In its weekly orders (5/17/13), the Texas Supreme Court issued four opinions. Click here to read the order list.
The four opinions are:
1. Tedder v. Gardner Aldrich, LLP -- This is a divorce case. The Court held that the attorney's fees of one spouse are not "necessaries" recoverable from the other spouse by the first spouse's lawyers. The court also held that the other spouse did not have to file a sworn denial under TRCP 285, because he was a stranger to the account.
2. Hancock v. Variyam -- The Court held that statements by a medical professor about a colleague were not defamatory per se. The statements were that the colleague "deals in half truths" and has a "reputation for lack of veracity." Because the statements were not defamatory per se, the plaintiff had to prove actual damages, but failed to do so. He failed to show that any recipient of the letter believed the statements or that he suffered any compensable mental anguish.
3. El Paso County Hosp. Dist. v. Texas Health & Human Servs. Comm'n -- This case involves an 2008 Texas Supreme Court opinion, in which the Court enjoined HHSC from enforcing an invalid cutoff date for calculating certain Medicaid reimbursements. On remand, the hospital plaintiffs sought to use this ruling to reopen earlier administrative appeals and to seek recovery of Medicaid underpayments that were calculated under the invalid cutoff date. In this appeal, the Court held that its injunction was prospective only, so the hospitals' claims were foreclosed.
4. In re Nalle Plastics Family L.P. -- The Court held that attorney's fees for prosecuting or defending a case do not have to be included in the calculation of the amount of a supersedeas bond.
Click here to access the opinions.
-- Scott Stolley, Thompson & Knight
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