Dale Wainwright

The case involved Billy Frederick Allen's petition for a writ of mandamus against the Texas Comptroller, seeking compensation under the Tim Cole Act for nearly 26 years of wrongful imprisonment after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted him habeas relief. The Texas Supreme Court decided that Allen was entitled to compensation and conditionally granted the mandamus to compel payment. The court reasoned that the habeas relief was granted on a Schlup-type claim, which requires a finding of actual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence to pass the procedural gateway, and that the Court of Criminal Appeals' opinion on its face clearly indicated this basis as required by the Act's documentation rules.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved whether a noncompete agreement signed by employee Rex Cook in exchange for stock options from his employer Marsh USA Inc. was enforceable under Texas law. The trial court and court of appeals held the agreement unenforceable, relying on prior precedent that stock options did not create an interest in restraining competition. The Supreme Court of Texas reversed, ruling that under the Covenants Not to Compete Act the stock options served as valid consideration because they were reasonably related to protecting the company's goodwill, a business interest the statute recognizes. The court remanded the case for further proceedings on the breach of contract claims.

labor & employmentbusiness & regulatory

The case involved associate professor Melody Yarbrough, who alleged that Texas A&M University-Kingsville's grievance procedures violated Government Code section 617.005 by preventing her from formally contesting a performance narrative she viewed as prejudicial to her tenure application. After the university granted her tenure, it moved for summary judgment on grounds that the dispute was moot. The trial court granted the motion, but the court of appeals reversed, finding the issue capable of repetition. The Texas Supreme Court held that the case presented no live controversy because tenure had been awarded, the capable-of-repetition exception did not apply absent evidence that review would be impossible before mootness or that the same events would recur, and potential collateral effects from the narrative lacked the immediacy needed for declaratory relief, leading to reversal and dismissal.

labor & employmentprocedure

In this case, a consumer sued a manufactured home seller and related parties for fraud and debt collection violations, leading to an agreement to arbitrate under the Federal Arbitration Act but a dispute over selecting an arbitrator. The trial court appointed an arbitrator after the parties reached an impasse, and the seller sought an interlocutory appeal under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 51.016, alternatively requesting treatment as a mandamus petition. The court of appeals dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and the Texas Supreme Court affirmed that section 51.016 does not authorize an interlocutory appeal of an order appointing an arbitrator because the statute permits appeals only for orders hostile to arbitration. However, the Court held that the appeal could be considered as a petition for writ of mandamus under the circumstances and remanded for the court of appeals to address it on that basis, noting the limited scope of interlocutory appeal statutes and the need for judicial intervention in arbitrator selection.

procedure

In Iliff v. Iliff, a divorce proceeding, the Texas Supreme Court considered whether a trial court may calculate child support based on an obligor's earning potential rather than actual earnings when the obligor is intentionally unemployed or underemployed, without evidence that the unemployment was intended to avoid child support payments. The court held that Texas Family Code section 154.066 does not require proof of intent to avoid child support and affirmed the trial court's order setting support at $1,295.19 per month based on the father's earning potential of at least $5,000 monthly. The reasoning focused on the statute's plain language, which permits use of earning potential in cases of intentional unemployment or underemployment, while allowing intent to avoid support as one factor among others. The court resolved a split among appellate courts on this issue.

family law

In this case, parents sued a physician for the wrongful death of their adult daughter, alleging inadequate post-surgical care led to her death from embolisms and cardiac arrest. Two days before the two-year statute of limitations expired, the parents sent the required pre-suit notice under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74 but omitted the mandatory authorization form for release of the patient's medical information. The trial court and court of appeals held that the notice alone tolled the limitations period, but the Texas Supreme Court reversed, ruling that both the notice and the authorization form must be provided together for tolling to occur. Because the compliant authorization was not sent until months after the original deadline, the claims were time-barred, and judgment was rendered for the physician.

healthcareproceduretorts & liability