reversed its remand in the interest of justice, holding that the court of appeals correctly concluded that the evidence did not…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0678
Justia Opinion Summary: In this infrastructure development dispute, the Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that the Legislature had not waived immunity for Plaintiff's declaratory relief claims against the…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0045
Justia Opinion Summary: In this personal injury case, the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals reversing in part the trial court's summary judgments in favor of an electric utility and its…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0790
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court denying the plea to the jurisdiction filed by Defendant, a governmental employer, and dismissed Plaintiff's…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0920
Justia Opinion Summary: In this negligence action, the Supreme Court vacated the default judgment entered by the trial court in favor of Plaintiff after Defendants failed timely to file an answer or otherwise appear, holding that the substitute…
Date: October 27, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0846
Date: October 27, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0846
Date: October 27, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0846
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the trial court temporarily enjoining the Governor and Secretary of State from implementing or enforcing the Governor's October…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0835
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute arising from a fatal treadmill injury, the Supreme Court held that the entity that purchased the treadmill manufacturer's assets did not assume an implied warranty of merchantability that attached, and…
Date: October 22, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0819
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0841
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the judgment of the court of appeals in this dispute over the continuing validity of an interest in a mineral lease, holding that a reserved overriding royalty…
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0230
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment for Defendants in this breach of contract and fiduciary duty action, holding that the court of appeals…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0729
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the Election Code did not authorize the Harris County Clerk to mail unsolicited ballot applications to all registered voters under sixty-five years of age, only some of whom were eligible to…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0739
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Relators' petition for writ of mandamus directing the Texas Secretary of State to conduct the November 3, 2020 general election according to the statutory provisions suspended by the Texas…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0739
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0739
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0751
Date: September 18, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0708
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that three candidates for the Green Party of Texas were improperly denied access to the ballot for failure to pay a filing fee and that the court of appeals erred in declaring the candidates…
Date: September 5, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0663
Date: July 17, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0430
Date: July 13, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0525
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed for want of jurisdiction the petition for writ of mandamus brought by Republican Party of Texas (Party) directing the City of Houston and Houston First Corporation "to perform their…
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0216
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0216
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0216
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over the amount that air ambulance providers may recover from workers' compensation insurers, the Supreme Court held that Texas law requiring that private insurance companies reimburse the fair and…
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0458
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0458
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court that VIA Metropolitan Transit, a governmental entity, breached its duty to act as a "very cautious, competent, and prudent person" would act under similar…
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0458
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1211
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's award of compensatory damages for Plaintiff on its defamation claim, holding that this was not a case of defamation but, rather,…
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0263
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0263
Justia Opinion Summary: In this cattle-feeding dispute, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals overturning the trial court's denial of Appellees' post-judgment motion to compel arbitration, holding that a party does not…
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0595
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the order of the trial court that Petitioners pay $7,000 from a supersedeas bond over losing the underlying appeal and ordering Petitioners to pay…
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0694
Date: June 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0694
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Father's petition for writ of mandamus, holding that when a nonparent requests conservatorship or possession of a child, the child's best interest is rooted in the presumption that…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0557
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0557
Justia Opinion Summary: This case case arising out of the breakup of a limited partnership created to produce and market a new cement product the Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals largely affirming the judgment…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0676
Justia Opinion Summary: In this real estate dispute, the Supreme Court held that where the plain language of a special warranty deed limited the grantor's liability for failures of title to claims asserted by individuals "by, through and under"…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0977
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that an insurer's payment of an appraisal award barred an insured's claims under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA), Tex. Ins. Code…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0210
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that an insurer's payment of an appraisal award barred an insured's claims under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA), Tex. Ins. Code…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0260
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's judgment and commitment order on the grounds that the trial court committed harmful error when it declined to submit an…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0970
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court concluding that a state agency violated the Texas Whistleblower Act, Tex. Gov't Code 554.002, when it fired one of…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0159
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0159
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0159
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court concluded that, as to Plaintiffs' fraud claims, GTECH Corporation, a private contractor, would not qualify for derivative sovereign immunity for services it provided to the Texas Lottery Commission even…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0852
