Texas Supreme Court Settles Fight over Consolidation of Texas Silica Cases

AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Supreme Court has vacated transfer orders issued last year by two of three state court judges who all claimed they had jurisdiction over nearly a dozen silicosis cases that were filed in their county. In Re: U.S. Silica Co., et al., No. 04-0270 (Texas Sup. Ct.).

Conditionally granting writs of mandamus filed by several defendants named in the lawsuits, the state's highest court on Feb. 11 ruled that the jurisdictional battle could be resolved by applying a local rule permitting a unilateral transfer only by the court where the first of the 10 cases at …