Texas Case Summaries
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Texas 13th Court of Appeals, Personal Injury & Tort, Real Estate

Texas Cordia Construction v. Cantu — Private Government Contractor Cannot Invoke Interlocutory Appeal as “Governmental Unit”; Derivative Sovereign Immunity Fact Question Survives Plea to Jurisdiction

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Thirteenth Court of Appeals dismissed a private contractor’s interlocutory appeal of a denied plea to the jurisdiction because a private LLC is not a “governmental unit” under § 51.014(a)(8); treating the filing as a mandamus petition, the court denied relief because the contractor’s own contract gave it sole responsibility for means and methods of construction, raising a fact question that defeats derivative sovereign immunity — a doctrine the Texas Supreme Court has not yet adopted.

Texas 15th Court of Appeals, Breach of Contract

Elite Concepts v. Field — “Repair” Clause in Pool Construction Contract Encompasses Cost to Complete; Contractor Who Walks Off Job Cannot Claim Attorney’s Fees as Prevailing Party

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Fifteenth Court of Appeals held that a pool construction contract’s limitation of remedy to “repair” encompasses cost-to-complete damages as well as cost-to-repair, because construing “repair” to exclude unfinished work would render the contractor’s promise illusory; it also held that a contractor whose quantum meruit recovery is offset by the owner’s larger breach-of-contract damages award is not a “prevailing party” entitled to Chapter 38 attorney’s fees.

Texas 15th Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Oil & Gas, Probate, Real Estate

Parker v. Parrack — Court Cannot Declare Rights of Non-Party in Adverse Possession Dispute Over Family Ranch; Fiduciary-Duty Deed Challenge Fails on Sufficiency Review

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Fifteenth Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s finding that a sister did not breach her fiduciary duty in accepting a deed to mineral executive rights from her brother, but vacated the adverse-possession declaration because the company asserting ownership was never joined as a party, rendering the declaration advisory and jurisdictionally void.

Texas 7th Court of Appeals, Appellate Procedure, Civil Procedure, Employment

Petrini v. Simon Group Consulting — Domesticating a California Judgment in Texas Does Not Give Texas Courts Jurisdiction Over Counterclaims Arising from Pre-Domestication California Conduct

automatic / June 2, 2026

The Seventh Court of Appeals held that a California company’s domestication of a default judgment in Texas does not confer specific personal jurisdiction for counterclaims arising from pre-domestication California conduct, and that remote employment of a Texas resident does not establish general jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant.

Texas 2nd Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Personal Injury & Tort

Allen v. Bell Textron — Plaintiff Who Tells Court He Has No Additional Facts and Won’t Replead Forfeits Chance to Expand Negligence Theories After Special Exceptions Sustained

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed a take-nothing judgment for Bell Textron after an injured contractor’s counsel stated at a special-exceptions hearing he had no additional facts and would not replead, holding the plaintiff forfeited his opportunity to amend, the narrow jury charge was proper, and any collateral-source evidence error was harmless because the jury found no proximate cause.

Texas 2nd Court of Appeals, Appellate Procedure, Civil Procedure, Oil & Gas, Real Estate

Atmos Energy v. DPC Parker Properties — Order Enforcing Rule 11 Settlement Does Not Function as a Temporary Injunction and Is Not Subject to Interlocutory Appeal

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Fort Worth Court of Appeals dismissed Atmos Energy’s interlocutory appeal of a trial court order enforcing a Rule 11 mediated settlement in an eminent-domain dispute, holding that the order did not function as a temporary injunction because it compelled performance based on the parties’ own agreement rather than any merits determination.

Texas 13th Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, professional-liability

Melden & Hunt v. Cantu — Citing the Certificate-of-Merit Statute and Promising a Future Affidavit Does Not Satisfy Texas’s Contemporaneous-Filing Requirement

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Thirteenth Court of Appeals held that an original petition that cites Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 150.002(c) and promises a forthcoming certificate of merit does not substantially comply with the contemporaneous-filing requirement for professional-negligence claims against engineers, requiring reversal and remand for a determination on prejudice.

Texas 13th Court of Appeals, anti-slapp, defamation, Employment, Workers Compensation

Baseline Energy Services v. Martin — TCPA Requires Dismissal of Libel Claim Based on TWC Statements When Employee Presents No Evidence in Response

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Thirteenth Court of Appeals reversed the denial of Baseline Energy’s TCPA motion to dismiss a libel claim based on statements made to the Texas Workforce Commission, holding that TWC communications implicate the right to petition and that an employee’s failure to present any evidence in response to the motion required dismissal of the libel claim.

Texas 15th Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional, healthcare

Cantu’s Pharmacy v. Texas HHSC — Medicaid Provider Has No Vested Right to Special Notice of Regulation Changes; Sovereign Immunity Bars Pre-Enforcement Suit

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals held that a Medicaid pharmacy has no vested right to individualized notice of Provider Manual changes, that its pre-enforcement due process and declaratory judgment claims were barred by sovereign immunity, and that dismissal with prejudice was proper after the pharmacy amended its pleadings but still failed to state a cognizable claim.

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