By Dutton                                              H.B. No. 740
         77R11738 SGA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to summary judgments issued by a court.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 2, Civil Practice and Remedies
 1-5     Code, is amended by adding Chapter 40 to read as follows:
 1-6                        CHAPTER 40. SUMMARY JUDGMENT
 1-7           Sec. 40.001.  DEFINITION.  In this chapter, "claim" means:
 1-8                 (1)  a claim, counterclaim, or cross-claim under which
 1-9     a person seeks recovery of damages or other relief that may be
1-10     granted by a court; or
1-11                 (2)  an action to obtain a declaratory judgment.
1-12           Sec. 40.002.  REQUIREMENTS OF MOTION AND ORDER. (a)  A motion
1-13     for summary judgment must identify each specific ground on which
1-14     summary judgment is requested by one or more separate paragraphs.
1-15           (b)  A motion for summary judgment must be accompanied by a
1-16     proposed order specifying separately the grounds on which summary
1-17     judgment is requested, in the same order and corresponding to the
1-18     grounds identified in the motion.  The order shall be prepared in
1-19     such a manner that the judge  hearing the motion can mark any or
1-20     all grounds as those on which the motion has been granted, as
1-21     applicable.
1-22           (c)  If the moving party does not comply with Subsection (a)
1-23     or (b), and the responding party objects in writing not later than
1-24     the seventh day before the date of the hearing scheduled on the
 2-1     motion, the court shall continue the hearing and require the moving
 2-2     party to refile the motion for summary judgment or submit a proper
 2-3     order.  If there is an objection and the court requires the moving
 2-4     party to refile the motion or submit a proper order, the times for
 2-5     notice and response as prescribed by the Texas Rules of Civil
 2-6     Procedure begin again as if the motion or order were newly filed or
 2-7     submitted.
 2-8           Sec. 40.003.  SPECIFICATION OF GROUNDS IN ORDER; SCOPE OF
 2-9     APPELLATE REVIEW. (a)  The judge of a court who grants a motion for
2-10     summary judgment with respect to all or any part of a claim shall
2-11     specify in the order granting the summary judgment the ground or
2-12     grounds on which the motion is granted.
2-13           (b)  Notwithstanding any other law, any court hearing an
2-14     appeal from a grant of a motion for summary judgment shall
2-15     determine the appeal only on the grounds specified in the order.
2-16           (c)  It is not grounds for reversal of an order of summary
2-17     judgment that the judge who granted the motion for summary judgment
2-18     specified more than one ground on which the motion was granted.
2-19           SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to a grant of a motion for
2-20     summary judgment on or after the effective date of this Act.  A
2-21     grant of a motion for a summary judgment before the effective date
2-22     of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
2-23     the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
2-24     for that purpose.
2-25           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.