Bandera Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Gilchrist

In Bandera Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Gilchrist, 946 S.W.2d 336 (Tex. 1997) the Court held that a Mother Hubbard clause in a summary judgment made it final. There the plaintiff moved for summary judgment on its claims without mentioning the defendant's counterclaims. The defendant did not move for summary judgment. The trial court granted the plaintiff's motion by order that included a Mother Hubbard clause. The Court concluded that the order was final, albeit erroneous. The Court attempted to explain that our ruling was consistent with Martinez because the conflict in the orders involved in that case showed that they were not final even though "a Mother Hubbard clause . . . would have created a final and appealable judgment". In Bandera, the trial court signed an order with a Mother Hubbard clause that did not mention the defendant's counterclaims. 946 S.W.2d at 337. The Court explained that "because the order contained a Mother Hubbard clause denying all other relief, it also purported to dispose of the defendant's counterclaims." Bandera, 946 S.W.2d at 337.