In this dispute over ownership of some ranchland the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals ruling that a grantor conveys an expectancy interest only through a clear manifestation of the grantor's intent to do so, holding that the court of appeals did not err.Father devised his estate, including Cottonwood Ranch, to Widow for life with the remainder upon her death to his children, including Son. Father granted Widow power to sell estate property and to redirect a child's remainder interest to others. Widow, a co-owner of the ranch, later conveyed her separate interest in the ranch to Son and daughter. Thereafter, while Widow was still living, Son conveyed his "right, title and interest in and to" the ranch to his daughters. At issue was whether Son gifted a remainder interest in Father's estate property when he conveyed his present interest in the same property without expressly reserving any remainder interest. Applying the rule set forth in Clark v. Gauntt, 161 S.W.2d 270 (Tex. [Comm'n Op.] 1942), the Supreme Court held that Son did not convey his remainder interest in the estate property. View "Jordan v. Parker" on Justia Law

In this personal injury case, the Supreme Court held that a governmental defendant retains its immunity from suit as to a claim that exceeds the applicable damages cap,Plaintiff was crossing the street when he was hit by a bus driven by an employee of Defendant, the Gulf Coast Center, and sued Defendant for his resulting injuries. Defendant answered, claiming that it was a governmental unit, that it was protected from suit and liability by governmental immunity, and that its liability, if any, was limited by the Texas Tort Claims Act. The jury found Defendant negligent and awarded Plaintiff $216,000. Defendant appealed, arguing that the Act capped its liability at $100,000. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Act waives a governmental unit's immunity from suit only to the extent the act waives it immunity from liability, and therefore, courts lack jurisdiction to render a judgment that exceeds the applicable damages cap under Tex. Civ. Proc. & Rem. Code 101.023. View "Gulf Coast Center v. Curry" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief in this case concerning a premarital agreement to resolve disputes by binding arbitration under religious law, holding that the trial court was statutorily required to hear and determine Wife's challenges to the agreement's validity and enforceability before referring the parties' disputes to arbitration.When the parties in this case married they signed an "Islamic Pre-Nuptial Agreement" providing that "[a]ny conflict which may arise between the husband and the wife will be resolved according to the Qur'an, Sunnah, and Islamic Law in a Muslim court, or in [its] absence by a Fiqh Panel." When Wife sued for divorce, Husband moved to enforce the agreement. After a hearing on whether the reference to Islamic law was sufficiently ambiguous to render the agreement unenforceable the trial court ordered the parties to arbitrate under the agreement. Wife moved for mandamus relief. The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief, holding that the trial court erred in compelling the parties to arbitrate. View "In re Mariam Ayad" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted a writ of mandamus in this action arising out of a chemical release at a plant, holding that mandamus is granted to direct the trial court to vacate its orders requiring Kuraray American, Inc. to produce cell-phone data from the employer-issued phones of five employees.In the order at issue, the trial court ordered production of cell-phone data from two of the five employees for the six-week period before the chemical release. As to the remaining employees, the trial court ordered production of cell phone data for the four-month period before the release. The Supreme Court conditionally granted a writ of mandamus and directed the trial court to vacate its orders requiring production of all five employees' cell-phone data, holding that the orders required production of information as to which relevance had not been established and thus were impermissibly overbroad. View "In re Kuraray America, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted a writ of mandamus sought by real parties in interest (the Paus) in this action brought against Relators (collectively, Auburn Creek) seeking $33 million in damages allegedly caused by carbon-monoxide exposure in a dwelling the Paus leased from Auburn Creek, holding that the trial court clearly abused its discretion in denying Auburn Creek's motion to compel.Auburn Creek filed a motion to compel a neuropsychological exam for each of the Pau family members. The trial court denied the motion with prejudice on the grounds that the scope of the exams was not sufficiently circumscribed and subsequently denied Auburn Creek's request for mandamus relief. The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by concluding that Auburn Creek had not shown good cause for the exams. View "In re Auburn Creek Limited Partnership" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment below and remanded this case for further proceedings that will allow the district court to render a judgment that complies with the periodic-payments statute, holding that the district court erred in how it structured the periodic payments in this case.A.M.A. was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after being deprived of oxygen during extended periods during his mother's labor. A jury awarded future healthcare expenses in the amount of almost $10,000,000. The trial judge ordered the award structured into periodic payments. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that there was nothing in the evidence that justified the way the trial court ordered the periodic payments to be structured. View "Columbia Valley Healthcare System, L.P. v. A.M.A." on Justia Law

