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Formation of the Judgment and Calculation of Interest
09/02/2010
Heather Bailey New

You are the winning party in a lawsuit, and the judge asks you to prepare a proposed judgment. You turn to the rules. Judgments are generally governed by Rules 300-316 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. TEX. R. CIV. P. 300-16. You soon discover the rules aren’t much help, as only a handful address judgment formation. For example, Rule 300 provides that findings of fact should be separately stated from the judgment. TEX. R. CIV. P. 300. Rule 301 tells you that the judgment “should conform to the nature of the case proved and the verdict, if any, and shall be so framed as to give the party all the relief to which he may be entitled either in law or equity.” TEX. R. CIV. P. 301. And Rule 306 says that the entry of the judgment shall contain the “full names of the parties, as stated in the pleadings, for and against whom the judgment is rendered.” Id. 306. (You might have guessed that). Beyond those rules, you are left to common law requirements and custom in figuring out how to draft your judgment.

This paper addresses each of the items that are customarily included in a judgment, including (1) the opening recitals, (2) the decretal portions addressing the merits of the award, and (3) pre-judgment interest, (4) post-judgment interest, (5) attorney’s fees, (6) costs, (7) language of finality, and (8) signature lines. This paper generally assumes that your judgment is a final, appealable judgment, although interlocutory judgments1 are addressed briefly in section VIII.

Presented at UT CLE Mastering the Art of Collecting Debts and Judgments 2010 Hyatt Regency Austin, September 2-3, 2010. To read the full article click on the PDF linked below.