In a per curiam opinion the Texas Supreme Court conditionally granted a writ of mandamus, directing the trial court to grant a timely-filed motion to designate responsible third parties. In re Frank Coppola and Bridget Coppola, Relators, ___Tx. S. Ct. J. ___(Cause No. 16-0723)(Tex. December 12, 2017)(per curiam). In so doing, the Court held that, “Trial courts have no discretion to deny a timely-filed motion to designate absent a pleading defect and an opportunity to cure….”
In this tort suit arising from a real estate transaction, the trial court denied defendants leave to designate the plaintiff’s attorneys, who had been hired to advise on the real estate transaction, as responsible third parties because the motion was not timely. The motion was filed long after an initial trial date but more than 60 days before a new trial setting. The Court held that the motion was timely and that it was an abuse of discretion to deny the timely-filed motion...
