Appealing a Non-Intrinsically Interlocutory Judgment In Texas

In a civil case in which the judgment or amount in controversy exceeds $ 100.00, exclusive of interest and costs, an appeal from a final judgment may be taken to the court of appeals. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE 51.012 (Vernon 1997). Only in certain instances authorized by statute may appeal be taken from interlocutory orders. Cherokee Water Co. v. Ross, 698 S.W.2d 363, 365 (Tex. 1985); See, e.g., TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE 51.012 (Vernon 1997). In order for the final judgment to be appealable, the judgment must dispose of all parties and all issues in the case. North East Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Aldridge, 400 S.W.2d 893, 895 (Tex. 1966). When a judgment not intrinsically interlocutory in character is rendered and entered in a case following a regularly set conventional trial on the merits, and no order for a separate trial of issues has been entered pursuant to TEX. R. CIV. P. 174, it is presumed for appeal purposes that the trial court intended to, and did, dispose of all parties legally before it and of all issues made by the pleadings between such parties. Aldridge, 400 S.W.2d at 897-98. Such a judgment is final for purposes of appeal, absent evidence overcoming the presumption. See id. Some judgments include a "Mother Hubbard" clause to indicate the trial court's intent to dispose of all parties and issues before it. See Mafrige v. Ross, 866 S.W.2d 590, 592 (Tex. 1993).