Supreme Court

Pohl v. Cheatham

• Case number: 23-0045
• Legal category: Attorneys
• Subtype: Barratry
• Set for oral argument: October 2, 2024

Case Summary

This case raises questions about the extraterritorial reach of Texas’s civil barratry statute and whether barratry claims are subject to a two- or four-year statute of limitations.

Mark Cheatham, a Louisiana plaintiff, hired Texas attorneys, Michael Pohl and Robert Ammons, to represent him in a wrongful-death suit. Cheatham later asserted civil barratry claims against Pohl and Ammons in Texas, alleging that the attorneys paid a sham financing company run by Pohl’s wife, Donalda, to offer him money for funeral expenses as an incentive to hire Pohl and Ammons.

Pohl and Ammons filed motions for partial summary judgment, asserting that Cheatham’s claims were barred by a two-year statute of limitations. The trial court denied the motions, concluding that a four-year statute of limitations applied. Pohl, Ammons, and Donalda filed subsequent motions for summary judgment, asserting that the barratry statute has no extraterritorial reach to conduct that occurred out of state. The trial court granted the motions. The court of appeals reversed and remanded, reasoning that the attorneys’ conduct occurred in Texas, but even if it had not, the statute can permissibly be extended to out-of-state conduct.

Pohl, Donalda, and Ammons petitioned for review, arguing that the court of appeals impermissibly extended the reach of the barratry statute and maintaining that such claims are subject to a two-year statute of limitations. The Supreme Court granted their petitions for review.

Case summaries are created by the Court's staff attorneys and law clerks and do not constitute the Court’s official descriptions or statements. Readers are encouraged to review the Court’s official opinions for specifics regarding each case. Links to the full case documents are included above.