Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of July 04, 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.

Lindley v. McKnight,   No. 02-09-00249-CV    (July 7, 2011)   (Livingston, C.J., joined by McCoy and Meier, JJ.).

Held:   The trial court did not err by granting Appellees' no-evidence motion for summary judgment against Appellant's claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and statutory fraud. Appellant failed to present competent, admissible evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact on an element of each of those claims. The trial court also did not err by granting Appellees' traditional motion for summary judgment against Appellant's claims for declaratory judgment and breach of contract. Appellees proved as a matter of law that their quasi-estoppel affirmative defense precludes those claims. Finally, the trial court did not err by awarding attorney's fees to Appellees.

In re Emily Aslam,   No. 02-11-00172-CV    (July 5, 2011)   (Livingston, C.J., joined by Gardner, J.; Dauphinot, J., concurs with opinion). [Note: Both opinions are at the same link in one document.]

Held:   The father's motion for enforcement of an agreed divorce decree did not give the mother proper notice of the factual basis that the trial court used to hold her in contempt. The contempt order is therefore void, and the mother's request for a writ of mandamus is conditionally granted.

Concurrence:   The majority's final footnote contains dicta and personal opinion.

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