# 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 23 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(c). When can a Texas plaintiff win a breach-of-contract case on traditional summary judgment? A traditional summary judgment under Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(c) 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(i). Can a no-evidence summary judgment be used offensively against affirmative defenses in Texas? Yes. A no-evidence motion under Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(i) 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 to the other side's detriment. 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.

### 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(f); 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(f). 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.

### 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.
- [Motion for leave to file summary judgment out of time](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/leave-to-file-summary-judgment-late/) — Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(a), (c); local rules. Can I still file a summary judgment motion after the local-rule deadline has passed in Texas? Often yes, with leave. Rule 166a(c) requires the motion to be filed and served at least 21 days before the hearing, and local rules commonly impose an outer deadline measured from the trial setting. Blowing that deadline does not end the motion — but the request for leave has to be candid about the reason and give the court a judicial-economy reason to grant it.
- [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), 109a. 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.

### 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. In Aramcor v. Tri Marsh Retail LLC the defendant neither appealed nor paid until a constable arrived with a writ to levy on the shopping center.
- [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.

### 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.

## 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.
- [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 Signed 2016 — signature and file stamp on the copy in the file.
- [Order to Make Judgment Executory](https://www.jhenrylaw.com/orders/#moss) — United Biologics, LLC d/b/a United Allergy Services v. Moss Street Medical Clinic, Inc., 15th Judicial District Court, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Cause No. 20154623L, signed 2016.
- [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.