# John P. Henry — John Henry & Associates, PLLC

> Texas trial lawyer, principal office Round Rock, Texas, taking motion and trial work statewide. Texas Bar No. 24055655. The practice is narrow: finding the procedural mechanism that ends a civil case or makes a judgment collectible, and proving it up on the record. Work spans Williamson, Travis, Bexar (San Antonio), DeWitt and Galveston Counties. Engaged as co-counsel by other lawyers, or as lead. This site is organized as a catalog of 64 such mechanisms, each with its governing rule, the matter it was used in, and — where one exists — the signed, file-stamped court order, transcribed verbatim.

Every factual assertion on this site is drawn from a public court record or a document in the file. Orders are reproduced as images and as full text so they can be read and checked. Case results depend on the facts of each matter and do not predict a similar result in any other.

## Mechanisms

### Ending the case

- [Traditional summary judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/traditional-summary-judgment/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(h)(2). When can a Texas plaintiff win a breach-of-contract case on traditional summary judgment? A traditional summary judgment ends a case when the movant proves every element of its claim with competent evidence and no genuine issue of material fact remains. On a written contract with a liquidated sum, that is usually achievable. In Aramcor, Inc. v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC, Cause No. 24-0702-CC5, the court granted it in full the day of the contested hearing — $44,658.57 in damages plus $28,929.12 in fees.
- [No-evidence summary judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/no-evidence-summary-judgment/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(h)(3). Can a no-evidence summary judgment be used offensively against affirmative defenses in Texas? Yes. A no-evidence motion can be aimed at any element on which the opposing party bears the burden of proof — which includes their affirmative defenses. It removes the defense case before the merits are reached. In Aramcor v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC the court granted it against all four pleaded defenses: accord and satisfaction, lack of consideration, lack of contractual privity, and the Statute of Frauds.
- [Special exceptions on a forfeited charter](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/forfeited-charter-special-exceptions/) — Tex. Tax Code § 171.252. Can a Texas corporation whose charter is forfeited for franchise tax still sue or defend a lawsuit? No. Under Tex. Tax Code § 171.252, forfeiture of a corporate privilege denies the corporation the right to sue or defend in a Texas court, and its directors and officers become personally liable for certain debts. Attach a Certificate of Account Status from the Comptroller to special exceptions and the entity's answer and counterclaim go with it — leaving only the individual guarantors to be excepted to separately.
- [Arbitration waiver by substantial invocation](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/arbitration-waiver-substantial-invocation/) — Perry Homes v. Cull, 258 S.W.3d 580 (Tex. 2008). Can the other side still compel arbitration after litigating the case in Texas for months? Often not. Under Perry Homes v. Cull, 258 S.W.3d 580 (Tex. 2008), a party waives arbitration by substantially invoking the judicial process, on a totality-of-the-circumstances test. One element has moved: Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., 596 U.S. 411 (2022), holds that waiver of an arbitration right under the Federal Arbitration Act does not require a showing of prejudice. In Murphy v. Liberty Hill Construction, LLC, Cause No. 25-0131-C26 (26th Judicial District Court, Williamson County), the plaintiffs refused a day-one offer to arbitrate, litigated eleven months, then moved to compel. The court found waiver and denied the motion.
- [Rule 91a — dismissal of a baseless cause of action](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/rule-91a-dismissal/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a. Can a Texas court dismiss a claim on the pleadings before any discovery? Yes. A cause of action has no basis in law if the allegations, taken as true together with reasonable inferences, do not entitle the claimant to the relief sought; and no basis in fact if no reasonable person could believe them. The court decides on the pleadings alone — no evidence, no affidavits — which makes it the closest thing Texas has to a motion to dismiss on the merits.
- [The TCPA motion to dismiss](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/tcpa-motion-to-dismiss/) — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 27. How does the Texas Citizens Participation Act end a lawsuit? By putting the claimant to proof at the outset. A movant shows the legal action is based on or in response to the exercise of the right of free speech, petition or association; the burden then shifts to the claimant to establish by clear and specific evidence a prima facie case for each essential element. Filing suspends all discovery, and denial is immediately appealable.
- [Motion to transfer venue, and the waiver that ends it](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/motion-to-transfer-venue/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 86, 87; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 15. How do you move a Texas lawsuit to the right county? By written motion filed before or concurrently with any other plea, pleading or motion — except a special appearance. That sequence is the whole rule. One filing out of order and the objection is waived, and it is waived permanently, whatever the merits.
- [Nonsuit, and the three things it does not kill](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/nonsuit-and-what-survives-it/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 162. Can a Texas plaintiff dismiss its own case to avoid a ruling? It can dismiss, but it cannot escape. The right to nonsuit is close to absolute until the plaintiff has introduced all its evidence other than rebuttal. What survives is anything already pending: a claim for affirmative relief, a motion for sanctions, and the costs. The operative word in the rule is pending.
- [Death-penalty discovery sanctions](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/death-penalty-discovery-sanctions/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 215; TransAmerican Natural Gas Corp. v. Powell, 811 S.W.2d 913 (Tex. 1991). When can a Texas court strike pleadings for discovery abuse? Rarely, and only on a record built for it. A sanction must bear a direct relationship to the offensive conduct — visited on the true offender, not the client for the lawyer’s conduct or the reverse — and it must not be excessive. Merits-preclusive sanctions require flagrant bad faith or callous disregard, and lesser sanctions must ordinarily be tested first.
- [Motion to compel arbitration](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/motion-to-compel-arbitration/) — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 171; 9 U.S.C. §§ 1–16; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.016. How do you get a Texas lawsuit sent to arbitration? Move to compel and to stay. It is not an ending so much as a relocation, but for a defendant it is usually the whole object — the case leaves the docket, leaves the jury, and leaves the discovery schedule. Know which act governs before you file, because the Texas act and the Federal Arbitration Act give different appellate rights from the same order.

