Tex. R. App. P. 52.11

As amended through November 19, 2024

Rule 52.11 - Groundless Petition or Misleading Statement or Record

On motion of any party or on its own initiative, the court may - after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond - impose just sanctions on a party or attorney who is not acting in good faith as indicated by any of the following:

(a) filing a petition that is clearly groundless;

(b) bringing the petition solely for delay of an underlying proceeding;

(c) grossly misstating or omitting an obviously important and material fact in the petition or response; or

(d) filing an appendix or record that is clearly misleading because of the omission of obviously important and material evidence or documents.

Tex. R. App. P. 52.11

Notes and Comments

Comment to 1997 change: Former Rules 120, 121, and 122 are merged into this rule. The requirement of a motion for leave in original proceedings is repealed. The form of the petition and response, contents of the appendix and record, page limits, and relief that may be granted are specifically stated. Specific provision is now made for a motion for rehearing. A provision for sanctions is added.

Comment to 2002 change: Subdivision 52.7(c) is added to specify how record materials in original proceedings are to be served. Ordinarily, a party must serve record materials and an index of those materials on all other parties. But when materials have already been served in related original proceedings, they need not be served again. Examples are when original proceedings raising the same issues are brought in both the court of appeals and the Supreme Court, or when separate original proceedings are filed arising out of the same underlying lawsuit. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that all parties have record materials readily available without requiring unnecessary duplication.

Comment to 2008 change: The reference to "unpublished" opinions in Subdivision 52.3(d)(5)(D) is deleted. The filer should provide the best cite available for the court of appeals' opinion, which may be a LEXIS, Westlaw, or other citation to an electronic medium. Subdivision 52.3 is further amended to delete the requirement that all factual statements be verified by affidavit. Instead, the filer - in the usual case of a party with legal representation, the lead counsel - must include a statement certifying that all factual statements are supported by competent evidence in the appendix or record to which the petition has cited. The certification required by subdivision 52.3(j) does not count against the page limitations.