Court Opinion

ID: 9608605
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:15:06.97645+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:07:13.048366
License: Public Domain

*161CHARLES W. SEYMORE, Justice,
concurring.
I concur with the analysis and holding in the majority opinion but write separately in order to admonish bench and bar regarding the penchant for broad-form submission of jury questions.
Justice Fowler correctly concluded that Crown Life Ins. Co. v. Casteel, 22 S.W.3d 378 (Tex.2000), does not apply in this case. However, Casteel provides some additional guidance here — that is, as the supreme court noted, “Rule 277 is not absolute; rather it mandates broad-form submission ‘whenever feasible.’ ” Id. at 390 (quoting Tex.R.Civ. P. 277, emphasis added).
It has become commonplace in the arena of civil litigation to interpret Rule 277 as mandating broad-form submission. See id. at 389 (noting Casteel’s argument that Rule 277 required a .single broad-form question); Texas Dep’t of Human Servs. v. E.B., 802 S.W.2d 647, 649 (Tex.1990) (interpreting Rule 277 as an unequivocal mandate for broad-form submission); William V. Dorsaneo, II, Broad-Form Submission of Jury Questions and the Standard of Review, 46 SMU L.Rev. 601, 603 (1992) (discussing the changing trend from discretionary to mandatory broad-form submission). However, as Professor Dor-saneo notes, “a blind adherence to the broad-form submission may make it difficult to attain the goals that the broad-form submission was intended to achieve, namely to reduce appeals and retrials.” Dorsaneo, supra, at 603.
The initial position of the supreme court was, “unless extraordinary circumstances” make submission infeasible, broad-form questions must be asked. E.B., 802 S.W.2d at 649. “Whenever feasible” was defined as “in any and every instance in which it is capable of being accomplished.” Id. Many litigants and trail courts have been operating under the impression that the supreme court completely ignored Professor Dorsaneo’s warning. However, the court took a more relaxed position in subsequent cases. See, e.g., H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. Warner, 845 S.W.2d 258, 259 (Tex.1992); Westgate, Ltd. v. State, 843 S.W.2d 448, 455 n. 6 (Tex.1992). In H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. Warner, the court decided submitting a case in granulated-form, instead of the broad-form “mandated” by Rule 277, did not constitute reversible error “because the charge fairly submitted to the jury the disputed issues of fact and because the charge incorporated a correct legal standard for the jury to ap-ply....” Warner, 845 S.W.2d at 259. Further, in Westgate, Ltd. v. State, the court recognized that submitting alternative liability standards when the governing law is unsettled might also be a situation where broad-form is not feasible. Westgate, Ltd., 843 S.W.2d at 455 n. 6. While this court’s opinion was in final stage for issuance, the supreme court further clarified its position on broad-form submission. In Harris County v. Smith, 96 S.W.3d 230, 234-35 (Tex.2002), the court reiterated the necessity for a granulated charge when a party specifically objects to submission of valid and invalid elements of damage in a single question.
Appellees seek damages under two legal theories: (1) negligence and (2) malicious credentialing. Texas law pertaining to malicious credentialing of physicians is somewhat unsettled. The Texas Supreme Court first recognized the claim five years ago in St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital v. Agbor, 952 S.W.2d 503 (Tex.1997). The court iterated that negligent credentialing was not a well-recognized, common law cause of action and reserved deciding whether such a common law action existed. Id. at 508. More importantly, the court held the claim required proof of an essential element not required of a typical negligence claim — malice. Id. at 509.
*162The trial court properly submitted two liability questions, separating liability for negligence from liability for malicious credentialing. However, the trial court erred by submitting a single apportionment question. In jury question number three, the court asked the jury to allocate “percentage of the conduct” notwithstanding the fact that appellees were prosecuting claims under two distinct theories of liability. The record reflects that the trial court was fully cognizant of this problem and the court warned the parties regarding the potential for error in submitting one apportionment of liability question. However, counsel for appellee suggested that the supreme court favors “broad form” submission. The result: this case must now be sent back to the trial court for retrial and possibly a subsequent appeal, wasting valuable and limited judicial resources. A “granulated charge” would have directed the jury to separately allocate responsibility and award damages under each theory of liability supported by evidence presented during the trial. Such a charge would have fairly submitted to the jury the disputed issues of fact and incorporated the correct legal standards for the jury to apply, all the while making the questions easy for the jury to comprehend and answer. See Warner, 845 S.W.2d at 259; E.B., 802 S.W.2d at 649. More importantly, this court would be able to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to support the verdict.
This case illustrates why bench and bar must be acutely aware of all the reasons why Rule 277 is not absolute. I would encourage trial courts to exercise their broad discretion in favor of granulated-form submission, especially in cases involving multiple theories of liability.