Bill: HB 1692, 84(R) - 2015

Committee

House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Vote Recommendation

Vote Recommendation Economic Freedom Property Rights Personal Responsibility Limited Government Individual Liberty
Yes Neutral Neutral Neutral Positive Neutral

Author(s)

Kenneth Sheets

Bill Caption

Relating to the doctrine of forum non conveniens.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to State or local government.

Bill Analysis

Forum non conveniens means "a court's discretionary power to decline to exercise its jurisdiction where another court may more conveniently hear a case." HB 1692 would amend the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to require that determination of whether a claim may be stayed or dismissed under the doctrine of forum non conveniens to be made with respect to each plaintiff on an individual basis and not related to the plaintiff's country of citizenship or national origin. If the action involves plaintiffs who are legal residents of Texas and plaintiffs who are not legal residents of Texas, the court would be required to consider factors under Section 71.051 (b) when considering whether to stay or dismiss the claim of a non-legal resident plaintiff. 

The bill would provide that plaintiff means a "party seeking recovery of damages for personal injury or wrongful death" and removes 'legal resident' from the definition. The bill would provide that a plaintiff does not mean an intervenor, beneficiary, next friend, or other derivative party to the plaintiff’s claim. 

Vote Recommendation Notes

05/20/2015 Update:

HB 1692 was amended with minor changes that does not affect our vote recommendation. We support HB 1692 in the second chamber. The second chamber sponsor is Senator Huffman.

This bill affirms the principle of limited government. HB 1692 would close a loophole in the law that allows out of state lawsuits to be heard in Texas that have little connection to the state of Texas. This would prevent Texas citizens from being denied access to court due to an overload of lawsuits from outside the state. For this reason, we support HB 1692.


Source URL (retrieved on 03/28/2024 06:03 PM): http://reports.texasaction.com/bill/84r/hb1692?print_view=true