In re Geomet Recycling LLC

The Supreme Court conditionally granted Appellant's petition for writ of mandamus where, while an interlocutory Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) appeal was pending, the court of appeals granted Appellees' motion to lift a statutory stay for a limited purpose, holding the the court of appeals' order violated the statutory stay and that the relator had no adequate remedy by appeal.During certain interlocutory appeals, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 51.014(b), stays the commencement of a trial pending resolution of the appeal. For a subset of these interlocutory appeals, including appeals from the denial of a motion to dismiss under the TCPA, the statute also stays all other trial court proceedings pending resolution of that appeal. While an interlocutory TCPA appeal was pending, the court of appeals granted a motion to lift the statutory stay for the limited purpose of allowing the trial court to conduct a hearing on Appellees' request for temporary injunction and motion for contempt. Appellant filed a petition for a writ of mandamus. The Supreme Court conditionally granted the mandamus petition, holding that the court of appeals abused its discretion by authorizing the trial court to conduct further trial court proceedings in violation of the legislatively mandated stay of "all other proceedings in the trial court." View "In re Geomet Recycling LLC" on Justia Law