§ 74.053.Pleadings Not to State Damage Amount; Special Exception; Exclusion from Section

A pleading rule aimed at the headline number.

Pleadings in a suit based on a health care liability claim shall not specify an amount of money claimed as damages.

The reason is that a petition is a public document. A demand for a large sum is reportable, and the figure attaches to the defendant's name long before anyone assesses whether the claim has merit.

Subsection two supplies the necessary exception. A court's jurisdiction depends on the amount in controversy, so the defendant may file a special exception on the ground the suit is not within the court's jurisdiction, at which point the plaintiff shall inform the court and defendant in writing of the total dollar amount claimed.

The figure is disclosed in a writing to the court and the defendant rather than pleaded into the public petition.

The last sentence keeps the rule narrow. The section does not prevent a party from mentioning the total dollar amount claimed in examining prospective jurors on voir dire or in argument to the court or jury. The number may be used freely in the courtroom; what it may not do is appear in the pleadings.