Mandamus – are the goalposts moving? – UPDATED

In a serious personal injury case, the trial court denied the defendant’s designation of a responsible third party, and the Fifth Court denied mandamus relief for two reasons of substantial general interest:

1. No mandamus relief for an unsettled issue of first impression. The controlling question of law (what legal framework governs the designation of an emergency-care provider as a responsible third party) presented an issue of first impression. The Court noted that “[a]n issue of first impression can qualify for mandamus relief even though the factual scenario has never been precisely addressed when the principle of law has been clearly established,” but concluded: “Mandamus is unwarranted here because the principle of law Yamaha urged the trial court to follow is neither positively commanded nor plainly prescribed under the law.” (Fans of this blog will note that I identified this issue last year as a topic where the “Slate of Eight” could begin to narrow mandamus review.) 
2. Laches from an email announcement of a ruling. The Court found that laches barred mandamus relief, reasoning: “Yamaha waited eight months after the trial court’s July 12, 2018 e-mail ruling to seek mandamus relief, filed the petition only three weeks before trial, and initially offered no explanation for the delay. In its reply brief, Yamaha argues that the e-mail from the court coordinator was not sufficiently clear and specific to be reviewed by mandamus but was, instead, simply an expression of future intent to sign a written order. We disagree. The e-mail states specifically that the judge had granted the motion to strike and, as such, signing an order was merely a ministerial act.” (citations omitted). (For reference here is the first page of the email in question.)

In re Yamaha Golf-Car Co., 05-19-00292-CV (April 8, 2019) (mem. op.)