Thompson v. Henderson

45 S.W.3d 283, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 2643, 2001 WL 406569
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 23, 2001
Docket05-00-00679-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 45 S.W.3d 283 (Thompson v. Henderson) 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
Thompson v. Henderson, 45 S.W.3d 283, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 2643, 2001 WL 406569 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion By Justice ROACH.

In this consolidated appeal, appellants Elmer and Dorothy Thompson challenge the trial court’s judgment granting a bill of review and vacating a March 22, 1993 default judgment against appellee John W. Henderson d/b/a John W. Henderson Trucking Company. In twelve points of error, the Thompsons complain the evidence is legally insufficient to support bill of review relief and the trial court erred in allowing inadmissible evidence. We conclude there is no evidence to support the jury’s finding that Henderson used due diligence to avail himself of adequate legal remedies to set aside the default judgment. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s judgment granting the bill of review, vacating the March 22, 1993 default judgment, and ordering appellants take nothing on their claims against appellee Henderson. We render judgment that the bill of review is denied and reinstate the final default judgment order of March 22, 1993 as the final judgment in this cause.

Further, the Thompsons appeal the trial court’s dismissal of their writ of garnishment action against the insurer, Harco National Insurance Company (Harco). Because of our disposition of the bill of review, we reverse the trial court’s dismissal order and remand issues related to the writ of garnishment action for further proceedings.

This case has a long and complicated history. We will recount only those facts necessary to understand the underlying issues and resolve the dispositive issue in this appeal. Elmer Thompson was involved in an automobile accident with a truck. In October 1991, Thompson and his wife, Dorothy, sued John W. Henderson d/b/a John W. Henderson Trucking Company, apparently believing Henderson owned, operated, or leased the truck. Henderson immediately forwarded the suit papers to his insurance agent, who forwarded them to Dave Leary, a litigation specialisi/adjustor for Harco, Henderson’s insurance carrier. The agent told Leary that Henderson knew nothing about the *285 accident and did not own the truck. In February 1992, Leary contacted the Thompsons’ attorney, Scott Richard, and told him he had information that Henderson did not own the truck. Richard told Leary to send him documentation to that effect, and Richard agreed not to require Harco to file an answer on Henderson’s behalf or make an appearance until he had proper information that brought Henderson into the case. Ten months later, on December 15,1992, Leary sent the documents he believed established Henderson was not a proper party.

On April 12, 1998, Leary wrote Richard a short letter to determine whether he needed to file an answer. On April 16, 1993, Leary received a letter from Richard. The letter, dated April 15, 1993, stated, “A Default Judgment was taken against your insured, a copy of which is enclosed. I will hold off on executing against Mr. Henderson if you are able to obtain counsel within 14 days.” Attached was a copy of the default judgment signed by Judge Joe Brown and dated March 22, 1993. Leary testified he believed the default judgment was only a proposed order because it contained blanks for two other dates that were not filled in. 1 He did nothing with the order until the morning of April 21, 1993, the day the default judgment was to become final. On that day, Leary contacted attorney Jess C. Rickman III. The two had a brief conversation in which Leary told Rickman he had a lawsuit that he had been working on with the plaintiffs’ attorney and that he had an extension until the following day to file an answer. Leary said he would forward the papers and asked Rickman to file an answer on the insured’s behalf.

Rickman, who planned to be out of the office most of that day, alerted associate Kim Meaders to the case and instructed her to prepare a general denial when the petition arrived. That afternoon, Meaders returned from a deposition and obtained the papers. After reading them, she realized a default judgment had been rendered. She contacted the court to confirm the default judgment and also contacted Leary and explained that a default judgment had been taken. Leary instructed her not to do anything that day and to wait until Rickman returned to the office the following day. According to Leary, Mead-ers did not suggest there was any urgency in the matter. Meaders could not “recall” whether she discussed with Leary that “something” needed to be done that day.

When Rickman returned to the ofSce the following day, he met with Meaders, instructed her to contact Richard, and draft a motion for new trial. Richard agreed to the motion for new trial; thus, on that day, which was the thirty-first day after judgment, Rickman filed an agreed motion for new trial to set aside the default judgment. After the agreed motion was filed, Meaders received a call from an irate Mrs. Thompson, who said she did not agree, and had never agreed, to the motion. (Meaders, who was representing Henderson, explained to Mrs. Thompson that she could not discuss the case with her.) The next day, Meaders received formal notice that Richard was withdrawing his agreement to the motion. Thereafter, Meaders supplemented the motion for new trial “with the proof necessary to sustain a controverted motion for new trial.” On May 28, 1993, the trial court granted the untimely motion for new trial, and the default judgment was set aside. At that *286 hearing, Richard withdrew as the Thomp-sons’ attorney.

The case proceeded for the next two years until the Thompsons’ new attorneys realized the original motion for new trial was not timely filed and the trial judge acted outside his plenary jurisdiction in granting it. The Thompsons moved to strike the judge’s ruling granting the new trial and also filed a separate garnishment action against Harco. A visiting judge denied the Thompsons’ motion, and the case ultimately ended up in this Court on an appeal in the writ of garnishment action. In the appeal, this Court essentially concluded the order granting the motion for new trial was void and the March 22, 1993 default judgment had become final on April 21, 1993. See Thompson v. Harco Nat’l Ins. Co., 997 S.W.2d 607, 622-23 (Tex.App. — Dallas 1998, pet. denied).

While the appeal was pending, Henderson filed a bill of review petition. Once the appellate opinion issued, the parties proceeded on the bill of review. A jury was impaneled to consider the bill of review question. The parties could not agree on the proper standard that the bill of review plaintiff must show: specifically, whether Henderson had to show that he was free of negligence. The trial court submitted both standards to the jury, 2 as well as a due diligence question. The jury answered all questions in Henderson’s favor. Thereafter, the Thompsons filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, arguing there was no evidence to support affirmative answers to any of the three questions submitted. The trial court overruled the Thompsons’ motion, set aside the March 22,1993 default judgment, and ordered a new trial.

At the new trial, the Thompsons, believing the bill of review was improperly granted, declined to present any evidence on liability or damages. Thereafter, the trial court ordered the Thompsons take nothing by their claims against Henderson.

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Bluebook (online)
45 S.W.3d 283, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 2643, 2001 WL 406569, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-henderson-texapp-2001.