A Texas family law attorney—whose misfortunes led to a new state Supreme Court rule on tolling the statute of limitations in malpractice suits, only to have the case dismissed as abandoned—got a favorable ruling at the Fourth Court of Appeals.

A San Antonio appellate court panel found that even though Patricia Skelton was unable to meet a trial court-imposed deadline to be ready for jury trial, the court should have recognized its orders were unreasonable given the ongoing activity between the parties and hurdles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.