The Thirteenth District Court of Appeals ruled a South Texas county court-at-law judge erred in assigning an attorney as umpire in a property damages dispute between a homeowner and an insurer.

The appeals court for the Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley region, in a response to a petition for writ of mandamus from State Farm Lloyds, instructed the trial court to vacate its appointment of the attorney tasked with representing the homeowner.