§ 151.012.New Trial

The remedy for a verdict that never comes.

The trigger is a missed deadline. The special judge did not submit the verdict, or any applicable written opinion, within the time Section 151.011 provides.

Three conditions must be met. A party files a motion requesting a new trial, notice of the hearing time and place goes to all parties, and the hearing is held.

The relief is discretionary. The court may grant the new trial, so a short delay does not undo the proceeding automatically.

The motion must come from a party. The court does not act on its own under this section.

A new trial means starting over, which is a heavy consequence — and that is what gives the deadline in Section 151.011 its force.

The section is short because the situation is narrow. The parties chose their judge and paid the fee; the statute supplies an exit if that judge does not deliver.

The parties are not left waiting indefinitely. A verdict that never arrives leaves the case stayed in the referring court, and this section is the way out.

Notice and hearing are required even where the delay is obvious. The section lists all three conditions, and a court granting a new trial has to satisfy each.