Each Prior Breach

Ramsey v. Sheet Pile LLC presents an interesting issue about the “prior material breach” doctrine under Texas law. In that case, the issue went nowhere because it had not been raised below and did not rise to the level of plain error. The specific question, though, is the extent to which “there is a bright-line legal rule that suing under a contract prohibits a plaintiff from relying on a defendant’s prior material breach to excuse his own breach” – a question that can become complicated if a contract dispute involves both monetary issues and nondisclosure-type obligations. No. 23-50911 (March 3, 2025).