### Controlling the evidence

- [Mandatory exclusion of a late-designated expert](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/late-designated-expert-exclusion-193-6/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 193.6. Is exclusion of a late-designated expert mandatory or discretionary in Texas state court? Mandatory. Under Tex. R. Civ. P. 193.6, a party who fails to timely designate an expert may not offer that testimony unless the court finds good cause or a lack of unfair surprise or prejudice — and the burden of that showing is on the party who missed the deadline. In Murphy v. Liberty Hill Construction, the plaintiffs' construction expert, designated after discovery closed and a week before the summary judgment hearing, was struck in its entirety.
- [Striking a lay declaration for want of foundation](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/striking-lay-opinion-declaration/) — Tex. R. Evid. 701 & 702. Can a homeowner testify that construction work was defective without an expert? Not as to defect. Under Tex. R. Evid. 701, a lay witness may testify to what he perceived, but opinions requiring specialized knowledge belong to a qualified expert under Rule 702. In Murphy v. Liberty Hill Construction, the court held that the homeowner “as a homeowner, cannot provide competent summary judgment evidence concerning the alleged deficiencies in LHC's work and did not provide any foundation for the opinions.”
- [Striking opposing counsel's own declaration](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/striking-opposing-counsel-declaration/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(j)(4); Tex. R. Evid. 602. Can a declaration signed by opposing counsel be struck as summary judgment evidence in Texas? Yes, where it is conclusory or contradicts the client's sworn discovery responses. In Aramcor v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC, the court struck the declaration of the defendant's principal as contradicting the company's own initial disclosures and interrogatory answers, and struck counsel's fee declaration as conclusory for providing “no underlying facts with respect to billing entries or the reasonableness or necessity of attorney fees.”
- [Unauthenticated exhibits and unsworn argument](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/unauthenticated-exhibits-unsworn-argument/) — Tex. R. Evid. 901; Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(j)(4). Do exhibits attached to a summary judgment response have to be authenticated in Texas? Yes. Documents attached to a response are not evidence until someone with knowledge authenticates them under Tex. R. Evid. 901, and facts asserted only in the body of a brief are argument of counsel, not proof. In Johnson & Farst v. Carnes, 267th Judicial District Court, DeWitt County, the exhibits were struck by separate order, the unanswered grounds were conceded, and judgment was rendered on the whole case in March 2026.
- [The business-records affidavit that holds](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/business-records-affidavit-902-10/) — Tex. R. Evid. 902(10), 803(6). What does a business-records affidavit have to say to be admissible in Texas? Custodian or other qualified witness, personal knowledge, made at or near the time by someone with knowledge, kept in the regular course of a regularly conducted activity, and making the record was a regular practice. Serve the records and the affidavit on every other party at least fourteen days before trial and they authenticate themselves. On a contract or account case this is the entire evidentiary case.
- [Required disclosures, and the deadline nobody calendars](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/required-disclosures-194/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 194. When are initial disclosures due in a Texas lawsuit? Within 30 days after the first answer or general appearance is filed in the case — not after yours. Since the 2021 amendment, disclosures are automatic: a party must provide them without awaiting any discovery request. No objection and no assertion of work product is permitted, and material not disclosed is excluded automatically under Rule 193.6.
- [Deemed admissions, and getting them back](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/deemed-admissions-and-withdrawal/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 198.2(c), 198.3. What happens if you miss the deadline to answer requests for admission in Texas? They are admitted. Not deemed admitted on motion — admitted, automatically, without any court order, the moment the response deadline passes. Getting them withdrawn requires good cause, no undue prejudice, and that the merits be subserved. Where the admissions would decide the case, the Supreme Court has put a constitutional floor under that test.
- [Quashing a deposition notice](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/motion-to-quash-deposition-notice/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 199.4, 192.6. How do you stop a deposition that has been unilaterally noticed in Texas? Move to quash by the third business day after service of the notice, and the deposition is automatically stayed until the motion is determined. That automatic stay is the whole mechanism — it operates without a hearing, without an order, and without the movant having to persuade anyone of anything yet.
- [Spoliation — and why it is not for the jury](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/spoliation-instruction/) — Brookshire Bros., Ltd. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014). What happens in Texas when the other side destroys evidence? Less than people expect, and by a route most get wrong. A spoliation instruction generally requires intent — the subjective purpose of concealing or destroying discoverable evidence. And the trial court, not the jury, decides spoliation, outside the jury’s presence. Putting the destruction story in front of a jury without that ruling is itself reversible.
- [Challenging an expert for reliability](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/expert-reliability-challenge/) — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d 549 (Tex. 1995). How do you exclude an unreliable expert in Texas? By attacking the foundation rather than the conclusion. Robinson gives six non-exclusive factors — testing, subjectivity, peer review, error rate, general acceptance, and non-judicial uses. For experience-based experts the factors often do not fit, and the question becomes whether there is too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion.
- [Snapping back privileged material produced by accident](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/snap-back-of-privileged-material/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 193.3(d). What do you do when privileged documents go out in a production? Amend within ten days and it is not a waiver. The rule is more forgiving than most people believe, and the reason is where the clock starts: ten days after the producing party actually discovers the production was made, not ten days after the production. The receiving party must then promptly return the material.
- [Motion to compel, argued as waiver](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/motion-to-compel-and-objection-waiver/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 193.2(e), 215.1; Axelson, Inc. v. McIlhany, 798 S.W.2d 550 (Tex. 1990). What is the strongest way to compel discovery responses in Texas? Do not argue the objections one at a time. Argue that they were waived. Rule 193.2(e) provides that an objection not asserted in a timely response, or obscured by numerous unfounded objections, is waived unless the court excuses the waiver for good cause. That converts a long hearing about relevance into a short one about dates.

