Elbaor v. Smith

In Elbaor v. Smith, 845 S.W.2d 240, 250, 36 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 245 (Tex. 1992) the Court refused to retroactively void hundreds of past Mary Carter agreements even though it was convinced that those agreements had all caused trials to be unfair. In Elbaor the Court concluded that retroactively invalidating Mary Carter agreements would prevent unfair trials but that that consideration was outweighed by the other two factors. In Elbaor the Court was concerned that retroactively invalidating Mary Carter agreements would disrupt bargains and revive litigation. Such agreements, although not rare, were certainly not routine. There may have been scores of them, even hundreds. Whether a granulated or broad-form charge is submitted, the trial court's duty is to submit only those questions, instructions, and definitions raised by the pleadings and the evidence.