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In re Wilhite

A judge is disqualified when two prongs are met: first, the judge or the judge's law firm was the attorney for a party in the case, and second, the matter before the judge is the same matter that was before the judge or judge's law firm. Although there are similarities between the suit filed by the plaintiffs and the two suits where the law firm represented defendant a decade ago, the specifics fail to show that the litigations concern the same matter in controversy. Both prongs are not met. Houston Court of Appeals, No. 01-09-00387-CV, 09-25-2009

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Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

OPINION

In this petition for writ of mandamus, relators, Edward and Margie Wilhite, contend that the Honorable Edward P. Magre, judge of the 20th Judicial District Court in Milam County, Texas, is disqualified from presiding over the underlying asbestos lawsuit filed against defendant Alcoa, Inc., the real party in interest. The Wilhites assert that the multidistrict pretrial court*fn1 erroneously denied their motion to disqualify Judge Magre because his previous law firm represented Alcoa over a decade ago in two similar asbestos lawsuits.*fn2 Although there are similarities between the lawsuit filed by the Wilhites and the two lawsuits where the law firm represented Alcoa a decade ago, the specifics fail to show that the litigations concern the same matter in controversy. We therefore deny the petition for writ of mandamus.

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