### Keeping the case alive

- [Verified motion to retain](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/verified-motion-to-retain/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a. My case is on the dismissal docket in Texas — how do I get it retained? File a verified motion to retain before the dismissal hearing. Under Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a the court must reinstate on a finding that the failure was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference. A motion that is sworn, that recites what has been done and what will be done by a date certain, and that carries a certificate that the other side is unopposed, is granted far more often than one that argues.
- [Summary judgment filed out of time](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/leave-to-file-summary-judgment-late/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(b)(3), (d)(1); scheduling orders. Can I still file a summary judgment motion after the deadline has passed in Texas? Usually yes, and since March 1, 2026 the question has changed shape. The rewritten rule has no leave-of-court mechanism for the motion itself — a traditional motion may be filed at any time after the nonmovant has appeared or answered unless a court order sets a deadline. Lateness is now a scheduling-order problem, not a rule problem, and the remedy is a motion to modify the scheduling order rather than a motion for leave.
- [Defeating a failure-to-mitigate defense](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/defeating-failure-to-mitigate/) — Tex. Prop. Code § 91.006; Austin Hill Country Realty v. Palisades Plaza, 948 S.W.2d 293 (Tex. 1997). How do you beat a failure-to-mitigate defense in a Texas commercial lease case? With the marketing file, not with argument. Texas landlords have a duty to make reasonable efforts to relet, and the tenant bears the burden of proving a failure to mitigate and the resulting reduction in damages. Producing every listing, campaign, showing and replacement lease collapses the defense on documents rather than on credibility.
- [Holding your forum against a special appearance](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/forum-selection-clause-defeats-special-appearance/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 120a; In re Laibe Corp., 307 S.W.3d 314 (Tex. 2010); In re Lisa Laser USA, Inc., 310 S.W.3d 880 (Tex. 2010). Can a Texas court exercise personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant based on a forum-selection clause? Yes, where the parties contracted for it. A special appearance under Tex. R. Civ. P. 120a argues minimum contacts and fair play — but a forum-selection clause is a contractual consent to jurisdiction, and such clauses are presumptively valid in Texas. In a San Antonio collection program against medical practices in a dozen states, nearly every special appearance was answered the same way: with the clause, proved up by a business-records affidavit attaching the signed agreement.
- [Substituted service on a defendant who cannot be found](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/substituted-service-rule-106/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 106(b). How do you serve a defendant in Texas who is evading service or cannot be located? Move for substituted service under Tex. R. Civ. P. 106(b). On a sworn affidavit stating the location where the defendant can probably be found and the specific attempts already made, the court may authorize service by leaving the citation with anyone over sixteen at that location, or in any other manner the affidavit shows will be reasonably effective. In a sixty-six-matter out-of-state collection program this was routine and it is where most defaults are won or lost.
- [Reinstatement after dismissal for want of prosecution](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/motion-to-reinstate-after-dwop/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a. How do you undo a dismissal for want of prosecution in Texas? A verified motion to reinstate, filed within 30 days after the dismissal order is signed, showing that the failure was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference but due to accident or mistake, or otherwise reasonably explained. The same procedure and the same timetable apply to dismissals under the court’s inherent power, which is what most docket-control dismissals actually are.
- [New trial after a default judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/motion-for-new-trial-after-default/) — Craddock v. Sunshine Bus Lines, Inc., 133 S.W.2d 124 (Tex. 1939). How do you set aside a default judgment in Texas? A timely motion for new trial establishing three things: that the failure to answer was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference but due to accident or mistake; that the motion sets up a meritorious defence; and that granting it will occasion no delay or otherwise injure the plaintiff. Meet all three and the trial court has little discretion to refuse.
- [Restricted appeal](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/restricted-appeal/) — Tex. R. App. P. 30, 26.1(c). Can you appeal a Texas judgment six months after it was signed? Yes, if you did not participate in the hearing that produced it and did not file a post-judgment motion, a request for findings, or a timely notice of appeal. A restricted appeal runs six months from the signing of the judgment. The trade is that the error has to be apparent on the face of the record, because no evidence outside it may be considered.
- [Bill of review](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/bill-of-review/) — Baker v. Goldsmith, 582 S.W.2d 404 (Tex. 1979); Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.051. Can a Texas judgment be attacked after the appellate deadlines have passed? By bill of review, and only on a narrow showing: a meritorious defence or claim, which the petitioner was prevented from asserting by the fraud, accident or wrongful act of an opponent or by official mistake, unmixed with any fault or negligence of the petitioner’s own. Four years from rendition, and available only once plenary power has expired and no other remedy exists.
- [Restarting the appellate clock when notice came late](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/rule-306a-restarting-the-clock/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 306a(4), (5). What if you never got notice that judgment was signed in Texas? The periods restart from the day you found out — but only if you found out more than twenty days after the judgment was signed, only up to a ninety-day outer limit, and only if you prove it in the trial court on a sworn motion. Miss any of those and the deadlines ran without you.
- [Continuance, and buying time on a summary judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/continuance-and-more-time/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 251, 252; Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(d)(3). How do you get more time before trial or before a summary judgment hearing in Texas? Two different mechanisms that people run together. A trial continuance under Rule 251 requires sufficient cause supported by affidavit, and Rule 252 says exactly what the affidavit must contain. More time on a summary judgment is not a continuance at all any more — since March 2026 it is Rule 166a(d)(3), and the relief menu is different.
- [Amending a pleading on the eve of trial](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/trial-amendment-under-rule-63/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 63; Greenhalgh v. Service Lloyds Ins. Co., 787 S.W.2d 938 (Tex. 1990). Can you amend your pleadings a week before trial in Texas? Yes, and leave is close to mandatory. Within seven days of trial an amendment requires leave — and the rule says leave shall be granted unless there is a showing that the filing will operate as a surprise. The burden is on the party resisting, and denials of leave are reversed routinely.
- [Severance to make a partial judgment final](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/severance-to-finalize-a-partial-judgment/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 41; Guaranty Federal Savings Bank v. Horseshoe Operating Co., 793 S.W.2d 652 (Tex. 1990). How do you make a partial summary judgment final and enforceable in Texas? Sever it. A partial judgment is interlocutory — not appealable, and nothing you can abstract or execute on. Severing the disposed claim into its own cause number converts it into a final judgment that can be collected while the rest of the case continues. On a multi-defendant docket, severing each defendant as its judgment comes in turns one stalled action into a series of collectible judgments.

