§ 61.003.Pending Suit Required

One sentence fixing when the remedy is available.

A writ of attachment may be issued in a proper case at the initiation of a suit or at any time during the progress of a suit, but may not be issued before a suit has been instituted.

Attachment is ancillary, not independent. It is a remedy attached to a lawsuit rather than a proceeding of its own, and there must be a suit for it to attach to.

"At the initiation of a suit" means the two can be simultaneous. A plaintiff files the petition and applies for the writ together, which is the usual course — the grounds for attachment describe a defendant who is about to act, and waiting defeats the purpose.

"At any time during the progress of a suit" keeps it available later. A defendant who begins moving assets once the case is under way can be attached then.

The prohibition is what matters. No writ before suit, which forecloses using attachment as a pre-litigation freeze while a claim is investigated or negotiated.

The requirement does real protective work. Filing a suit commits the plaintiff to a pleading, exposes them to the ordinary consequences of losing, and gives the defendant a proceeding in which to challenge the writ.

It also fixes what the writ secures. Attachment secures the claim made in the suit, so the pleading defines the demand the affidavit must state.

"In a proper case" carries the rest of the chapter with it — the general grounds, a specific ground, the affidavit and the bond all remain required whenever the writ issues.