Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of March 19, 2018.

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.

Tigh v. De Lage Landen Fin. Servs., No. 02-16-00435-CV (Mar. 22, 2018) (Kerr, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J., and Pittman, J.).

Held: In an action under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA), an order denying enforcement of a foreign judgment is final and appealable. But in this UEFJA case, the order granting the judgment debtor’s new-trial motion to determine whether the foreign judgment was void for lack of jurisdiction was not final because it did not deny enforcement of the judgment. Thus, the trial court retained jurisdiction to determine the jurisdictional issue nearly four years later. Even so, the trial court erred by entering a separate judgment domesticating the foreign judgment because, in an action under the UEFJA, the judgment creditor’s filing the foreign judgment simultaneously starts the enforcement proceeding and creates an enforceable Texas judgment, and the UEFJA does not contemplate or authorize the entry of a judgment replacing the foreign judgment. Nonetheless, the foreign judgment filed by the judgment creditor in this case remains entitled to full faith and credit and is fully enforceable in Texas