### Getting paid

- [Turnover order and post-judgment receiver](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/turnover-order-post-judgment-receiver/) — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.002. How do I get a turnover order and a post-judgment receiver on a Texas judgment? Apply under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 31.002 on a showing that the judgment is final and unsatisfied and that the debtor owns nonexempt property that cannot readily be attached by ordinary process. In Murphy v. Liberty Hill Construction, Cause No. 25-0131-C26, the court appointed a receiver on May 27, 2026 after finding the debtors were dissipating their estate. They paid the judgment in full with interest rather than surrender to him.
- [Fraudulent transfer](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/fraudulent-transfer-tufta/) — Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 24 (Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act). The judgment debtor deeded his house to a family member the day after judgment — what can be done? It can be unwound. Under the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, a transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud a creditor — or made without reasonably equivalent value while insolvent — is voidable. The statutory badges of fraud include transfers to insiders and transfers made shortly after a substantial debt was incurred. Often the authority to investigate the transfer is enough to end the fight.
- [Settlement written into a final judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/settlement-as-agreed-final-judgment/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 11 & 621. What is the difference between a settlement agreement and an agreed final judgment in Texas? A breached settlement agreement buys you a second lawsuit. The same terms entered as an agreed final judgment under Tex. R. Civ. P. 11, with execution ordered to issue, buy you a writ. It is the same paper and a completely different remedy. In a 2012 Williamson County matter the settlement was incorporated into an agreed final judgment for $208,045.41 joint and several plus $12,131.29 in fees at 10% interest, with execution ordered.
- [Agreed judgment held and not executed upon](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/agreed-judgment-held-not-executed/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 11 — instrument drafting. How do you secure a payment plan from a defaulting tenant without litigating again? Take an agreed judgment and promise not to execute on it while payments are made. The strongest security a defaulting party can give is a judgment already signed. With a cure period, a per-instalment penalty, an indemnity if the creditor executes early and a mandatory release five business days after payoff, both sides are protected — and performance follows, because the alternative is already on file.
- [Partial default that preserves the case](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/partial-default-preserving-the-case/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 239, 240. Can I take a default judgment against one defendant and keep the case alive against the others? Yes, but the judgment has to say so. An interlocutory default may be taken against a defendant who has not answered while the case proceeds against the rest — and the order must state expressly that it does not dispose of all claims and all parties. Without that recital a court may treat it as final, start the appellate clock, and take the remainder of the case with it.
- [Abstract, writ, and the constable](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/abstract-writ-and-the-constable/) — Tex. Prop. Code § 52.001; Tex. R. Civ. P. 621, 627. How do I actually collect a Texas judgment once I have it? Abstract the judgment and record it in every county where the debtor owns anything — that creates a judgment lien on the debtor's nonexempt real property under Tex. Prop. Code § 52.001 — then have the writ of execution issued and delivered to the constable. The abstract works passively and is often paid at a closing years later; the writ is what moves a debtor who is waiting you out. In Aramcor v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC the defendant neither appealed nor paid — until the constable arrived to execute, at which point it paid the balance.
- [Taking a Texas judgment into another state](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/domesticating-a-texas-judgment/) — Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, as adopted in the enforcing state; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 35 (Texas’s reciprocal provision); U.S. Const. art. IV, § 1; 28 U.S.C. § 1738. How do you enforce a Texas judgment against a defendant whose assets are in another state? Domesticate it. A Texas judgment is entitled to full faith and credit, and every state but a handful has adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act — file an authenticated copy of the judgment with an affidavit giving the parties’ last known addresses, give the statutory notice, wait out the period, and it is enforceable there as a local judgment. In a Bexar County program against practices in a dozen states, this was step two on nearly every file.
