Sanders LLP Secures Win for Client in Appellate Court Mandamus Proceeding

Sanders LLP secured a victory for a client in the Eighth Court of Appeals of Texas. Firm founder Michael C. Sanders represented an oil & gas company in a mandamus action filed with the El Paso Court of Appeals. Mandamus is a type of pre-judgment appellate court proceeding that allows a party to have a trial court ordered to act in certain situations.

Mr. Sanders filed a petition for writ of mandamus on behalf of the client after the trial court failed to rule on a title dispute for over a year. The underlying lawsuit involves a dispute over the interpretation of a deed executed in 1981. All parties filed motions for summary judgment to dispose of the case, which consists purely of legal issues. When the presiding judge did not rule on the motions in almost a year, Mr. Sanders filed a petition for writ of mandamus to request that the court of appeals issue an order requiring the trial court to make a ruling on the motions.

Obtaining a writ of mandamus requiring a trial court to rule on motions for summary judgment is rare, but the Eighth Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Sanders LLP’s client. The El Paso Court of Appeals agreed that the trial court had had sufficient time to consider the issues and make a ruling on the motions. Therefore, the Court of Appeals gave the trial court 30 days to issue a ruling. In response to the El Paso Court’s opinion, the trial court ruled on the motions for summary judgment.

There are times during litigation when a case can come to a stalemate or standstill. None of the parties in this case were able to move forward without a ruling on the outstanding summary judgment motions. Michael C. Sanders represents clients in a variety of oil & gas disputes and is proficient in the procedures that must sometimes occur during the course of litigation to move the case along. For more information on Mr. Sanders’ experience, please see his bio. He can be contacted at 713-338-2677 or mcs@sandersfirm.law.