A county court judge signed an amended final judgment approving a jury verdict in Custom Fit Pools v. Tavares after hearing an objection from the defense that the court lacked jurisdiction because the initial pleading sought $10,000 plus attorney's fees.

Why it matters: The defense argued that pleading more than the Justice Court jurisdictional limit deprived the county court of appellate jurisdiction; the court signed the judgment and left jurisdictional challenges to appeal, allowing the judgment to be final for enforcement and appellate review.

During argument, a defense lawyer objected on grounds that the original Justice of the Peace pleading requested "$10,000 plus attorney fees," and cited precedent to argue that seeking amounts above the JP court limit means the JP court lacked jurisdiction and, therefore, the county court cannot exercise appellate jurisdiction. The defense cited a case by name in argument.

Plaintiff's counsel responded that the jury had sufficient evidence to support the $10,000 award and that testimony and submitted invoices supported both the attorney fee and damages awards. Plaintiff counsel said jurors had the information needed to calculate attorney fees and that evidence of estimates and repairs supported the damages award.

After weighing the arguments, the judge said he would sign the amended final judgment approving the jury verdict and noted that the parties could take the jurisdictional issue on appeal. "I'm gonna go ahead and sign off on the amended final judgment approving essentially the jury's verdict, and when I file it with the clerk's office at this point in time, y'all can take these issues up on appeal," the judge said.

Ending: The court entered the amended final judgment. The judge excused the parties and indicated appellate remedies remain available to the defense.