What’s the Expiration Date on That Mandamus?

Originally published by Maitreya Tomlinson.

It doesn’t come up very often. In fact, as I type this, a number of soon-to-be filers are frantically drafting their petitions, compiling their records, and perfecting their emergency motions in reaction to a recent ruling. Whether to salve the recent wound of an adverse ruling or to preserve a fleeting right, parties typically file mandamus petitions soon after the precipitating event. Some clients have asked me, however, about the deadline to file a mandamus petition.

Equitable Principles

To answer that question, practitioners like myself must consult case law instead of their trusty guides on appellate procedure. Equitable principles primarily govern mandamus. So, the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure do not establish a deadline for filing mandamus petitions. Luckily, the Texas Supreme Court has provided some guidance regarding a potential deadline. It has denied mandamus to a party waiting over four months to file a petition. The supreme court did so when that party did not justify the delay and did not demonstrate any diligence in pursuing relief. As demonstrated in subsequent supreme court jurisprudence and other case law, four months is not a hard deadline (or really a deadline at all). The actual answer to when a mandamus petition must be filed is more nuanced and depends on other factors in conjunction with time.

Because mandamus is rooted in equitable principles, courts have employed another equitable principle, the laches doctrine, to deny mandamus petitions by those who have slept on their rights. Courts have, therefore, not created a deadline as much as decided to apply laches to mandamus petitions. To invoke the doctrine, the responding party must show that the mandamus petitioner unreasonably delayed in asserting its rights (filing the petition) and that the responding party, in good faith, detrimentally changed its position based on the delay. Courts have typically decided whether mandamus is proper by examining the reasonableness of the delay.

Like any good legal standard, there is an exception. Courts have not applied laches to mandamus petitions when the complained-about order is void.

As this post (hopefully) illustrates, there is also no one-size-fits-all answer to when a mandamus petition is due. Instead, there is a framework to apply that should provide your client with an answer.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Kara.

The post What’s the Expiration Date on That Mandamus? appeared first on Texas Appellate Law.

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