202 and immunity, oh my.

The intersection between the presuit deposition procedure of Tex. R. Civ. P. 202 and a city’s sovereign immunity resulted in a victory for Rule 202 in City of Dallas v. Dallas Companion Animal Project: “DCAP pleaded sufficient facts to support a claim that employees of the City acted in their individual capacities in initiating, and disclosing information about, a criminal investigation into DCAP’s activities . . . . Accordingly, the fact the City may be immune from DCAP’s claims or any City employee who acted in the course and scope of his employment may be entitled to a dismissal of DCAP’s claims does not deprive the trial court of jurisdiction over DCAP’s rule 202 petition.”  No. 05-18-00453-CV (Oct. 26, 2018). (Procedurally, the opinion reminds in footnote 8 that the best practice is to actually offer the verified Rule 202 petition and any supporting materials into evidence.)