Civil Conspiracy 101

In Agar Corp. v. Electro Circuits Int’l LLC, the Texas Supreme Court settled a persistent question about the statute of limitations for civil conspiracy, holding: “Because civil conspiracy is a derivative tort that ‘depends on participation in some underlying tort,’ . . . the applicable statute of limitations must coincide with that of the ‘underlying tort for which the plaintiff seeks to hold at least one of the named defendants liable.'” No. 17-0630 (April 5, 2019).

The opinion does not appear to directly address two other recurring questions about civil conspiracy law in Texas today; namely, (1) the interaction between civil conspiracy and the Texas comparative-fault statute, and (2) whether a proper jury charge on civil conspiracy requires an instruction (or finding )about injury flowing from the conspiracy itself, as opposed to the damages attributable to the underlying tort. However, the Court’s thorough review of conspiracy law may offer indirect insight about those issues with further review.