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0852
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals on Plaintiff's survival action and rendered judgment for Defendant, holding that Plaintiff's claims were barred by the exclusive-remedy provision of the…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0989
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the Expedited Declaratory Judgment Act (EDJA), Tex. Gov't Code ch. 1205, gave the trial court jurisdiction to declare whether contracts executed by the San Jacinto River Authority were legal…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0077
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals holding that a forum-selection clause in a contract bound all involved parties even where the only signatories did not assert any claims against one…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0167
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0167
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that the Texas Farm Animal Activity Act (the Act), Tex. Civ. Proc. & Rem. Code 87.001-87.005, does not apply to ranchers and ranch hands, holding…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1134
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1134
Justia Opinion Summary: In this labor dispute, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the order of the trial court granting Defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), holding that…
Date: May 27, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0394
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a lack of immunity to COVID-19, without more, is not a "disability" that renders a voter eligible to vote by mail within the meaning of Tex. Elec. Code Ann. 82.002(a) and declined to issue a…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0351
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0351
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that the University of the Incarnate Word does not have sovereign immunity when it is sued in connection with its law-enforcement activities,…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0438
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over which faction of a splintered Episcopal diocese is the "Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth" the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the withdrawing faction,…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1167
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1167
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that open-enrollment charter schools and their charter-holders have governmental immunity from suit and liability to the same extent as public schools and that, in this case, the open-enrollment…
Date: May 5, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0340
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0905
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0905
Justia Opinion Summary: In this construction contract dispute, the Supreme Court held that the San Antonio River Authority possessed the authority to agree to arbitrate claims under Texas Local Government Code Chapter 271 and exercised that…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0566
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0566
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Lockheed Martin Corporation's receipts from the sales of F-16 fighter jets to the U.S. government were improperly sourced to Texas for purposes of calculating its Texas franchise tax, holding…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0837
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving the collusive fraud of an insured and the driver of the other car involved in a car crash the Supreme Court adopted an exception to the eight-corners rule to determine the liability insurer's duty…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0264
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0264
Justia Opinion Summary: In this title dispute between the State and a private landowner over portions of the submerged bed of Lone Oak Bayou the Supreme Court reversed the trial court's summary judgment in favor of the landowner, holding that…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0403
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from an inflated appraisal of certain property and governed by New York law, the Supreme Court reversed in part the court of appeals' decision affirming the jtrial court's judgment awarding Claymore…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0426
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0426
Justia Opinion Summary: In this products-liability and wrongful-death suit, the Supreme Court vacated the order of the trial court sanctioning an attorney for commissioning a pretrial survey that commenced in the county of suit shortly before…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0260
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's judgment and commitment order and reinstated the judgment of the trial court ordering Gregory Jones civilly committed as a…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0712
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court accepted a question certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and answered that a lender is entitled to equitable subrogation where it failed to correct a curable…
Date: April 23, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0291
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief to the State seeking review of a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking enforcement of Executive Order GA-13, which changes the rules applicable to judges'…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0127
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that an insurer's payment of an appraisal award bars an insured's claim under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA), Tex. Ins. Code…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0205
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that an insurer's payment of an appraisal award bars an insured's claim under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA), Tex. Ins. Code…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0555
Justia Opinion Summary: In this complaint alleging ultra vires claims against Mike Morath, in his official capacity as the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, the Supreme Court granted Respondents' motion to dismiss this appeal as moot,…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0911
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance dispute over whether an insurer's payment of an appraisal award obtained under a unilateral appraisal clause bars an insured's claims under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA), Tex. Ins. Code…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1047
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court granting the City of Madisonville's jurisdictional plea claiming that David Sims' Texas Whistleblower Act claim…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1221
Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal involving application of the Texas Tort Claims Act's (TTCA) notice requirement the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0204
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing Appellant's appeal of the trial court's grant of summary judgment for Plaintiff and against Defendants for want of jurisdiction, holding that,…
Date: April 3, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0444
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the Texas Comptroller's audit of Sunstate Equipment, a heavy construction equipment renal company, on the grounds that Sunstate was not entitled…
Date: April 3, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0464
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court concluding that Tex. Tax Code 171.1012 permitted a movie theater to subtract exhibition costs as cost of goods…
Date: April 3, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0894
