Opinion ID: 1798395
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Propriety of a Partial Remand

Text: Because of our holding that Special Issue No. 6 was an improper submission of the measure of damages, we must remand for a new trial at least as to Brookhollow's cross-claim against TCB. However, if we remand only as to Brookhollow's cross-claim against TCB, we would leave intact Whitelak's recovery against Brookhollow and Brookhollow's recovery of indemnity against TCB. TCB contends that the various claims for damages are so intertwined that one cannot be severed from the others and retried alone. We agree. Brookhollow did not appeal the judgment in favor of Whitelak. As a general rule, when one party appeals from a judgment, a reversal as to him will not justify a reversal as to other nonappealing parties. This rule does not, however, apply where the respective rights of the appealing and nonappealing parties are so interwoven or dependent on each other as to require a reversal of the entire judgment. Lockhart v. A.W. Snyder & Co., 139 Tex. 411, 163 S.W.2d 385, 392 (1942). In such a case, the court must reverse the entire judgment in order to provide the appellant with full and effective relief. Saigh v. Monteith, 147 Tex. 341, 215 S.W.2d 610, 613 (1948). See also, Truck Drivers, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers, Local No. 941 v. Whitfield Transportation, Inc., 154 Tex. 91, 273 S.W.2d 857 (1954); Kansas University Endowment Association v. King, 162 Tex. 599, 350 S.W.2d 11 (1961). TCB's liability to Brookhollow on both the cross-claim and the claim for indemnity and Brookhollow's liability to Whitelak on the construction contract turn on the jury finding that TCB's negligent performance was the sole proximate cause of the sewer's defects. If we remand only as to Brookhollow's cross-claim against TCB, the result of the second trial could be inconsistent with the result of the first trial. For example, the jury in the second trial could find that Whitelak, and not TCB, was the sole proximate cause of the defects. In such a case, TCB, for the same alleged breach, would be exonerated in the second trial but held liable for indemnity in the first. A similar result could obtain if we remand as to both Brookhollow's cross-claim and its claim for indemnity, but not as to Whitelak's claim against Brookhollow. Again, the jury in the second trial could find that Whitelak was the sole cause of the defects. As a result, Brookhollow would be held liable to Whitelak in the first trial but would be denied indemnity in the second trial. The possibility of such inconsistent results is intolerable and for this reason the entire judgment must be reversed and the entire cause remanded for a new trial. In support of the court of appeals remand of only its cross-claim, Brookhollow argues that there is no danger of inconsistent results because the doctrine of collateral estoppel would prevent a retrial of TCB's liability. Brookhollow argues, in effect, that the issue of damages can be severed and retried alone. Tex.R.Civ.Pro. 434 provides, among other things, that if it appear to the court that the error affects a part only of the matter in controversy and that such part is clearly separable without unfairness to the parties, the judgment shall only be reversed and a new trial ordered as to that part affected by such error, provided that a separate trial on unliquidated damages alone shall not be ordered if liability issues are contested. (Emphasis added). TCB contested the issue of its liability on the Brookhollow cross-claim by assigning no-evidence and insufficiency points in both its appellant's brief and its motion for rehearing. Thus, Rule 434 prevents the court of appeals from remanding only on the issue of damages.