- [Exemplification — the triple seal](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/exemplification-the-triple-seal/) — U.S. Const. art. IV, § 1; 28 U.S.C. § 1738. What kind of copy of a Texas judgment does another state require? An exemplified one, not a certified one. Every domestication statute conditions filing on a judgment authenticated in accordance with the act of Congress, and the act of Congress requires three things: the clerk’s attestation, the seal of the court, and a certificate of a judge that the attestation is in proper form. A certified copy has two of the three.
- [Making a Texas judgment executory in Louisiana](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/judgment-executory-in-louisiana/) — La. R.S. 13:4241 et seq.; La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 2541. How do you enforce a Texas judgment against assets in Louisiana? Two routes, and they are not interchangeable. The Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act is an ex parte filing: annex an authenticated copy to a petition praying the judgment be made executory, file the creditor’s affidavit, and the Clerk of Court mails notice to the debtor. Article 2541 is an ordinary contradictory proceeding producing a new Louisiana judgment. Tell them apart by who mails.
- [Abstract of judgment and the judgment lien](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/abstract-of-judgment-and-the-lien/) — Tex. Prop. Code §§ 52.001–52.006. How does a Texas judgment become a lien on the debtor's real property? By being abstracted, recorded and indexed in the county where the land is. Both steps are required and courts enforce both. The lien then attaches to the debtor’s non-exempt real property in that county, including property acquired after the recording — which is the quietly powerful part.
- [Reviving a dormant judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/reviving-a-dormant-judgment/) — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 34.001, 31.006; Tex. R. Civ. P. 627, 628. What happens to a Texas judgment nobody has executed on for ten years? It goes dormant, and then it goes away. No writ within ten years of rendition and execution may not issue unless the judgment is revived; revival is by scire facias or an action of debt, and it must be brought within two years of dormancy. Twelve years is the outer limit of one cycle of inattention, and it is how large judgments quietly die.
- [Piercing the veil on a contract claim](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/piercing-the-veil-on-a-contract-claim/) — Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 21.223(a)(2), (b); § 101.002. When can a Texas creditor hold an owner liable for the company's contract debt? Almost never, and the statute says so. On a contractual obligation, alter ego, sham to perpetrate a fraud, constructive fraud and any similar theory are all foreclosed. The only door is actual fraud on the obligee, perpetrated primarily for the direct personal benefit of the person you are suing. Both halves of that are load-bearing.
- [Charging order against an LLC membership interest](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/charging-order-llc-membership/) — Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 101.112; § 153.256 (limited partnerships). How does a judgment creditor reach a debtor's interest in a Texas LLC? With a charging order, and with nothing else. Section 101.112 lets a court charge the membership interest of a judgment debtor, and Subsection (d) makes that the exclusive remedy — there is no execution on the interest, and the lien may not be foreclosed. What the creditor gets is the right to receive distributions the debtor would otherwise have taken, and no more.
- [Post-judgment discovery](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/post-judgment-discovery-621a/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 621a. What discovery can a judgment creditor take after judgment in Texas? All of it. Rule 621a lets the successful party initiate, in the same cause, any discovery proceeding the rules authorise for pre-trial matters, for the purpose of obtaining information to aid enforcement — interrogatories, requests for production, depositions on written questions, oral depositions of the debtor and of third parties who hold its records.
- [Post-judgment garnishment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/post-judgment-garnishment/) — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 63.001; Tex. R. Civ. P. 657–679. How do you garnish a judgment debtor's accounts or receivables in Texas? On a valid subsisting judgment, an affidavit that within the plaintiff’s knowledge the debtor does not have property in Texas subject to execution sufficient to satisfy it, and a bond. The writ issues from the clerk and binds whatever the garnishee owes the debtor as of service — which is why garnishment reaches receivables and affiliated entities, not only banks.
- [Execution sale of real property](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/execution-sale-of-real-property/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 621–656; Tex. R. Civ. P. 627, 628. How does a judgment creditor force the sale of a debtor's real property in Texas? Writ of execution, levy, notice, sale. Thirty days after the judgment is signed the clerk issues the writ; the constable levies on non-exempt real property; notice of sale is posted and served; and the property is struck off to the highest bidder at the courthouse door on the first Tuesday of the month. It is the remedy people talk about and rarely finish.

