THE JURY CHARGE

1. Court’s Charge: General Principles
1. Questions to the Jury
2. Instructions
3. Preserving Error
4. Action by the Trial Court
5. Objections to the Charge
6. Request And/Or Object
7. Practical Considerations
2. Retrenchment(?) In Broad-Form Submission
1. Crown Life Ins. Co. v. Casteel, 22 S.W.3d 378 (Tex. 2000)
2. Harris County v. Smith, 96 S.W.3d 230, 234 (Tex. 2002)
3. Golden Eagle Archery, Inc. v. Jackson, 116 S.W.3d 757 (Tex. 2003)
4. Courts of Appeal
5. Lessons
1. Liability Questions
2. Causation
3. Damages
4. Instructions
3. Possible Impact on Construction Law Cases
1. Multiple Actions Constituting the Breach
1. Pre Casteel
2. Post Casteel - Instruction Plus Blanks
2. Unique Construction Law Problems
1. Construction Acceleration
2. Delay or Disruption
3. Plaintiff and Defendant Each Allegedly Breached
4. Affirmative Defenses
5. Damages
1. Separate Submission
2. Pre Harris County v. Smith
3. Questions to Consider

This paper is designed to provide the construction law practitioner with broad, generalprinciples relating to the concepts concerning the jury charge, the goals of a proper jury charge, themethods of submission to the court of proposed questions, instructions and definitions, recentdevelopments in the Texas Supreme Court concerning broad-form submission to the jury, and theimpact of the general principles and recent developments on the jury charge for causes of action thatare typical in construction law cases.

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