Nath v. Tex. Children’s Hosp. (Summary)
ATTORNEY’S FEES
Nath v. Tex. Children’s Hosp., No. 12-0620 (Tex. Aug. 29, 2014)
The Supreme Court of Texas upheld sanctions imposed on a physician, holding that there was sufficient evidence for the lower court to require the physician to pay the hospital’s and college of medicine’s attorney’s fees because the physician brought frivolous, time-barred claims. The court, however, remanded the case to determine whether the behavior of the hospital and the College of Medicine caused their legal expenses to accrue. The court pointed out that the defendants waited four years to file a summary judgment motion after they became aware that the physician’s claims were frivolous and time-barred. During these four years, the physician filed six amended complaints to which the defendants were required to respond, inflating their attorney’s fees to $1.4 million.