Texas Civil Litigation: Commentaries & Rules

2025 Edition

Bearings’ Texas Civil Litigation: Commentaries & Rules is a must-have civil litigation resource made for today’s practice. The first Texas civil litigation manual written from the ground up in over two decades, this resource represents a modern approach to information design—presenting civil litigation in a manner that is clear, engaging, and easily absorbed and navigated. Starting with over 1300 pages of thoroughly researched commentaries, Bearings' Texas Civil Litigation walks you step-by-step through client intake, presuit evaluation and investigation, pleadings, provisional remedies (including injunctions, sequestration, and receiverships), initial pleas and defensive responses, a wide range of dispositive and nondispositive motions, and discovery. Bearings’ Texas Civil Litigation concludes with Volume 2—over 700 pages that provide all the rules a civil practitioner needs to have at the ready: Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (fully annotated), Texas Rules of Evidence (fully annotated), and Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. With a diverse editorial board to give you a balanced perspective from different practice areas, locales, and experiences, Bearings’ Texas Civil Litigation will soon be your authoritative go-to resource.

Two volumes means you get more in-depth legal analysis, more annotations, more efficient research (no flipping back and forth between commentaries and rules), and you carry only what you need to court. And with the digital edition, you can access all the content right from your mobile device or computer.

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Table of Contents

PART 1: CLIENT INTAKE & PRESUIT EVALUATION & INVESTIGATION

Ch. 1-1: Client Intake
Ch. 1-2: Presuit Evaluation & Investigation

PART 2: PLAINTIFF’S ORGINAL PLEADINGS

Ch. 2-1: Naming & Joining Parties

Ch. 2-2: Choosing Proper Court (Subject-Matter Jurisdiction)

Ch. 2-3: Choosing Proper Venue

Ch. 2-4: Evaluating Personal Jurisdiction

Ch. 2-5: Evaluating In Rem Jurisdiction

Ch. 2-6: Drafting Original Petition

Ch. 2-7 Serving Process

Ch. 2-8 Pleading for Declaratory Relief

PART 3: INJUNCTIVE RELIEF & OTHER PROVISIONAL REMEDIES

Ch. 3-1: Injunctive Relief

Ch. 3-2: Other Provisional Remedies

PART 4: DEFENDANT’S INITIAL RESPONSE & ANSWER

Ch. 4-1: Overview of Initial Responses

Ch. 4-2: Answer

Ch. 4-3: Counterclaims, Cross-Claims, & Third-party Claims

Ch. 4-4: Removal to Federal Court

PART 5: DOCKET CONTROL OR SCHEDULING ORDERS

PART 6: MOTION PRACTICE

Ch. 6-1: Motion Practice – Generally

Ch. 6-2: Motions Challenging Jurisdiction

Ch. 6-2A: Special Appearance

Ch. 6-2B: Plea to the Jurisdiction

Ch. 6-3: Motion to Transfer - Improper Venue

Ch. 6-4: Motions Concerning Pleadings

Ch. 6-4A: Motion to Dismiss – Rule 91a - Baseless Claim

Ch. 6-4B: Motion to Dismiss – TCPA

Ch. 6-4C: Plea in Abatement

Ch. 6-5: Motions Concerning Attorneys

Ch. 6-5A: Motion to Appear Pro Hac Vice

Ch. 6-5B: Motion to Show Authority

Ch. 6-5C: Motion to Withdraw as Counsel

Ch. 6-5D: Motion to Disqualify Counsel

Ch. 6-5E: Attorney Fees

Ch. 6-6: Motions Challenging Judges

Ch. 6-6A: Motion to Object to Assigned Judge

Ch. 6-6B: Motion to Recuse or Disqualify Judge

Ch. 6-7: Motions Concerning Case Management

Ch. 6-7A: Motion for Severance

Ch. 6-7B: Motion to Consolidate

Ch. 6-7C: Motion for Continuance

Ch. 6-8: Motion for Sanctions – Groundless or Frivolous Papers

Ch. 6-9: Motion for Default Judgment

Ch. 6-10: Motions Concerning Involuntary & Voluntary Dismissal

Ch. 6-10A: Motion for Nonsuit - Voluntary Dismissal

Ch. 6-10B: Motion to Dismiss for Want of Prosecution

Ch. 6-10C: Motion to Reinstate After Dismissal for
Want of Prosecution

Ch. 6-11: Motions Concerning Summary Judgments

Ch. 6-11A: Motion for Traditional Summary Judgment

Ch. 6-11B: Motion for No-Evidence Summary Judgment

Ch. 6-11C: Motion for Hybrid Summary Judgment

Ch. 6-12: Other Pretrial Motions

• Motion To Appoint Guardian Ad Litem

• Motion To Appoint Special Master

• Motion To Refer Case to Court-Ordered ADR

• Motion To Designate Responsible Third Party

• Motion to Take Judicial Notice – Adjudicative Facts

• Motion to Notice & Apply Foreign Law

Part 7: Overview of Discovery

Texas rules of CIVIL procedure (annotated)

