Supreme Court of Texas Decisions 2021

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court rendered judgment dismissing Petitioner's claims regarding his civil commitment as a sexually violent predator (SVP), holding that all of Petitioner's claims failed as a matter of law. Following a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Corpus Christi pharmacist John McNeill, who participated in a Medicaid drug program run by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, was entitled to an administrative contested case…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a gold-coin dealer sustained its loss consequent upon handing over its coins against fraudulent checks and that the shipper's alleged negligence in rerouting the shipment was not an…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief and ordered the trial court to vacate its order denying ExxonMobil's discovery requests, holding that the trial court abused its discretion in that ExxonMobil…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's judgment entered upon a jury verdict awarding future damages of $50,000 for breach of a terminable-at-will rental contract,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Relator American Airlines, Inc.'s petition for a writ of mandamus seeking relief from an order compelling the oral deposition of a high-level corporation official, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the Pemberton Park Community Association (Association) on its complaint…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Relator's mandamus petition seeking relief from an order of the trial court compelling Relator to produce a certain witness for oral deposition, holding that the trial court abused…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals dismissing the appeal in this bill-of-review proceeding for want of jurisdiction, holding that the court of appeals erred in ruling that the trial court's…

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 trespass-to-try-title suit between the lessees of adjacent mineral estates,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief and directed the Austin City Council to revise the ballot language for a proposed ordinance that would establish minimum standards for the Austin Police Department…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Petitioner's petition for a writ of mandamus and directed the district court to rescind a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the district court prohibiting the Governor…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this matter concerning the general appropriations bill for the next biennium beginning September 1, 2021 the Supreme Court denied Relators' request for a writ of mandamus asserting that the Governor's veto of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC's petition for writ of mandamus in this negligence action, holding that the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) did not have exclusive jurisdiction to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's denial of SprayFoamPolymers.com LLC's special appearance contesting personal jurisdiction, holding that the court of appeals…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court against Employer on Employee's claim of retaliation based on the jury's finding that Employer discharged Employee…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Academy Sports + Outdoors' petition for writ of mandamus arguing that the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) required dismissal of the underlying suits,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of mandamus sought by Texas-New Mexico Power Co. (TNM) in this negligence action, holding that Plaintiffs' claim was not one within the Public Utility Commission's (PUC)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Plaintiff's claim that his employer failed to reasonably accommodate his disability was viable and that Plaintiff did not meet the elements…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied mandamus relief in this action considering whether an electric utility may compel a plaintiff who alleges a common law personal injury claim to appear before the Public Utility Commission before…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this termination of parental rights action the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals rejecting Mother's ineffective assistance of counsel claim, holding that Mother's ineffective assistance claim…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied in part and conditionally granted in part the petition for mandamus relief filed by Facebook, Inc. directing the dismissal of three lawsuits brought by three plaintiffs alleging that they were…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered in the negative a question posed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit regarding whether Amazon.com is a "seller" under Texas law when it does not hold title to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that "a governmental unit's copyright infringement is not a taking" and that, therefore, the trial court erred in denying a plea to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that 42 U.S.C. 1983 preempted the expert report requirement in the Texas Medical Liability Act (TMLA), set forth in Chapter 74 Texas Civil…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court concluding that service on WWLC Investment, LP by Sorab Miraki was not defective, holding that WWLC met its burden…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted in part mandamus relief sought by an insurance carrier from the trial court's order compelling the deposition of the carrier's corporate representative, holding that, under the circumstances,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Petitioners (collectively, BPX) were not entitled to summary judgment on the issue of whether Margaret Strickhausen impliedly ratified an…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the Texas Propane Gas Association (TPGA) demonstrated standing to bring its suit against the City of Houston for a declaratory judgment that the City's ordinances regulating the liquefied…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this tax exemption case concerning privately owned real property in Galveston County the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment for the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the trial court's underlying interlocutory order denying a motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 27.003, and the judgment of the court…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted a petition for writ of mandamus sought by the Diocese of Lubbock, as relator, asserting that ecclesiastical abstention prohibits the trial court from assuming jurisdiction over a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this quiet title action, the Supreme Court reversed the summary judgment in favor of Defendant, holding that Defendant did not conclusively negate unsound-mind tolling pleaded as an exception to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the trial court denying Defendant's motion for directed verdict as to nine of thirteen allegedly defamatory statements, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Homeowners' request seeking declaratory judgment that the Historic Preservation Ordinance adopted by the Houston City Council was void and unenforceable…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court naming Aunt and Uncle managing conservators of parents' two children, naming Mother and Father possessory…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted a writ of mandamus and ordered the trial court to vacate its order denying K&L Auto Crushers' motion for reconsideration, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals concluding that the Commissioner of Education had jurisdiction over a group of teachers' grievances and that some of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the trial court denying Aerotek, Inc.'s motion to compel arbitration, holding that an alleged signatory's simple denial that he…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court dismissing a will contestant's lawsuit for lack of standing, holding that because the contestant did not rebut the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that an attorney's pre-suit efforts to publicize allegedly defamatory statements are shielded from liability by either attorney immunity or the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the determination of the court of appeals that the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act (UDJA), Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 37.001-.011, can be used to establish an insurance carrier's liability…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving the scope of the attorney-immunity defense, the Supreme Court held that attorney immunity applies in all adversarial contexts in which an attorney has a duty to zealously represent a client,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court terminating Father's parental rights to his daughter, Julie, holding that the evidence supported the trial court's finding that Father engaged in conduct that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals ruling that a validly executed correction instrument under Tex. Prop. Code 5.029 must be signed by the property's current owners, holding that the court of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the denial of Petitioner's petition to expunge his driving while intoxicated (DWI) arrest records pursuant to Tex. Crim. Proc. Code…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that Tex. R. App. P. 26.1 did not apply to an inventor's motion for a new trial when the trial court struck the intervenor's petition before it…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals in this premises liability case, holding that volunteers working in a third-party vendor's booth at a festival were licensees and not invitees of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals holding that limitations barred a mineral estate lessee's claims for injuries to its interests in one of its nine separate leases but did not bar…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted a petition for a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to vacate its order granting a motion to strike a counteraffidavit served under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 18.001 and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance dispute, the Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus compelling the trial court to render judgment in favor of Insurer on the jury's verdict, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court declined to issue mandamus relief to compel Commissioner George P. Bush, head of the General Land Office, to refer the City of Galveston's claim that that the Land Office owed reimbursement to the City,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that a fact issue existed as to whether a general contractor on a construction project owed a duty of care to its independent contractor's employee…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment for Defendant in this workers' compensation case, holding that Plaintiff qualified as…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the portion of the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court granting a motion to reconsider the court's denial of a motion to seal brought under Tex. R. Civ.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court terminating Parents' parental rights to their two children, holding that the trial court remained vested with…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals denying Defendants' motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), Tex. Civ. Proc. & Rem. Code 27.001-.011, as untimely, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this ad valorem tax dispute, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and the trial court declining to dismiss a tax appeal under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), Tex. Civ. Proc. &…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief in these actions challenging rulings on a Rule 91a motion to dismiss, holding that the the trial court abused its discretion in denying Insurer's motion to dismiss…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this products liability action, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court against Petitioners, holding that legally sufficient evidence supported the…

