The First Court of Appeals has granted yet another writ of mandamus against Judge Denise Pratt for appointing Donna Detamore as a Discovery Master in a highly unusual custody case and ordering the parties to pay Detamore $10,000 to get started.  Click here to read the opinion.  Steve Lindamood filed for the mandamus and represents the mother in this case.  The child before the court is very disabled and the child's father is totally disabled.  The father's guardian is the child's paternal step-grandfather. Nancy Rommelman represents the guardian/grandfather who is seeking custody of the child.  Click here to read the plea to the jurisdiction in this case which Judge Pratt denied and will likely result in another mandamus action. ... Read More >

The Houston First Court of Appeals granted a writ of mandamus against a trial judge who refused to set a civil case for trial in case of In re Harrell, No. 01-11-00760-CV (Tex. App. - Houston [1st Dist.] 1/26/2013) (mem. op.)(orig. proc.).  The Court of Appeals stated:  A court of appeals may not prescribe the manner in which a trial court exercises its discretion, but it may, by mandamus, require a trial court to exercise its discretion in some manner.  A trial court may not arbitrarily halt proceedings in a pending case, and mandamus will lie to compel a trial court to entertain and rule on motions pending before it.  A trial court is required to consider and rule upon a motion within a reasonable time.   If a motion is properly filed and pending before a trial court, the act of considering and ruling upon that motion is ministerial, and mandamus may issue to compel the trial court to act. (citations omitted). ... Read More >