600 Commerce
Commercial Litigation
in the Dallas Court
of Appeals

No TCPA overtime

May 28, 2019

The resolution of the TCPA motion in In re Hartley unfolded as follows:

  • Radix Realty sued the Hartleys. Panchakarla the intervened on the side of Radix.
  • The Hartleys moved to dismiss under the TCPA. The trial court had a hearing on that motion on February 18, 2019.
  • The trial court granted the motion on February 22, well ahead of the March 20 statutory deadline.
  • Panchakarla moved for a new trial on March 22.
  • On May 6, 2019, the trial court vacated its February 22 order and issued a new order denying the Hartleys’ motion to dismiss.

The Hartleys sought a writ of mandamus against the May 6 rulings, and the Fifth Court agreed: “The trial court was statutorily prohibited from granting Panchakarla’s motion for reconsideration and for new trial more than thirty days after the hearing on the TCPA motion and, as such, the trial court’s May 6, 2019 order is void.” No. 05-19-00571-CV (May 24, 2019) (mem. op.)