Opinion ID: 1768224
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: National Sand v. Canadian Helicopters

Text: Unfortunately, I find today's opinion similar to National Sand, 897 S.W.2d at 769. In National Sand, the Court granted a defendant mandamus relief after the trial court denied its special appearance without any showing by the defendant that it did not have an adequate remedy on appeal. See National Sand, 897 S.W.2d at 777 (Cornyn, J., dissenting). Here, as in National Sand, CSR has not shown that without mandamus relief, its harm will be irreparable, exceeding mere increased cost and delay. See Canadian Helicopters, 876 S.W.2d at 308-09. In fact, the Court's opinion is based almost entirely on the assertions of CSR's counsel that without mandamus relief, CSR may be forced to defend itself in numerous trials, which could be both lengthy and complicated. [5] 925 S.W.2d at 596. The Court also relies on an unrelated case from the Seventh Circuit to declare that because [m]ass tort litigation ... places significant strain on a defendant's resources, CSR is entitled to extraordinary relief. 925 S.W.2d at 596 ( citing Matter of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc., 51 F.3d 1293 (7th Cir.1995)). Here again, the Court misses the mark. CSR should not benefit from the Court's sympathetic logic drawn from a case in federal court involving different issues and different parties. Instead, we should require CSR to meet its heavy burden of showing irreparable harm. CSR has not shown that the denial of its special appearance will compromise its ability to defend the underlying suit on the merits so that it will suffer irreparable harm. Canadian Helicopters, 876 S.W.2d at 308. The only proof directly from CSR in support of its special appearance is the affidavit of Edwin Anthony Smith, CSR's group manager of financial reporting. Despite his affidavit testimony that he is familiar with the records of CSR Limited and the scope of CSR Limited's operations, Smith's affidavit does not provide any testimony, nor did CSR provide any other proof, that it would suffer irreparable harm by its continued presence in this litigation pending an opportunity to pursue ordinary appeal. Absent such a showing, I cannot comprehend how the Court can rightfully conclude that CSR carried its burden of proving irreparable harm. Although CSR's arguments about the trial court's lack of personal jurisdiction may be compelling, that issue ought to be resolved on appeal. As a majority of this Court recently stated: The mere fact that a trial court's erroneous denial of a special appearance will result in an eventual reversal on appeal does not mean that the trial will be a `waste of judicial resources' as that term was used in Walker. To hold otherwise would mean that virtually any trial court order constituting reversible error would be a proper subject for mandamus review. Such a result is inconsistent with the rule that mandamus is an extraordinary remedy to be used only in limited circumstances. Canadian Helicopters, 876 S.W.2d at 308 n. 11 ( quoting Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d at 843). As in Canadian Helicopters, regardless of whether the trial court in this case erred, this is not the type of extraordinary situation where this Court should consider mandamus. See Canadian Helicopters, 876 S.W.2d at 309. To decide differently leaves this Court and the courts of appeals without clear guidelines for mandamus review in special appearance casesnot to mention the guesswork trial courts face.