Harris County Law Library
This blog post is the first in a new series from Ex Libris Juris highlighting common topics in civil procedure (Civ Pro). This series is meant to provide general information and further resources to help you prepare to represent yourself in a civil lawsuit in Harris County.
In Texas, there are three basic phases of a civil lawsuit: Pretrial, Trial, and Post-Trial. One of the most important parts of Pretrial preparation is Discovery.
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Anyone dealing with Texas civil suits being filed in 2021 should familiarize themselves with some significant changes to the Texas Code of Civil Procedure that went into effect this week.
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The Supreme Court of Texas has recently revised the rules governing citation by publication. The change was the result of Section 9.02 of Senate Bill 891, which amended Tex. Govt. Code §§ 51.607(a) and (b) and mandated the Office of Court Administration (OCA) to create and maintain a “public information internet website” that would house citations or other public notices that parties are required to publish under court rules. Furthermore, such website must be accessible and searchable by the public. To satisfy this legislative directive, the OCA has developed Texas Online Public Information - Courts (TOPICs) for the posting of citations and other legal notices. The OCA maintains the website, but the district clerks, county clerks, and court staff are the parties that upload the information. Users can search TOPICs by Name, Cause Number, and Court/County. Results include details, such as citation type, start and end date of the publication notice, and text of the citation/notice.
In connection with the legislative amendment, the Supreme Court of Texas revised Rules 116 and 117 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The revised Rule 116 requires, except in limited circumstances, that the citation be served in both a newspaper and on the Public Information Internet Website. Rule 117 was changed to specify the information that must be included on a return of citation served by publication. Although the order states that the effective date of the revised rules was June 1, 2020, due to COVID-19, the Texas Supreme Court delayed the effective date of the order until July 1, 2020.
By Robert K. Wise and Kennon L. Wooten
Published by Texas Lawyer, an ALM Publication
KFT 1737 .W57 2019
Photo Credit: Helen Hartman
Recognizing that discovery is typically the most costly aspect of civil litigation, the authors set out drafting a comprehensive guide to Texas discovery for practitioners. The result was Texas Discovery: A Guide to Taking and Resisting Discovery under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Each chapter of the book is tied to a particular discovery rule and includes the text of the rule and any applicable notes and comments, a general explanation of the rule, and any related procedural information. The authors focus on Rule 190 through Rule 205 as well as sanctions under Rule 215. They cover everything from the purpose of discovery and discovery control plans to requests for disclosure, production, and admission to interrogatories and depositions with a bit of expert discovery and physical and mental examinations thrown in as well. There are plenty of bibliographic references and a table of cases pointing the reader toward more authority and elucidation.
The next time you find yourself in the discovery phase of a civil case, have a look at Texas Discovery: A Guide to Taking and Resisting Discovery under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. It may help you navigate the twisted maze that is Texas discovery.
What’s behind the name? “Ex Libris Juris” is Latin for “from the books of law” and much of the information here will relate to the legal information collected and curated by the Law Library. Additionally, “Ex Libris” has long appeared on bookplates – labels appearing inside the front cover of books – and has acquired the connoted meaning “from the library of” to show ownership of the book. Using this connotation, the phrase becomes “from the library of law” and better describes the posts about digital resources, event announcements, and research tips that will regularly appear here.
