Second Court of Appeals | Case Summaries

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of March 14, 2011

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.

Pineridge Assoc., L.P. v. Ridgepine, L.L.C., No. 02-09-00308-CV (Mar. 17, 2011) (Gardner, J., joined by McCoy, J. and Dixon Holman, J. (Senior Justice, Retired, Sitting by Assignment)).: Held: The trial court did not err by interpreting the mortgage documents to mean that the extinguishment of mechanic's liens through a foreclosure sale did not release the mechanic's liens "of record." Further, legally sufficient evidence supported the trial court's findings of a deficiency and the components contained within the deficiency calculation.

THR, LP, d/b/a Presbyterian Hospital of Denton v. Coffman, No. 02-10-00162-CV (Mar. 17, 2011) (Gabriel, J., joined by Gardner, J.; Meier, J., dissents with opinion). [Note: Both opinions are at the same link in one document.]: Held: A claim for the wrongful release of medical information is a health care liability claim under the TMLA because it is a departure from the accepted standards of professional or administrative services directly related to health care. The inclusion of "professional or administrative services" to the definition of a health care liability claim may have created some arguably odd procedural demands for some claims. Nevertheless, this requirement does not make those claims something other than health care liability claims. Because the plaintiff failed to serve an expert report within 120 days of filing her petition, her claims must be dismissed.; Dissent: There is not a substantial and direct relationship between Presbyterian's unauthorized release of Coffman's confidential medical record and the health care services or treatment that Presbyterian provided to Coffman.