Editor’s Note: The Texas Supreme Court issued the following advisory.
All service and statute-of-limitations deadlines have been delayed in civil cases from March 13 until June 1 unless the chief justice extends it, under a Texas Supreme Court order issued Wednesday, April 1.
The tolling does not affect deadlines for filing appeals or other appellate proceedings, but the order notes that requests for any such relief should be “generously granted” by the particular court.
The order amends the third paragraph of the first order, addressing problems raised by the sweeping coronavirus pandemic, and removes discretionary language on limitations. In a letter to the Court last week, nine bar association and section leaders requested the mandatory language.
“The use of the term ‘may’ leaves courts, the bar, and parties with no understanding of how to address the potentially dispositive issue of limitations that are arising while the nation is in this moment of unprecedented crisis,” the letter stated. “The practical effect of the language suggests there could be various application or enforcement of statute of limitations for cases filed in Dallas County as opposed to filed in Williamson County, effectively allowing different rules for all 254 counties.”