Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of July 13, 2015.

NOTE:  Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Orca Assets, G.P. v. Dorfman and JPMorgan Chase Bank v. Dorfman, Nos. 02-14-00056-CV, 02-14-00057-CV (July 16, 2015) (Livingston, C.J., joined by Walker and Meier, JJ.).

Held:  A judgment entered by a Karnes County district court in 1944 is not void, and therefore cannot be collaterally attacked, because under the doctrine of virtual representation, a trust, although not explicitly made a party to that suit, is deemed to have been a party. When the 1944 judgment cancelled a 1929 deed and held the deed for naught, the judgment prospectively rendered the deed incapable of passing title even to any alleged innocent purchasers who did not have notice of the judgment.