### On the other side of the motion

- [Defeating summary judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/defeating-summary-judgment/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a. How do you defeat a motion for summary judgment in Texas? Raise a genuine issue of material fact on every ground pleaded, with competent evidence, within the response deadline. Filing a motion and defeating one are different skills — the response has to address each ground separately, because a ground left unanswered stands. In Salt & Pepper Restaurants v. Tight Ends Sports Bar & Grill, 56th Judicial District Court, Galveston County, the plaintiff's motion against the defenses and its separate motion on the counterclaims were both denied the same day.
- [Verified denial — defect of parties](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/verified-denial-defect-of-parties/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 93. When must a denial be verified under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 93? Rule 93 lists the pleas that must be verified by affidavit or they are waived — among them that there is a defect of parties, that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover in the capacity in which he sues, that the defendant is not liable in the capacity in which he is sued, and denial of the execution or of an account. A general denial does not preserve any of them.
- [Dismissal for want of prosecution, on defense](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/dismissal-for-want-of-prosecution-defense/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 165a; the court's inherent power. Can a defendant get a Texas lawsuit dismissed for want of prosecution? Yes. Rule 165a permits dismissal when a party seeking affirmative relief fails to appear or when the case is not disposed of within the Supreme Court's time standards, and a court also has inherent power to dismiss for want of diligent prosecution. A plaintiff who will not move its own case can be allowed to lose it — the defendant's job is to make sure the docket reflects the inactivity.
- [Special exceptions — group pleading and fraud particularity](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/special-exceptions-group-pleading/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 45, 47, 90, 91; Stone v. Lawyers Title Ins. Corp., 554 S.W.2d 183 (Tex. 1977). What do you do about a petition that pleads fraud against 'all Defendants' collectively? Except to it. A pleading must give fair notice of the claim against this defendant, and fraud must be pleaded with particularity — who said what, to whom, when, and why it was false. A petition that alleges everything against everyone gives no defendant notice of anything, and the remedy is an order to replead.
- [Opposing a pre-judgment receiver](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/opposing-a-pre-judgment-receiver/) — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 64; Tex. R. Civ. P. 695; Jones v. Strayhorn, 321 S.W.2d 290 (Tex. 1959). Can a Texas court appoint a receiver over a business before anyone has won? It can, and it should almost never do it. A pre-judgment receivership over an operating company is not a collection device — it is a business-ending event imposed before anyone has proved anything, and the Supreme Court of Texas has called receivership one of the harshest remedies known to the law, available only in extraordinary circumstances where no lesser remedy will serve.
- [Attacking the damages after a post-answer default](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/legal-sufficiency-after-post-answer-default/) — Stoner v. Thompson, 578 S.W.2d 679 (Tex. 1979). Does a defendant who fails to appear at trial admit the damages in Texas? No. A post-answer default is not an abandonment of the answer or an admission of anything but the allegations the pleading itself establishes. The plaintiff must still prove its damages with competent evidence, and an uncontested prove-up frequently does not build a record that survives a legal-sufficiency review.
- [Verified denial of a sworn account](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/verified-denial-of-a-sworn-account/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 185; Tex. R. Civ. P. 93(10). How do you defend a suit on a sworn account in Texas? With a verified denial, and before that with an attack on whether Rule 185 applies at all. A properly pleaded sworn account is prima facie evidence of the debt, and without a written denial under oath the defendant may not deny the claim or any item in it. A general denial does not touch it.

