I can already see a couple of things on today’s order list that deserve their own longer posts. For now, here is the overview…

Six Cases Decided With Opinions

• TXI Operations, L.P. v. Perry, No. 05-0030. The Court affirmed by a 6-3 vote. Justice Green wrote the majority opinion; Justice Hecht wrote the dissenting opinion.

• A two-fer: Retamco Operating, Inc. v. Republic Drilling Co., No. 07-0599. The Court reversed and remanded to the trial court. Justice Green wrote the opinion for a unanimous Court. And in the related case of Retamco Operating, Inc. v. Douglas B. McCallum, LLC, No. 08‑0405, the Court issued a short per curiam reaching same judgment “[f]or the reasons stated” in the main opinion.

The Court also granted three mandamus petitions in per curiam opinions without the need for oral argument:

• In re Bank of America, N.A., No. 07-0901 (per curiam).

• In re Joanne Lovito-Nelson, No. 08-0482 (per curiam)

• In re Jindal Saw Limited, Jindal Enterprises LLC, and Saw Pipes USA, No. 08‑0805 (per curiam)

Dissent from a Denial of Review in a Medical-Malpractice Expert-Report Case

The Court denied the petition for review today in Jerry Gurkoff, D.O. v. Jersak, No. 08-0398, but two Justices joined an opinion dissenting from the Court’s denial of review.

Three Petitions Granted for Oral Argument

The Court granted three petitions. Two were set for argument on March 31, 2009, filling out that argument day:

• American General Finance, Inc. v. Kyle Allen, No. 08‑0110. DB

• Myrad Properties, Inc. v. Lasalle Bank National Association, No. 08‑0444. DB

No argument date has been set for the third petition granted today:

• Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts v. Attorney General of Texas and the Dallas Morning News, Ltd., No. 08‑0172. DB

  This is an open-records case about whether the Comptroller must release a database linking the names of state employees to their exact dates of birth. It was mentioned briefly on this blog here and here.