Texas Rules of evidence (annotated)

Texas rules of appellate procedure

Commentaries Features

Extensive analysis. Comprehensive legal analysis of significant pretrial matters logically organized in an outline format and supported by extensive legal authority.
Friendly font. World-class Equity font—designed by Matthew Butterick—is specifically designed for legal writing and easy reading.
Alerts & cautions. Specialized advice, tips, and cautions alert you to unique legal issues and avoidable perils.
Charts & tables. Charts and tables make difficult and expansive subject matter easier to understand.
Tabs & headers. Tabs and headers expedite navigation.
Cross-references. Cross-references direct you to helpful discussions using relevant sections and page numbers.
Index with page numbers. Comprehensive index with page numbers expedites your research. Who would offer an index without page numbers?

CLICK TO READ SAMPLE COMMENTARIES

Rules Features

Efficient design. Indentations at every rule-section level make the rules
accessible and easy to read.
Strike-through & underscore. Strike-through and underscoring of all rule changes help you quickly identify changes in the law and assess whether the changes impact your case.
Annotations. Direct quotations and summations from leading court opinions
provide invaluable interpretative guidance for each rule.
Topical annotation headings. Annotation headings save you time in locating the annotations that are relevant to your issue.
Cross-references to commentary. Cross-references to relevant commentary discussions help further your research and understanding of the applicable rule.
Cross-references. Cross-references direct you to helpful discussions using relevant sections and page numbers.
History notes. Easy-to-read and detailed history notes help you identify a former law and assess an older case’s interpretative value.

CLICK TO READ SAMPLE RULES

Meet the Editorial Board

Hon. Tanya Garrison

Hon. Tanya Garrison. Judge Tanya Garrison is the Judge of the 157th District Court of Harris County, Texas. Before taking the bench, she handled complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on appellate work. Judge Garrison is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She recently received the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists’ 2021 award for Trial Judge of the Year. In 2011, Judge Garrison was selected as the Woodrow B. Seals Outstanding Young Lawyer. When not at work, Judge Garrison loves to spend time with her kids, friends, and husband, oftentimes helping on her husband’s championship BBQ cook-off team. She is a proud Houston Texans fan and is always loyal to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Andrew Gould

Andrew Gould leads the appellate section at Arnold & Itkin, a nationally recognized litigation firm in Houston that specializes in resolving complex, high-stakes cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, and business disputes. Before joining Arnold & Itkin, he served for several years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, where his practice focused on federal criminal appeals. Over his career as an appellate litigator, Andrew has served as lead counsel in approximately 175 appeals and has presented 25 oral arguments before various federal and state appellate courts. An active member of numerous bar associations, he currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Federal Bar Association’s Southern District of Texas Chapter. Andrew and his wife Rebecca live in Houston with their two young sons, Dick and Eli.

Gaines West

Gaines West co-founded West Webb Allbritton & Gentry in 1982. Gaines’s many accomplishments include serving as Chair of the State Bar of Texas, Grievance Oversight Committee (2006-10), Chairman of the State Bar of American Indian Law Section (2001-02, 2003-06, 2009-10), and Vice-Chair of the State Bar of Texas, Council of Chairs (2005-06). He was appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to the Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals twice and served as a member (1992-2003), Vice Chairman (1994-96, 1998-2000), and Chairman (2001-03). Gaines was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and is married to Susan West; they have three daughters and eight grandchildren.

Richard Whiteley

Richard Whiteley is a partner at Bracewell LLP in its trial section, where he has been practicing for 23 years. He has extensive experience in trial work and arbitration and has tried and arbitrated cases involving general contractual disputes, patent infringement, construction defects, manufacturing issues, trade secret misappropriation, trademark and copyright infringement, products liability, defamation, fraudulent transfers, real estate disputes, business disputes, deceptive trade practices, personal injury, and premises liability. Richard graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center in 1999 and has served as a past president of the University of Houston Law Alumni Association Board. Richard and his wife Laura have been married for 20 years and have three children: Katie, John, and Allison.