Porter Hedges Successfully Defends Harris County in $52 Million Construction Lawsuit

Porter Hedges successfully obtained a reversal of an order denying a plea to the jurisdiction filed on behalf of Harris County. The case arises from a lawsuit Pulice Construction, Inc. (“Pulice”) initiated against Harris County related to two construction contracts for work in connection with the Sam Houston Tollway. During the work, Pulice submitted $52 million in change order requests that were rejected. Pulice then sued Harris County in District Court. The County alleged it retained governmental immunity against Pulice’s claims. Harris County filed a plea to the jurisdiction on immunity grounds and the trial court denied the motion.

The Fourteenth Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment in an opinion issued on September 5, 2024, and rendered judgment for Harris County. The court concluded that claims for quantum meruit are equitable claims, and the Texas Legislature has not created a waiver of immunity. It then determined that the County also retained its governmental immunity against Pulice’s claims for delays that were not caused by the County.

The court further found that Pulice’s damage claims for lost profits and loss of use of funds were consequential in nature and precluded under Section 262.007(c)(1) of the Texas Government Code. Additionally, the court determined that Pulice had no viable breach of contract claim because the engineer rejected Pulice’s claims and the parties delegated authority to the engineer to determine the claims. Finally, the court determined that Pulice waived its right to claims relating to a wall panel design because of prior executed change orders on the same issue.

The case is Harris County, Texas v. Public Construction, Inc. No 14-23-00818-CV (opinion).

For additional details, see the Texas Lawbook report here.