Law Office of Ernest C. Garcia

Stacey Gailey hired Mermaid Pools to build a swimming pool in her back yard.  During construction Mermaid employees would leave the lid or cover to the skimmer uncovered, as they generally did not install a cover or lid until construction of a pool was complete.  A few days before completion the Mermaid employees told Gailey she could look at the pool to view the progress.  Gailey went to look at the construction of the pool at about 10:00 p.m.

In 2001 Cary Glenn owned a mobile home with surrounding land and he entered into a contract for deed which provided that Lazaro Farias would be responsible for paying taxes and insurance and in addition Farias would make monthly installment payments to Glenn for ten years and that at the end of such time Glenn would provide the title to the property to Farias.  However neither party filed anything with in the county deed records.  In 2003 Glenn found out that the taxes and insurance had not been paid and Farias had also stopped making monthly installment payments.  Glenn pr

Wanda Page obtained a Texas Standardized Homeowners insurance policy (Form B) from State Farm and due to a leak in her sewer lines her home and some of her personal property received water and mold damage.  A dispute between the parties followed, over the amounts needed to fully remediate and repair the home and its contents.  The Texas Supreme Court in its June 11, 2010 opinion in State Farm Lloyds v.

Jimmy Hall was driving a riding lawn mower on a roadway and was pulling a small trailer, when an off-duty police officer Jonathan Purifoy (employed by the City of Balch Springs, who was authorized to be in a city patrol vehicle was speeding, in route to a part time job at Wal-Mart), struck Mr. Hall in the rear and killed Mr. Hall.  Suit was filed and the Dallas Court of Appeals in the June 10, 2010 decision in City of Balch Springs v.

It should come as no surprise that courts favor and generally enforce arbitration agreements.

Plaintiff Amanda Ham was an overnight guest in an apartment unit.  An unknown intruder kicked in a patio door to the unit and Ham fled but was shot in the chest.  Ham sued the apartment complex alleging in part that the apartment’s failure to (i) secure the premises; (ii) replace burned out light bulbs; (iii) repair holes in the fence and (iv) repair an inoperable gate had caused her injuries by allowing an assailant to gain entry into the apartment complex.  In discussing this case, the June 1, 2010 opinion of the Dallas Court of Appeals in Ham v.

On June 1, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court in Berghuis v. Thompkins decided that a suspect who is advised of their Miranda right to legal counsel and to remain silent to avoid self incrimination, must express that the suspect wants to invoke their right, or subsequent statements can be used against them.  In the case at issue, Van Thompkins was advised of his Miranda rights, but Thompkins never said he wanted to remain silent, or that he did not want to talk or that he wanted an attorney.

In the recently decided (2 to 1) May 27, 2010 Houston Court of Appeals opinion in Pham v. Letney, the court noted that Letney had hired a law firm to represent her in a personal injury case.  The firm failed to timely file her lawsuit against the target defendant and thereafter Letney sought to maintain a legal malpractice lawsuit against the firm’s associate attorney Pham.

The Texas Education Code states in relevant part that “a professional employee of a school district is not personally liable for any act that is incident to or within the scope of duties of the employee’s position of employment and that involves the exercise of judgment or discretion on the part of the employee, except in circumstances in which a professional employee uses excessive force in the discipline of students or negligence resulting in bodily injury to students.   In the May 20, 2010 opinion in Robinson v. Brannon, Mr.

As many readers know certain types of lawsuits must be brought with a certain amount of time or they are barred by limitations.  However in addition to timely filing a lawsuit, the defendant must also be served with the lawsuit within a reasonable period of time or an applicable statute of limitations may prevent recovery for the plaintiff.  In the May 19, 2010 decision in the case of El Paso Independent School District v.