### When the debtor files bankruptcy

- [Relief from the automatic stay](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/relief-from-the-automatic-stay/) — 11 U.S.C. § 362; Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4001. What happens to a Texas judgment or lawsuit when the debtor files bankruptcy? Everything stops. The petition operates as a stay of the commencement or continuation of litigation, of enforcement of judgments, and of any act to obtain possession of estate property — automatically, without an order, the moment it is filed. A creditor that wants to keep going must move for relief, or establish that the stay never applied to what it is doing.
- [Assumption of an unexpired lease](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/assumption-of-an-unexpired-lease/) — 11 U.S.C. § 365. How does a bankrupt business keep the location it operates from? By assuming the lease — curing the defaults, compensating the counterparty for actual pecuniary loss, and providing adequate assurance of future performance. For a restaurant, a clinic or a retailer the lease is the business, and the assumption motion is the reorganisation. It also runs on the harshest clock in the Code.
- [Dismissing a Chapter 11 by agreement](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/consensual-chapter-11-dismissal/) — 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b). Can a Chapter 11 case end without a confirmed plan? Yes, and often it should. Where the case has done its work — the stay bought the time, the parties reached terms, the debt was restructured by agreement — an agreed dismissal is faster and far cheaper than confirmation, and it puts the debtor out from under the estate rather than under a plan it then has to perform.

### Getting the defendant into court

- [Serving a nonresident through the Secretary of State](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/nonresident-service-secretary-of-state/) — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 17.044(b), § 17.045. How do you serve an out-of-state defendant that does business in Texas? Serve the Secretary of State, who forwards process to the nonresident by registered or certified mail and issues a certificate. It is available against a nonresident who engages in business in Texas but maintains no regular place of business and no designated agent here, in a proceeding arising out of that business. What kills these judgments is not the mailing — it is the pleading.
- [When a Texas entity's registered agent cannot be found](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/secretary-of-state-agent-not-found/) — Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §§ 5.251, 5.252, 5.253. How do you serve a Texas company whose registered agent has disappeared? The Secretary of State becomes the entity’s agent by operation of law — where the entity fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent, or where the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office. Different statute from the nonresident long-arm, different defendant, same office. Notice on the Secretary is returnable in not less than thirty days.
- [Special appearance and the due order of pleading](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/special-appearance-due-order/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 120a. How does an out-of-state defendant challenge personal jurisdiction in Texas? By sworn special appearance, filed before any other plea, pleading or motion, and heard and determined before them. The rule is unforgiving about order: every appearance before judgment that does not comply is a general appearance, and a general appearance concedes the jurisdiction the special appearance was filed to contest.

## Matters

- [Gregg Murphy and Dayla Murphy v. Liberty Hill Construction, LLC and Thomas McGrath](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/matter/murphy-v-liberty-hill-construction/) — 26th Judicial District Court, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 25-0131-C26. Homeowners sued a builder for $1.4 million across eight causes of action. They were awarded nothing, judgment was rendered against them on the builder's counterclaim, and when they moved assets the day after judgment a receiver was appointed over their estate. They paid in full, with post-judgment interest, rather than surrender to him.
- [Aramcor, Inc. v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/matter/aramcor-v-tri-marsh-retail/) — County Court at Law No. 5, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 24-0702-CC5. A common-area maintenance reconciliation dispute. Three orders signed the same day — the day of the contested hearing — struck the defendant's evidence, disposed of all four affirmative defenses for want of any evidence, and granted judgment in full. The defendant neither appealed nor paid until a constable arrived with a writ.
- [Johnson & Farst v. Carnes](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/matter/johnson-farst-v-carnes/) — 267th Judicial District Court, DeWitt County, Texas. A hunting lease dispute that ended on the evidentiary rules. The response contained no competent evidence, the exhibits were struck by separate order, and the grounds the response never reached were conceded. Judgment on the whole case in March 2026, now on appeal to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals.
- [Salt & Pepper Restaurants v. Tight Ends Sports Bar & Grill](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/matter/salt-pepper-v-tight-ends/) — 56th Judicial District Court, Galveston County, Texas. Defense work. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment against the defenses and, separately, to dispose of the counterclaims outright. Both motions were denied the same day in February 2023, and the counterclaims survived intact.

