N-S-W Corporation v. Honorable John Snell

N-S-W Corporation seeks a mandamus ordering the trial judge to set aside an order that reinstated a cause upon the docket. It insists the order is void since the judge ordered the reinstatement more than thirty days after the date of its dismissal order and after the court had lost jurisdiction over its prior order. We conditionally grant the writ of mandamus. H. R. George Gwyn, III sued N-S-W Corporation for damages for breach of a contract. On May 5, 1977, the trial court dismissed the action for want of prosecution. On May 25, Gwyn filed his motion to reinstate the cause. Under those facts it was necessary for the trial court to order the reinstatement within thirty days after May 5, which would have been by June 4, 1977. Rule 165a, Tex.R.Civ.P. That date was a Saturday, so the following Monday, June 6, 1977, is our critical date. Rule 4. The dispute before us is whether the trial judge rendered a judgment for reinstatement on June 6, which would be the last day within the thirty days during which the court still retained jurisdiction. Conclusive evidence of the date of the order is contained in the order of reinstatement: