1 / 22

What can I do in County Court

What can I do in County Court. by Judge Robert Ramirez. Civil cases up to $200,000 Condemnation Appeals from certain agency decisions All ODL’s Appeals from the JP Courts. Jurisdiction for CLL 2 in Denton County. The County Courts at Law hear appeals from JP Courts. JP Appeals.

wardah
Download Presentation

What can I do in County Court

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What can I do in County Court by Judge Robert Ramirez

  2. Civil cases up to $200,000 • Condemnation • Appeals from certain agency decisions • All ODL’s • Appeals from the JP Courts Jurisdiction for CLL 2 in Denton County

  3. The County Courts at Law hear appeals from JP Courts JP Appeals

  4. Trial de Novo • Elements • Landlord / tenant relationship • Tenant can be evicted b/c he or she is a: holdover, at will, sufferance… • Landlord has made proper demand for possession • Period to vacate has expired • Tenant has refused to surrender possession Forcible Detainer Actions

  5. Trial de Novo • Be mindful of JP jurisdiction • Can I add additional causes of action? Other Civil JP Appeals

  6. Petitioners need to pay off surcharges or get current on installments • Liability insurance • SR-22 • Willing to grant broad ODL’s in these case ODL’s – Surcharges, Points & DWLI

  7. CCL #2 assigned by all convicting courts • Under 21 • Above .15 • 2nd or more • Drug and Alcohol Evaluations? ODL’s – DWI Related

  8. Guardian ad Litems for minors in PI cases • Written Reports? • Who pays? • How do I get on the list? Ad Litems

  9. Must own real property in Denton County • Low frequency of filing Special Commissioners

  10. What’s the Court looking for? • Where are the pitfalls? MSJ’s in Contract Cases

  11. Objections • Presumptions • Proof Pauper’s Affidavits

  12. De Novo Review TWC and other Agency Appeals

  13. Free interchange of benches • Alternate for Veteran’s Court You don’t have criminal jurisdiction, do you?

  14. Do they get special treatment? Pro Se

  15. Disqualifications • Exemptions • Miscellaneous • Medical Affidavits Jury empanelment

  16. Effective January 1, 2014 Electronic filing - Only

  17. TRCP 91a.1: May move to discuss a cause of action on the grounds that it has no basis in law or law • In law: “the allegations, taken as true, together w/ inferences reasonably drawn from them, do not entitle the claimant to the relief sought” – Failure to state a claim • In fact: “no reasonable person could believe the facts pleaded” • 91a.2 Must state made pursuant to this rule • 91a.3 Must be filed w/in 60 days of c/a • Filed 21 days before it is heard • Granted or denied w/in 45 days Dismissal of Baseless Causes of Action

  18. 91a.5 May nonsuit to avoid hearing • 91a.6 No evidence except pleading exhibits • 91a.7 Must award attorney fees and costs (unless respondent is gov’t) • 91a.8 Filing does not waive special appearance or motion to transfer venue

  19. Rules to promote the prompt, efficient, and cost-effective resolution of civil actions in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $100,000 (see Gov’t Code § 22.004(h)) • TRCP 47(c): Petition must state whether seek monetary relief of <$100K including costs, prejudgment interest and attorneys fees, <$500K, or >$1M. • TRCP(c): If fail to do so, cannot conduct discovery Expedited Actions

  20. TRCP 169(b):Cannot recover judgment of more than $100K • TRCP: 169(c): Court must remove from Expedited Action process upon showing of good cause • TRCP 169(d)(2): Must set for trial w/in 90 days after discovery period • TRCP 169(d)(3): Total trial time limit of 5 hours per side (excluding only time for objections and challenges for cause) • •169(d)(4). Cannot order mediation w/o parties’ consent • TRCP 169(d)(5): Expert challenges limited to SJ motions and trial

  21. TRCP 190.2 Discovery limits • Discovery for 180 days after the first discovery request • 6 hrs. for deposition cross-examination. Up to 10 hrs. by agreement • 15 interrogatories, document requests, and admissions • Disclosure requests may seek all documents other party “may use to support its claims or defenses.”

  22. Questions?

More Related