McConnell v. Coventry Health Care National Network
Dallas Court of Appeals, No. 05-13-01365-CV (July 30, 2015)
Justices Stoddart (Opinion), Bridges, and Myers
McConnell, a medical doctor, brought suit alleging he was wrongfully terminated as a provider under a workers’ compensation network, asserting various causes of action including breach of contract, tortious interference, and conspiracy. Prior to the hearing on the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, McConnell filed an amended petition dropping the claim for breach of contract. After the hearing, the court took the motion under advisement. Five months later, McConnell filed an amended petition, without leave of court, reasserting the breach of contract claim. McConnell subsequently filed, again without leave, two more amended petitions also asserting claims for breach of contract. The court ultimately granted the defendants’ summary judgment motion and dismissed all of McConnell’s claims with prejudice. On appeal, McConnell argued the Court had granted more relief than requested by dismissing all of his claims because the claim for breach of contract was not before the court at the time the summary judgment was heard. The Dallas Court of Appeals rejected this position.
Rule 63 provides that leave must be granted to amend pleadings within seven days of trial. A hearing on a motion for summary judgment is a “trial” for purposes of Rule 63. Although when amended pleadings are filed within seven days before a summary judgment hearing, leave is presumed to have been granted, the same presumption does not exist when the pleading is amended after the hearing. Accordingly, if the amended pleading is filed after the summary judgment hearing and before judgment is rendered, the record must show the trial court granted leave or the amended pleading will not be considered. Here, McConnell amended his pleadings to reassert the breach of contract claim after the hearing on the motion for summary judgment. That revived claim was not properly before the court at the time of the hearing because McConnell had not obtained leave to file it, and could not be freely asserted afterward. Therefore, the trial court properly granted final summary judgment that McConnell take nothing on all of his claims.