## Orders (full text)

- [Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion for Traditional Summary Judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#ord-3) — Aramcor, Inc. v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC, County Court at Law No. 5, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 24-0702-CC5, signed March 7, 2025.
- [Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion for No-Evidence Summary Judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#ord-2) — Aramcor, Inc. v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC, County Court at Law No. 5, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 24-0702-CC5, signed March 7, 2025.
- [Order Granting Plaintiff's Objection to Defendant's Summary Judgment Evidence](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#ord-1) — Aramcor, Inc. v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC, County Court at Law No. 5, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 24-0702-CC5, signed March 7, 2025.
- [Default Judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#santan) — United Biologics, LLC d/b/a United Allergy Services v. Santan Health Services, LLC, County Court at Law, Bexar County, Texas, Cause No. 2016CV02672, signed January 12, 2017.
- [Agreed Final Judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#rrbp) — Round Rock Business Park, L.P. v. Electronic Polymers, Inc., Electronic Polymers Newco, Inc. and Cardigan Financial Services, LLC, 368th Judicial District Court, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 11-1187-C368, signed February 8, 2012.
- [Order on Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Default Judgment, and Partial Default Judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#groszek) — Southwestern Retail Properties, L.P. v. Mariachis de Jalisco, Inc., Jaime Fernandez, Tom Groszek, Ana Groszek, Reynaldo Leon, Anatalia Villegas and Francisco Reyes, County Court at Law No. 4, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 11-0982-CC4, signed February 7, 2012.
- [Agreed Order Dismissing the Debtor's Chapter 11 Case](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#arg) — In re ARGDOWNTOWN, LLC, Debtor, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, Cause No. 22-31529-SGJ, signed June 29, 2023.
- [Agreed Order to Abate](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#tuck) — Austin Gardeners, LLC v. Kenneth Tuck d/b/a Site Rite Construction Group, 201st Judicial District Court, Travis County, Texas, Cause No. D-1-GN-24-000256, signed August 29, 2024.
- [Order Granting Final Summary Judgment](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#fsj) — Gregg Murphy and Dayla Murphy v. Liberty Hill Construction, LLC and Thomas McGrath, 26th Judicial District Court, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 25-0131-C26, signed March 4, 2026.
- [Order Granting Judgment Creditor Liberty Hill Construction, LLC's Application for Turnover Order and Appointment of Post-Judgment Receiver](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#recv) — Gregg Murphy and Dayla Murphy v. Liberty Hill Construction, LLC and Thomas McGrath, 26th Judicial District Court, Williamson County, Texas, Cause No. 25-0131-C26, signed May 27, 2026.

## Other

- [Fees](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/terms/) — flat-fee bands, and the fees courts have found reasonable and awarded.
- [About](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/about/) — credentials, jurisdictions, who engages this practice.
- [The network](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/network/) — Texas lawyers can apply to the referral network; active license and no public discipline, checked automatically against the State Bar record, then a call booked in the same sitting.
- [Prior results](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/results/) — matters resolved by settlement, at trial and in arbitration over fifteen years, before this catalog. Stated as amounts resolved, not amounts collected, and not backed by orders reproduced here.
- [Send a file](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/send/) — intake for a same-day read on a pleading or motion.


## John Henry — the platform (software for other lawyers)

A practice platform for Texas lawyers, published by this firm and sold to lawyers with their own clients. Invitation-only; no self-service signup. It is not legal advice and using it does not make this firm co-counsel on anything.

- [Overview](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/platform/) — what it is, the four-colour authority grading (red/yellow/green/grey), and the list of what it refuses to do.
- [The Attorney Plug In](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/platform/plug-in/) — a Tex. Disciplinary R. 1.18 barrier for referred matters. The referring lawyer answers a sealed agent; the evaluating lawyer reads eight enum fields and chooses look, take or pass. Reduces 1.18(c) exposure; does not eliminate it.
- [Drafting](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/platform/drafting/) — Motion Builder and Response Builder. Motions built from their elements, each with its source, burden and proof. A model may assert a statutory text and may never settle what a case held.
- [The case file](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/platform/case-file/) — cases, parties, claims, proceedings, rulings; a party registry shared across firms while case participation is not; threads and encrypted calls whose audience is derived.
- [Trust and ethics](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/platform/trust/) — tenancy in the database only, human-minutes-only billing made unrepresentable in the schema, and a rule that a failed payment may never remove access to a file already there.
- [Access](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/platform/access/) — invitation-only. No price is published, because pricing off a lawyer's recovery would be fee sharing under Tex. Disciplinary R. 5.04 and the alternatives are still being worked out.