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over the amount of franchise tax owed by a taxpayer the Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals reversing in part the trial court's judgment for the taxpayer, holding that,…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0819
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the trial court denying R.R.S.'s motion to withdraw his plea of "true" to allegations that he sexually assaulted his younger…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1008
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals upholding the trial court's grant of summary judgment without addressing its legal merit, holding that the trial court's recital in its final summary…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0469
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's judgment granting Defendant's plea to the jurisdiction and dismissing Plaintiff's suit, holding that the court of appeals erred…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0986
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Education upholding the decision of the North East Independent…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0989
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the scope of the Expedited Declaratory Judgment Act (EDJA), the Supreme Court held that the EDJA gives the trial court jurisdiction to declare whether the execution of contracts entered into by…
Date: March 20, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0381
Justia Opinion Summary: In this workers' compensation case involving the death of a deputy sheriff who died in a vehicular accident while driving his assigned patrol car the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing…
Date: March 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0802
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance dispute, the Supreme Court answered a question of Texas law in a case certified from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit by stating that a "policy-language exception" to the…
Date: March 13, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1065
Justia Opinion Summary: In this premises-liability case arising out of a brown recluse spider bite the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals ruling that the property owner failed conclusively to establish the absence of a…
Date: March 13, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1200
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Mobile Mini, Inc.'s petition for writ of mandamus and directed the trial court to vacate its order denying Mobile Mini's motion to designate a responsible third party in a…
Date: March 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0488
Justia Opinion Summary: In this termination of parental rights case the Supreme Court granted Father's petition and affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's termination of Father's…
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0352
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over whether an email exchange reflected the meeting of minds required for a contract the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment…
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0664
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that the federal Foreign-Trade Zones Act's exemption of goods imported from outside the United States and held within a zone for certain purposes…
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0768
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's judgment concluding that several general easements that Petitioner, an electric company, acquired in 1949 from the…
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0344
Justia Opinion Summary: In this healthcare liability action, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion for directed verdict and motion for judgment…
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0386
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0386
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff's legal malpractice claim as baseless under Peeler v. Hughes & Luce, 909 S.W.2d 494 (Tex.…
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0581
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0581
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving a written assignment of an overriding royalty interest in minerals produced from land in Wheeler County the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's…
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0591
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the corporation alleging a healthcare liability claim against a hospital in this case fell within the Texas Medical Liability Act's definition of "claimant" under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code…
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0595
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a permits dismissal based on an affirmative defense and that the alleged destruction of evidence is an action "taken in…
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0703
Justia Opinion Summary: In this negligence action, the Supreme Court held that an agreed scheduling order setting expert report deadlines, with no reference to Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 128.053(a), did not extend the statutory deadline to…
Date: February 7, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0228
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court enforcing a liquidated damages provision in a contract, holding that the breaching party in this case did not…
Date: February 7, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0513
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals ruling that, where the trial court granted a motion to dismiss without specifying the ground for its decision, the court of appeals did not have authority…
Date: February 7, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0721
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that none of the Texas Tort Claims Act's exceptions to a waiver of immunity applied in this case, holding that the riot exception applied and that…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0736
Justia Opinion Summary: In this property dispute between adjoining landowners the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court enforcing an easement, holding that a neighborhood…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0862
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court concluding that Petitioners (together, ETP) and Respondents (together, Enterprise) had created a partnership to…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0044
Justia Opinion Summary: In this contract dispute, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment for Defendants, holding that, under the statute of frauds, the proffered…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0913
Justia Opinion Summary: In this venue dispute, the Supreme Court denied a petition for mandamus relief, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in transferring the case to the parties' agreed venue. This case stemmed from a…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0953
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals applying Tex. Agric. Code 143.074 in holding that Plaintiff, the driver on a state highway that collided with an escaped bull in a county with a…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0234
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0234
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court considered two questions of Texas law certified from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concerning whether changes made by the Texas Legislature in 2017 to Deferred Retirement…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0819
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0822
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals, holding that a devise of "all...right, title and interest in and to Ranch 'Las Piedras'" referred only to a surface estate by that name, as understood by…
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