Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of August 21, 2017.

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.

Alaimo v. U.S. Bank Trust Nat’l Ass’n, as Trustee of the SRMOF II 2012-1 Trust, No. 02-16-00123-CV (Aug. 24, 2017) (Sudderth, J., joined by Livingston, C.J., and Gabriel, J.).

Held:  A judgment following the granting of a bill of review not only must grant the bill of review but also must adjudicate the original controversy in the bill of review proceeding.  The court lacks jurisdiction because (1) the order in the bill of review proceeding fails to dispose of the merits of the underlying controversy between the parties and is therefore neither a final judgment nor an appealable interlocutory order and (2) the trial court lost plenary power over the underlying controversy by the time it granted the bill of review and therefore had no jurisdiction to grant summary judgment on the merits in the underlying controversy in the original cause number instead of in the bill of review proceeding.