Opinion ID: 2808158
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bills of Review

Text: “A bill of review is brought as a direct attack on a judgment that is no longer appealable or subject to a motion for new trial.” Frost Nat’l Bank, 315 S.W.3d at 504. Because it is a direct attack, a bill of review must be filed in the court that rendered the original judgment, and only that court may exercise jurisdiction over the bill. Id. Courts have long recognized bills of review rooted in general principles of equity or as prescribed by the Legislature, but courts do not readily grant them “[b]ecause it is fundamentally important in the administration of justice that some finality be accorded to judgments.” Alexander v. Hagedorn, 226 S.W.2d 996, 998 (Tex. 1950); see Crouch v. McGaw, 138 S.W.2d 94, 96 (Tex. 1940) (noting that a bill of review requires “something more than 11