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Texas Supreme Court hears argument over whether trial start can trigger interlocutory appeal
Summary
At oral argument in Paxton v. City of Austin, counsel argued that a trial court’s statement that it will "go to trial" amounts to an implicit denial of a plea to the jurisdiction and therefore permits interlocutory appeal under Civil Practice & Remedies Code §51.014; other justices pressed whether the statute requires a written order and whether bond-validation rules change the analysis.
The Supreme Court of Texas heard argument on whether a trial court’s commencement of trial can constitute an implicit denial of a plea to the jurisdiction and thus permit interlocutory appeal under Civil Practice & Remedies Code §51.014.
May it please the Court, counsel for the petitioner told the justices that when a trial judge announces on the record "we're going to trial" and begins calling witnesses, that statement functions as an oral order denying the jurisdictional plea and should trigger immediate interlocutory review. "On our view, it was the oral ruling of the trial, the judge commencing trial," counsel said, adding that the record shows the court told counsel "we're gonna call your first witness in 5 minutes" and invited notice of an interlocutory appeal.
The issue matters, counsel said, because interlocutory review is the…
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