Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of May 15, 2023.

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.

Moncrief v. Moncrief, No. 02-22-00077-CV (May 18, 2023) (Wallach, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J.; Birdwell, J., dissents with opinion).

Held: The parties dispute which version of a contract is enforceable, but both versions contain an arbitration clause that delegates contract validity questions to the arbitrator. Appellees are bound by the arbitration clause. The trial court therefore abused its discretion by granting a temporary injunction that prohibited Appellants from proceeding to arbitration against Appellees and by refusing to rule on Appellants’ motion to refer to arbitration Appellees’ counterclaims against Appellants.

Dissent: The trial court—not an arbitrator—should decide the issue of capacity to enter a contract containing an arbitration clause, a contract-formation issue.

Texas Real Estate Commission v. Neel, No. 02-22-00327-CV (May 18, 2023) (Walker, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J., and Birdwell, JJ.).

Held:  Appellants were not entitled to payment of their actual damages out of the Texas real estate recovery trust account (the fund) because their damages did not constitute reimbursement of money that they actually expended.  They were, however, entitled to receive their attorney’s fees and court costs out of the fund.