Court Opinion

ID: 9767621
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:22:47.003627+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:32.083412
License: Public Domain

KELTNER, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
However, I agree with much of the majority opinion. Specifically, I agree with the majority that the notice given in the instant case would ordinarily be insufficient under the plain language of TEX.R. CIV.P. 165a. I cannot condone the dismissal of a cause of action for failure to attend trial where notice of a 2:00 trial setting was given at 11:20, counsel actually learned of the trial setting at 12:30 and appeared less than five minutes late for the actual trial.
Texas is a large state and lawyers and litigants must travel many miles to attend court. In the instant case, Vautrain’s counsel was from Dallas and her case was pending in Forth Worth. Vautrain’s counsel had continuously sought information regarding the exact time the case would be called for trial because the trial court’s “special” docket did not set a specific day, week or month in which the case would be called for trial. Instead, it is a rotating docket of older cases which is carried from week to week until reached. In this situation, the tardiness of less than 5 minutes of Vautrain’s counsel did not unduly burden the court or jury panel.
However, I am disturbed by another aspect of this case. The trial court dismissed the case in 1987. The case was filed in 1978. Since that time, four different attorneys have represented Vautrain. Vautrain has not requested a trial setting for her cause or action since April 21, 1982.
Since that time, the case has twice been transferred to newly created courts. The case was originally filed in the 141st District Court in Tarrant County. After the establishment of the 348th District Court, the case was transferred there in a docket *489equalization process. Later, the case was transferred to the 352nd District Court in a subsequent docket equalization.
The case has been on the dismissal docket of each of these courts.
On July 15,1983, one of Vautrain’s counsel wrote the presiding judge of the 141st District Court in an effort to have the case removed from that court’s dismissal docket. (At that time, the case had been pending almost five years). In that letter, Vau-train’s counsel stated:
You are hereby assured that this case will be finally disposed of by trial or otherwise on or before January 27, 1984: otherwise you may dismiss the case for want of prosecution without objection, and without further notice to my client or me.
Please remove it from the dismissal docket for July 25,1983. Thank you for your assistance.
Since that period of time, judges in the 348th and 352nd District Courts have placed the case on the dismissal docket. Quite simply, it is a miracle that the case has survived this long in the process without being set for trial.
It is clear from the judgment in this case that the trial court considered this case’s eight-year history and the failure of the plaintiffs to prosecute their lawsuit with diligence. Specifically, the trial court stated in the judgment:
The Court found that the case should be dismissed for want of prosecution, not only because the Plaintiffs and their attorney failed to appear for trial, but also because the case is over eight years old and Plaintiffs have failed to prosecute the case with any reasonable diligence during that time.
As a result, I do not believe the trial court committed an abuse of discretion in dismissing the case. To the contrary, the court’s file demonstrated that the case had been on file for eight years. Vautrain has not requested a trial setting since 1982. More importantly, the court’s file included a letter from Vautrain’s counsel allowing the court to dismiss the cause of action without further notice if the case was not tried on or before January 27, 1984.
Therefore, I disagree with the majority and would affirm the judgment of the trial court.