Petition for Writ of Mandamus - Filed - Supreme Court of Texas

adequate remedy by appeal s
E.g., In re Prudential Ins. Co. of America, 148 S .W.3d at
135-36 ; Walker, 827 S.W.2d at 839 .
B .
Respondent Clearly Abused His Discretion in Ordering Discovery o f
Relators' Financial Information and the Court of Appeals Erroneousl y
Concluded Otherwis e
I . Respondent's Orders Require Relators to Produce Persona l
Financial Information of Net Worth Based Only on Factually
Unsupported, Bare-Bones Allegations of Gross Negligence
Respondent's orders (even as modified by the court of appeals) require Relators t o
produce personal financial information of net worth based only on factually unsupported ,
bare-bones allegations of gross negligence . Respondent ordered Relators: (a) to produce
the actual financial statements provided to a lender within the past two years tha t
identifies their assets and liabilities (Apx . Tabs B, D ; R. II Tabs 9, 12); (b) if they hav e
not submitted any such financial statements to a lender within the past two years, t o
produce an affidavit that no such financial statement has actually been submitted to
a
the current law ought to be . In re Columbia Med. Ctr of Las Colinas . 290 S .W.3d 204, 213 (Tex . 2009) (orig.
proceeding) (notwithstanding that existing jurisprudence was that trial court could grant new trial "in the interest o f
justice," respondent nevertheless abused its discretion in failing to give reasonably specific explanation for settin g
aside jury verdict in grant of new trial) .
sWhether a remedy by ordinary appeal is "adequate," so as to preclude mandamus review depends heavily on th e
circumstances presented and is better guided by general principles than by simple rules . Prudential Ins. Co., 14 8
S.W.3d at 137. Mandamus review of significant rulings in exceptional cases may be essential to preserve importan t
substantive and procedural rights from impairment or loss, to allow the appellate courts to give needed and helpfu l
direction to the law that would othenvise prove elusive in appeals from final judgments, and to spare private partie s
and the public the time and money utterly wasted enduring eventual reversal of improperly conducted proceedings .
Id. at 136. An appellate remedy is "adequate" only when the benefits to mandamus review are outweighed by th e
detriments . Id .
A party establishes that no adequate remedy at law exists by showing that the party is in real danger of permanentl y
losing its important substantive and procedural rights . Prudential Ins. Co ., 148 S .W.3d at 136 ; Canadia n
Helicopters Limited v. Witting, 876 S.W.2d 304, 306 (Tex . 1994) . After a private document has been produced ,
inspected, and examined, a holding that the court had erroneously issued the order would be of small comfort to a
relator in protecting their privacy . See Walker, 827 S .W.2d at 843 (quoting Automatic Drilling Machines v. Miller ,
515 S.W.2d 256 (Tex. 1974)) .
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