By Fraser S.B. No. 273
76R4142 DAK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to class actions.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Government Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Section 22.0011 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 22.0011. JURISDICTION TO REVIEW INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL IN
1-7 CLASS ACTIONS. (a) The supreme court may review the decision of a
1-8 court of appeals in an interlocutory appeal taken to the court of
1-9 appeals in a class action under Section 51.014(a)(3), Civil
1-10 Practice and Remedies Code.
1-11 (b) An appeal under this section is carried to the supreme
1-12 court by petition for review in the same manner as an appeal taken
1-13 from a final judgment of a court of appeals.
1-14 (c) Notwithstanding any court rule to the contrary, an
1-15 appeal under this section stays all proceedings in the trial court
1-16 pending resolution of the appeal.
1-17 (d) This section does not affect the jurisdiction of the
1-18 court of appeals under Section 22.225.
1-19 SECTION 2. Sections 22.225(b) and (d), Government Code, are
1-20 amended to read as follows:
1-21 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or (d), a judgment
1-22 of a court of appeals is conclusive on the law and facts, and a
1-23 review may not be granted by [writ of error is not allowed from]
1-24 the supreme court, in the following civil cases:
2-1 (1) a case appealed from a county court or from a
2-2 district court when, under the constitution, a county court would
2-3 have had original or appellate jurisdiction of the case, with the
2-4 exception of a probate matter or a case involving state revenue
2-5 laws or the validity or construction of a statute;
2-6 (2) a case of a contested election other than a
2-7 contested election for a state officer, with the exception of a
2-8 case where the validity of a statute is questioned by the decision;
2-9 (3) an appeal from an interlocutory order appointing a
2-10 receiver or trustee or from other interlocutory appeals that are
2-11 allowed by law;
2-12 (4) an appeal from an order or judgment in a suit in
2-13 which a temporary injunction has been granted or refused or when a
2-14 motion to dissolve has been granted or overruled; and
2-15 (5) all other cases except the cases where appellate
2-16 jurisdiction is given to the supreme court and is not made final in
2-17 the courts of appeals.
2-18 (d) Review [A writ of error] is allowed in [from] the
2-19 supreme court for an appeal from an interlocutory order described
2-20 by Sections 51.014(a)(3) and (6) [Section 51.014(6)], Civil
2-21 Practice and Remedies Code.
2-22 SECTION 3. Section 51.014, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
2-23 is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
2-24 (c) Notwithstanding any court rule to the contrary, the
2-25 appeal of an interlocutory order under Subsection (a)(3) stays all
2-26 proceedings in the trial court pending resolution of the appeal.
2-27 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-1 (b) This Act applies only to:
3-2 (1) a suit commenced on or after the effective date of
3-3 this Act; and
3-4 (2) an appeal of an interlocutory class certification
3-5 order issued under Rule 42, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure,
3-6 commenced or pending on or after the effective date of this Act.
3-7 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.