Local Rule 1.06-1.08 of the Dallas County Civil Courts local rules adopted January 15th, 2014 provides a related-case requirement that can potentially prevent a Temporary Restraining Order from being granted. Under Rule 1.06, the Judge in the earliest case filed of any related cases has the option of consolidating the later-filed cases into the earliest case. Rule 1.07 defines later cases and the definition is quite broad. Rule 1.08 requires the filing attorney to make a detailed disclosure of the related case in the pleadings. Rule 1.08 requires the answering attorney to point out any failure of the filing attorney to make this disclosure in the pleadings. Moreover, both filing and answering attorneys, by failing to properly disclose related cases, certified that there are no prior related cases.
In the event that a party files for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), either ex parte or otherwise, and fails to make the proper related case disclosure for an eviction case, title dispute, or other applicable related case, then the TRO may be denied on the grounds of failure to include the related case in the pleadings. Due to the certification by nondisclosure rule, the failure to disclose the related cases could result in parties waiving rights to contest transfers or failures to transfer.
Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only. Do not rely on any part of this blog as legal advice. Instead, seek out the advice of a licensed attorney. Also, this information may be out-of-date.