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 trespass to try title suit, holding that the trial court properly granted…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the orders of the trial courts in these three cases brought by downstream property owners asserting that the San Jacinto River Authority's release…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals with respect to Plaintiff's constitutional claims, holding that a state university's dismissal of a student for poor academic performance does not implicate…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that claims pleaded under 42 U.S.C. 1983 that were asserted against a state mental health facility and its employees arising from the death of a patient are health care liability claims subject to…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal concerning two jurisdictional challenges the City of Houston made to this suit brought by the Texas Propane Gas Association (TPGA) seeking a declaratory judgment that the City's ordinances…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the trial court concluding that indemnity claims fell within an exception to an arbitration clause and that the non-signatory…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Data Foundry, Inc., an internet service provider, had standing to bring its claims but affirming the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this long-running class action suit, the Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Insureds but…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this contract dispute involving the correct interpretation of a mineral lease's "continuous drilling program" provision the Supreme Court held that the court of appeals erred in reversing partial summary judgment for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted Petitioner's petition for writ of habeas corpus and ordered that Petitioner is and shall remain discharged from custody, holding that the subject temporary restraining order's lack of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court upholding the determination of the Public Utility Commission that Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) met…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals finding a property owner liable for injuries the employees of its contractor sustained while working on the property, holding that the employees established…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed these two petitions - one for writ of mandamus and the other for review - arising from a lawsuit that thirteen Panda Power companies (collectively, Panda) filed against the Electric…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this second action arising out of a joint effort by TRO-X, L.P. and Eagle Oil & Gas Co. to acquire and sell oil-and-gas the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's grant…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Insurer in this insurance dispute, holding that payment of an appraisal award does not…

Justia Opinion Summary: In these original proceedings arising from suits by holders of underinsured motorist (UIM) insurance seeking recovery against their insurers following traffic accidents the Supreme Court held that insureds who bring only…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Relators' request for mandamus relief, holding that Tex. Gov't Code 22.004(i)'s prohibition on counter-supersedes refers to a particular procedural process, not an appellate court's temporary…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the trial court's decision resolving all issues in this oil and gas dispute favorably to the lessors of a mineral lease and awarding damages for underpayment of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal of a no-answer default judgment in a divorce case the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's judgment, holding that the trial court erred in denying…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief in this arbitration dispute, holding that the trial court abused its discretion in determining that pre-arbitration discovery was warranted in this case. After…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted the petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Gilberto Gonzales challenging a trial court order allowing Houston Distributing Company to designate an unknown person as a responsible…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted a petition for writ of mandamus and directed the Austin City Council to delete the word "anyone" from a proposed ordinance before placing it on the ballot, holding that Relators…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this property dispute between neighboring landowners, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court finding that Plaintiffs held peaceful and adverse…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the court of appeals' judgment declaring that the rules issued by the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners authorizing chiropractors to perform an eye-movement test for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals remanding this medical fee dispute between a health care provider and a worker's compensation insurance carrier over the proper amount of reimbursement for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that a refinancing lender's failure to timely foreclose its property lien precluded the lender from seeking recourse from the borrowers' default…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over claims of a limited partner for harm done to the partnership because he lacked standing to bring the…