The Houston Fourteenth District Court of Appeals has held that a Relator must challenge all possible grounds supporting a trial court’s ruling by its Petition for Writ of Mandamus or the Relator waives its complaint.  In In re TCW Global Project Fund II, Ltd., No. 14-08-00116-CV (Sept. 24, 2008), the Relator filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus complaining of the trial court’s order denying a motion to dismissed based on a forum selection clause.  The Court of Appeals holds that TRAP 52.5’s requirement that a Relator “may file a reply addressing any matter in the response” is indistinguishable from TRAP 38.3’s language providing that the Appellant “may file a reply brief addressing any matter in the appellant’s brief.”  The opinion of the court may be found here.

Photo of Mike Northrup Mike Northrup

Mike Northrup is the chair of the appellate practice group at Cowles & Thompson, P.C. He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and is a former Chair of the Appellate Law Section of the Dallas…

Mike Northrup is the chair of the appellate practice group at Cowles & Thompson, P.C. He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and is a former Chair of the Appellate Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association. He is also a former briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas.

Practice Areas

  • Civil Appeals
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Insurance Law
  • Municipal Law

Professional Associations

  • Dallas Bar Association, Appellate Law Section
  • Defense Research Institute
  • College of the State Bar of Texas
  • State Bar of Texas, Appellate Section
  • Texas Aggie Bar Association

Education

  • JD, Texas Tech University School of Law (1988)
  • B.S., (Political Science), Texas A&M University (1985)

Bar Admissions

  • State Bar of Texas
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • United States District Court, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of Texas