Month: September 2012

Do you know your local rules?

You might know that civil lawsuits in Texas are governed by a set of rules, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, which are promulgated by the Texas Supreme Court.  Much like the federal rules, the Texas Rules (TRCP) cannot “abridge, enlarge, or modify the substantive rights of a litigant.”  But did you know that every court in Texas can also draft its own rules?

Known as “local rules” a court wishing to adopt its own rules must file copies of its local rules with the Supreme Court for approval, and those rules must be published at least 30 days before they are effective, in accordance with TRCP 3a(3) and (4).  Attorneys and parties operating within a court are charged with knowing its local rules.  Failing to familiarize yourself with the local rules can be damaging.

Consider one of the Dallas County District Courts’ local rules

2.03. JUDGMENTS AND DISMISSAL ORDERS
Within 30 days after the Court has announced a verdict or judgment or the Court receives a written announcement of settlement from either party or from a mediator, counsel shall submit to the Court a proposed judgment or dismissal order, unless ordered otherwise. Failure to so furnish the Court with such a proposed judgment or dismissal order will be interpreted to mean that counsel wish the Court to enter an Order of Dismissal with prejudice with costs taxed at the Judge’s discretion. (Emphasis supplied).

That’s a pretty hefty rule.  If the parties notify the court they are settling, but don’t furnish a proposed judgment of order in a timely fashion, the court will dismiss the action with prejudice!  In other words, the plaintiff won’t get to file another lawsuit, and his or her only remedy is on appeal.  This is the sort of trap that could be fatal to a pro se plaintiff, or an unwary attorney.

Moral of the story:  read the local rules!

Steinberg Presents to Collin County Bar Association

By:  Kelly R. Ledbetter

On September 24, 2012, Alexis F. Steinberg presented a lecture about tables of authorities, tables of contents, hyperlinks, and other formatting and technology topics during the Law Practice Management Section meeting of the Collin County Bar Association in Plano, Texas.

Understanding formatting methodology in both Microsoft Word and Word Perfect is significant for lawyers primarily because it is in the lawyers’ best interest for any reader quickly to understand and appreciate both the legal arguments and the references to legal authorities.

Steinberg taught that automatically updating a table of authorities (a table of contents comprised of legal sources) will save lawyers and readers a lot of time. Rather than manually updating the table of authorities for an appellate brief–which can easily exceed a hundred pages and scores of sources–lawyers and legal staff should learn to make their technology work for them.

Saving time in the office means saving the client money. Hiring a technologically knowledgeable lawyer is a financially advisable decision. Judges also find briefs whose supporting documents are easy to navigate to be more persuasive, which is good news for favorable judgments.

Particularly stressing that Word Perfect as a word processing platform affords flexibility and control for more than documents written just for appeals, Steinberg demonstrated multiple opportunities to increase the readability of legal documents by inserting internal links as well as hyperlinks.

During the Q&A following her lecture, Steinberg explained that many appeals courts and, increasingly, district courts are welcoming if not requesting documents involving hyperlinked references to authorities.

Why is formatting so important? It helps Mosser Law PLLC present information in the easiest, most streamlined, and technologically practical manner for the benefit of its clients.

 

Vindicating the Rights of Texas Homeowners

The Texas Constitution has some very strict language about protections for homesteads.  Unfortunately, many Texans don’t know about those safeguards, and their homes are foreclosed upon in violation of the Texas Constitution.  Mosser Law is actively working on behalf of homeowners.  With some success in the past, we hope to help more Texans in the future.

This Report and Recommendation from the US Magistrate Judge is the basis of a pending appeal before the 5th Circuit.  In that case two homeowners, unaware of the requirements of the Texas Constitution, were misled by the lender and title company–among others.  The loan was closed improperly, in the homeowners’ living room, without constitutionally mandated notice.  Upon informing the lender of the violations, the lender failed to reform the loan in accordance with the Texas Constitution.  After the appropriate time period had elapsed, the homeowner then filed a declaratory judgment for to have the lien declared void in accordance with the Texas Constitution.  The district court in that case decided that the homeowners had waited too long to pursue their claims.  Although the Texas Constitution has no language regarding a statute of limitations, the district court applied a “residual” statute of limitation of four years.  The homeowners, with the help of Mosser Law, are appealing.  We point out that the language of the Texas Constitution indicates that a lien created in violation of that document is void, and that there is no limit on your ability to have a court adjudicate the void nature of that lien.

Here you can find our clients’ opening brief, the Defendants’ Response, and our Reply.

If you are interested in reading about another of Mosser Law’s cases under the Texas Constitution relating to voiding a homestead lien because of constitutional violations, you should read about the Rays.  The lien on their homestead was declared unconstitutional because of fraud by the bank.  They also won a damage award, and an award of attorneys’ fees with the help of Mosser Law.

New Appellate Admissions

As of this summer Alexis Steinberg  and Nicholas Mosser are admitted to practice before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Steinberg’s appellate practice has previously included appearing before the Texas Supreme Court, and the needs of her clients now demand she be prepared to travel to New Orleans.  Ms. Steinberg drafted the briefs in Mosser Law’s case on homestead liens created in violation of the Texas Constitution, which is currently pending before the 5th Circuit.