Texas Business Court Opinion Summaries – January 17, 2025

No. 24-BC11A-0016 Bestway Oilfield, Inc. v. Jacob R. Cox, et al. 24-bc11a-0016.pdf

[Judge Adrogué] Jurisdiction and remand. In this suit Bestway asserted various causes of action arising out of Cox’s alleged breach of his former employment agreement with Bestway, including misappropriation of proprietary information. The action was commenced 4 years and 97 days before September 1, 2024, the first day of the Business Court’s operation. Bestway filed a removal notice to the Business Court on October 24, 2024. After the appeal was filed, Cox consented to the removal. Thus the case presents “yet another opportunity to address the agreed removal of a lawsuit that commenced before September 1, 2024 – see No. 24-BC11A-0004, Lone Star NGL Producct Services, LLC v. EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC, et al., 2024 Tex. Bus. 8, 2024 WL 5202356 (Tex. Bus. Ct. Dec. Dec. 20, 2024).

Held: Jurisdiction does not exist over the case, and it must be remanded to the Judicial District Court of Harris County. Consistent with its prior orders, the Business Court holds that Chapter 25A does not establish the Business Court’s authority to hear this case because Chapter 25A only applies to civil actions commenced on or after September 1, 2024; further, the court concludes that subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be waived.

However, the court stays the remand order pending the resolution of the appeal and mandamus matter in Synergy Global Outsourcing, LLC v. Hinduja Global Solutions, Inc., No. 24-BC01B-0007, 2024 Tex. Bus. 2 (Tex. Bus. Ct. Oct. 31, 2024).