Murphy v. Mejia-Arcos, No. 05-18-01342-CV, — S.W.3d —, 2020 WL 7296805 (Tex. App.—Dallas Dec. 11, 2020, no pet. h.)

Murphy v. Mejia-Arcos, No. 05-18-01342-CV, — S.W.3d —, 2020 WL 7296805 (Tex. App.—Dallas Dec. 11, 2020, no pet. h.)

On motion for rehearing en banc, successfully convinced panel to reverse itself and award Plaintiffs the total damages ($1,070,050) awarded by jury, rather than a drastically reduced amount ($200,000) based on the amount originally pled.  The court of appeals rejected its original position that the Plaintiffs’ attempt to amend its petition to be consistent with the jury’s verdict was an impermissible attempt to amend the pleadings “post-judgment.”  A matter of first impression, the court of appeals adopted “the more reasonable view” that, because Plaintiffs sought leave to amend their petition before the Amended Final Judgment was signed, the amended pleading was timely.

Kirk L. Pittard, PartnerTammy Holt, Of Counsel