Jones v. Nightingale

In Jones v. Nightingale, 900 S.W.2d 87, 90 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 1995, writ ref'd), the plaintiff brought claims for negligence and breach of contract, but abandoned (pursuant to Rule 165) her breach of contract claim the day after the trial began. Id. at 88. The jury found no negligence and judgment was entered and became final. Id. Thereafter, the plaintiff sent a letter to the defendant threatening litigation over the previously abandoned breach of contract claim. Id. Rejecting the plaintiff's argument that her contract claim was not barred by res judicata because she had expressly and properly excluded it when she abandoned it pursuant to Rule 165, the San Antonio Court of Appeals explained that the plaintiff sought to recover for injuries stemming from a single occurrence under negligence and contract theories. Id. at 89.