Court Opinion

ID: 9609222
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:24:07.994717+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:49.382903
License: Public Domain

BEN Z. GRANT, Justice,
concurring (Retired).
Our response to this appeal is an apology that we cannot reach the merits of this case under the procedural guidelines of a summary judgment appeal.
The trial court wrote a letter in this case stating, “The Summary Judgment evidence contained the Affidavit that no employee of the Defendant loaded the trailer tractor in question. There is no competent Summary Judgment evidence to the contrary;.... ” However, the order granting the summary judgment grants the summary judgment generally without stating the specific basis.
In a trial to a jury or a trial by the court, the litigants receive a specific deter*427mination on the facts and law of the case. There have been efforts to require specificity in the granting of summary judgments, but so far such efforts have failed. I believe it would be an improvement in our procedural system to adopt such a requirement.
Often, the burden is placed on judicial resources in trying to address every point in a motion for summary judgment; often, an injustice may occur because the merits of the case cannot be reached.
In the far distant past, someone developed the idea, which became a requirement, that appellate courts address the issues and the bases for their holdings. It would be much simpler for appellate courts to simply send a postcard with a smiley face to the winner and a frowning face to the loser without expressly setting forth the reasoning, the bases in fact, and the legal authorities for the rendering of the opinions. However, the writing of an opinion requires careful examination of the facts and issues before the court, considerable research of the law, and ultimately demonstrating that these matters have been thoroughly explored by setting forth these specific results in an opinion for all involved to examine.
I would again recommend that the Texas Supreme Court or the Legislature consider such a requirement.
I respectfully concur.