Covid Orders Can’t Be Used to Delay Deadlines in Texas Lawsuit

A Covid-19 emergency order in Texas can’t be used to extend a deadline to file a civil lawsuit, a state appeals court decided Tuesday, tossing medical liability claims against a university health center.

The pandemic-era order from the Texas Supreme Court allowed state courts to modify or suspend deadlines in existing cases but not to create jurisdiction to extend the statute of limitations, the Eighth District Court of Appeals said.

The intermediary court said claims made against Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center can’t proceed, reversing a trial court.

The failure to timely file the lawsuit “is a jurisdictional defect ...