In Re Morris

93 S.W.3d 388, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 6819, 2002 WL 31117268
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 20, 2002
Docket07-02-0275-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 93 S.W.3d 388 (In Re Morris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Morris, 93 S.W.3d 388, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 6819, 2002 WL 31117268 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

JOHN T. BOYD, Senior Justice (Retired).

In this original proceeding, relator Olivia Morris, M.D., asks us to mandamus the Honorable David Gleason, Judge of the 47th District Court of Potter County, Texas. The action arises out of an underlying suit filed by Donna and Ralph York, (the Yorks) the real parties-in-interest, against relator. In the suit, which is a health care liability claim filed under the Texas Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act (the Act), the real parties-in-interest seek recovery for damages resulting from [389]*389relator’s alleged negligent acts in the care and treatment of Donna. See Tex.Rev. Stat. Ann. art. 4590i (Vernon Supp.1999). The question presented is whether respondent, pursuant to article 4590i § 13.01(g) of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes, erroneously granted the real parties-in-interest a 30 day extension of time within which to file an amended expert report.

Article 4590i requires that not later than the 180th day after the date on which a health liability claim is filed, the plaintiff must furnish counsel for each defendant physician one or more expert reports together with a curriculum vitae. Id. § 13.01(d). If the claimant fails to do so within the required time, the statute provides that on the motion of the affected physician, the court shall enter an order dismissing the cause of action with prejudice. Id. § 13.01(e)(3).

Subsection (g) of the statute provides:

Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if a claimant has faded to comply with a deadline established by Subsection (d) of this section and after hearing the court finds that the failure of the claimant or the claimant’s attorney was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference but was the result of an accident or mistake, the court shall grant a grace period of 30 days to permit the claimant to comply with that subsection. A motion by a claimant for relief under this subsection shall be considered timely if it is filed before any hearing on a motion by a defendant under Subsection (e) of this section.

Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 4590i § 13.01(g) (Vernon Supp.1999).

Subsection (l) of the statute provides that if, after hearing, it appears to the court that a tendered report does not represent a good faith effort to comply with the definition of an expert report contained in subsection (r)(6), the court shall grant a motion seeking dismissal. As statutorily defined, an expert report means a written report that provides a fair summary of the expert’s opinions as of the date of the report regarding applicable standards of care, the manner in which the care rendered by the physician failed to meet the standards, and the causal relationship between that failure and the injury, harm, or damages claimed. Id. § 13.01(r)(6).

The parties do not dispute that the Yorks filed a report from an expert on May 24, 2001, which was within 180 days of the filing of the underlying suit. On February 5, 2002, relator moved to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that the report failed to identify the appropriate standard of care, and that deficiency made the report less than a good faith effort to comply with the statute. Thus, relator alleged, because the 180 day period had passed, section 13.01(e) of the statute required the dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice.

The Yorks responded to the dismissal motion by denying the report was inadequate and, in the alternative, asked for an extension of time pursuant to section 13.01(g) of the statute. The trial court subsequently entered orders granting a 30-day grace period within which to comply with the statute, and finding that although the submitted expert report was inadequate under the statute, the failure to file an adequate report was the result of accident or mistake.

To be entitled to mandamus relief, relator must show that the trial court clearly abused its discretion or violated a ministerial duty. Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 842 (Tex.1992) (orig. proceeding). An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court’s decision is so arbitrary or unreasonable as to amount to a clear and prejudicial error. Id. There must also be no adequate remedy at law, and the cost or [390]*390delay of having to go through trial and the appellate process does not render the remedy inadequate. Id. at 842.

To support her contention that she has no adequate remedy at law and is entitled to have this court consider her right to mandamus, relator relies upon In re Collom & Carney Clinic Ass’n, 62 S.W.3d 924 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2001, no pet.). In that case, the court held that because the statute expressed a specific purpose of addressing frivolous claims filed against medical practitioners by requiring dismissal if a proper expert report was not filed, a remedy by direct appeal was inadequate and mandamus would be available in a proper case. Id. at 929-30. We agree with that decision and will consider whether mandamus is available in this case.

The gist of relator’s complaint is that the 30-day grace period provided for in subsection (g) only applies in the instance of a failure to timely file an expert report, but does not apply in instances in which the court determines that the report by an expert, although timely filed, is inadequate. In support of her position, relator argues that the plain meaning of the term “deadline” as used in subsection (g) means the latest time by which something must be done and that interpretation must be applied. Thus, she reasons, because the 180-day time period for filing an expert report is the only deadline referred to in subsection (d), the 30-day grace period permitted under subsection (g) can only refer to instances in which no report was filed. Therefore, she concludes, had the legislature intended for a grace period to apply to subsection (l) inadequacies, it would have provided so in the statute.

In American Transitional Care Centers of Texas, Inc. v. Palacios, 46 S.W.3d 873 (Tex.2001), the court pointed out that if “a trial court determines that an expert report does not meet these statutory requirements and the time for filing a report has passed, it must then dismiss with prejudice the claims against the defendant who has challenged the report.” Id. at 877. In that case, the plaintiff had failed to file an expert report within the 180-day period. The trial court granted an extension of time within which to file a report and a report was filed. Subsequently, the trial court granted the Care Center’s motion to dismiss on the ground that the filed report was still not adequate. Id. at 876. A majority of the court of appeals reversed the dismissal on the basis that the amended report was sufficient to show a good faith effort to comply. Thus, the question before the supreme court was whether the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the suit. The high court held no abuse of discretion was shown, reversed the court of appeals, and affirmed the dismissal.

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Bluebook (online)
93 S.W.3d 388, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 6819, 2002 WL 31117268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-morris-texapp-2002.