Texas PJC Malpractice 2022

N ONMEDICAL M ALPRACTICE —D EFINITIONS & I NSTRUCTIONS

PJC 60.3

“Sole proximate cause” is an inferential rebuttal instruction. See Thota , 366 S.W.3d at 684. The Texas Supreme Court has held that (1) trial courts have significant discre tion in determining which inferential rebuttal instructions to submit, Mobil Chem. Co. v. Bell , 517 S.W.2d 245, 256 (Tex. 1974); (2) even if an inferential rebuttal instruction is supported by the evidence, submitting it is not mandatory, Gunn v. McCoy , 554 S.W.3d 645, 676 (Tex. 2018); (3)multiple inferential rebuttal instructions have “the potential to skew the jury’s analysis,” Dillard , 157 S.W.3d at 433; and (4)the trial court’s decision regarding whether to submit an inferential rebuttal instruction is sub ject to a harmless error analysis. Gunn , 554 S.W.3d at 676; Thota , 366 S.W.3d at 687.

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