In these consolidated appeals the Supreme Court denied Respondents' request to withdraw the Chief Justice's certification letter and dismiss the underlying petitions as improvidently granted, holding that the Governor's appointment of two substitute justices to participate in the determination of these cases did not violate due process or due course of law protections.After two of the Supreme Court's nine justices voluntarily recused themselves from the case, the Chief Justice requested that the Governor appoint two qualified justices or judges to participate in the Court's determination of these appeals. Respondents objected, arguing that allowing the Governor to appoint justices would create due process and ethical problems where the State was not a party. The Supreme Court denied Respondents' requests to dismiss the petitions as improvidently granted, holding (1) there was no serious risk of actual bias under Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., 556 U.S. 868 (2009); and (2) the Governor's appointment of the two substitute justices did not taint the commissioned justices with the appearance of partiality or impropriety under the Texas ethical rules. View "State v. Audi Aktiengesellschaft" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court modified as affirmed the decision of the court of appeals to vacate the judgment of the trial court and dismiss the case, holding that the judgment must be modified to vacate the trial court's judgment and dismiss the case.In this real property dispute, the Mortgagee set a foreclosure sale and then filed this suit seeking temporary and permanent injunctive and declaratory relief. The trial court entered a temporary restraining order one day before the scheduled foreclosure sale and then granted summary judgment for the Mortgagee. Before Appellant appealed, the Mortgagee posted the property for foreclosure sale and then purchased it at the sale. When Appellant appealed, the court of appeals dismissed the appeal, concluding that Appellant's loss of ownership of the property rendered the appeal moot. The Supreme Court modified as affirmed, holding that the court of appeals correctly concluded that dismissal was required but should have vacated the trial court's judgment and dismissed the case. View "Alsobrook v. MTGLQ Investors, LP" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court and court of appeals holding that the law grants authority to decide whether a statutory probate court judge receives a supplemental salary for serving as the local administrative statutory probate court judge to the statutory probate court judge, not the county commissioners court, holding that the lower courts erred.Plaintiff, judge of the Galveston County statutory probate court and the county's local administrative statutory probate court judge, filed this suit against the commissioners court's members in their official capacities, arguing that Defendants abused their discretion by acting arbitrarily and capriciously in striking from the county budget Plaintiff's supplemental salary for her services as the local administrative statutory probate judge. The trial court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) Texas law grants commissioners the authority to decide whether to pay Plaintiff a supplemental salary; and (2) Plaintiff failed to establish any basis to find that the commissioners abused that discretion. View "Henry v. Sullivan" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief in this mandamus proceeding concerning a premarital agreement to resolve disputes by binding arbitration under religious law, holding that the trial court erred by ordering arbitration before determining whether the agreement was valid and enforceable, as required by Tex. Fam. Code 6.6015 and 153.00715.In 2008 the parties married. In connection with their marriage, they signed a document entitled "Islamic Pre-Nuptial Agreement" providing that conflicts arising between the parties would be resolved according to Islamic law in a Muslim court or a three-person panel. After Wife sued for divorce, Husband moved to enforce the agreement. The trial court stayed proceedings pending arbitration, and the court of appeals denied Wife's request for mandamus relief. The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief, holding that the trial court erred in ordering arbitration without first determining the validity and enforceability of the agreement. View "In re Ayad" on Justia Law