Justice GUZMAN delivered the opinion of the Court.
In this appeal from an oil and gas billing dispute, we determine the accrual date for postjudgment interest when a remand for further proceedings requires new evidence. To resolve this question, we assess the Texas Finance Code, our rules of procedure, and our precedent. The Finance Code provides that postjudgment interest accrues from a money judgment's date. But importantly, remanded cases such as
Here, the court of appeals remanded the case to the trial court so that it could assess the prejudgment interest based upon when the defendant received certain billings from the plaintiff. The trial court determined that such evidence was not in the record and that the record had to be reopened. Rather than obtain the additional evidence, the claimant instead waived its claim for prejudgment interest. The trial court then awarded postjudgment interest from the date of its original, erroneous judgment, and the court of appeals affirmed. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's determination that new evidence was needed. But because the remand necessitated reopening the record for additional evidence, the Finance Code and our rules of procedure require that postjudgment interest accrue from the final judgment date rather than the original, erroneous judgment. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals' judgment and remand for the trial court to enter judgment in accordance with this opinion.
Castle Texas Production Limited Partnership (Castle) operates gas wells in which the Lawrence Allan Long Trust, the Charles Edward Long Trust, the Larry Thomas Long Trust, and the John Stephen Long Trust (collectively "the Long Trusts"
On remand, Castle made various motions beginning in March 2005, arguing that no new evidence was required for the trial court to recalculate prejudgment interest. When the trial court disagreed
This appeal requires us to determine the date from which postjudgment interest begins to accrue when a remand requires further evidentiary proceedings. Prejudgment interest and postjudgment interest both compensate a judgment creditor for her lost use of the money due her as damages. Phillips v. Bramlett, 407 S.W.3d 229, 238 (Tex.2013). Prejudgment interest accrues from the earlier of: (1) 180 days after the date a defendant receives written notice of a claim, or (2) the date suit is filed, and until the day before the judgment. TEX. FIN.CODE § 304.104; Johnson & Higgins of Tex., Inc. v. Kenneco Energy, Inc., 962 S.W.2d 507, 531 (Tex. 1998). Postjudgment interest accrues from the judgment date through the date the judgment is satisfied. Bramlett, 407 S.W.3d at 238. We have not previously addressed the accrual date for postjudgment interest if a trial court determines it must reopen the record for new evidence on remand and thus renders multiple judgments during the course of the suit.
A claimant would prefer postjudgment interest to accrue from the date of the original, erroneous judgment for several reasons. First, postjudgment interest accrues on prejudgment interest
To determine when postjudgment interest begins to accrue, we must interpret relevant statutes and our rules of procedure, which are issues we review de novo. Morris v. Aguilar, 369 S.W.3d 168, 171 n. 4 (Tex.2012). Under the Texas Finance Code, "postjudgment interest on a money judgment of a court in this state accrues during the period beginning on the date the judgment is rendered and ending on the date the judgment is satisfied." TEX. FIN.CODE § 304.005(a). The Finance Code defines a money judgment as "a judgment for money" which "includes legal interest or contract interest, if any, that is payable to a judgment creditor under a judgment."
We assess a judgment's finality differently, depending upon the context. For example, the finality test for the purpose of appeal differs from the finality test for when a court's power to alter a judgment ends or when the judgment becomes final for the purpose of claim and issue preclusion. Street v. Honorable Second Court of Appeals, 756 S.W.2d 299, 301 (Tex.1988) (orig.proceeding); see also Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex.2001). As explained below, finality for the purpose of appeal bears the closest resemblance to finality for the purpose of accruing postjudgment interest. A judgment is final for the purpose of appeal "if it disposes of all pending parties and claims in the record, except as necessary to carry out the decree."
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 43.3 establishes a limited exception to the general rule that postjudgment interest accrues from the final judgment date. Rule 43.3 provides that, "[w]hen reversing a trial court's judgment, the court must render the judgment that the trial court should have rendered, except when (a) a remand is necessary for further proceedings; or (b) the interests of justice require a remand for another trial." TEX. R.APP. P. 43.3. Though our precedents on postjudgment interest have involved this exception rather than the general postjudgment-interest accrual rule, such precedents nonetheless offer guidance about the rule's purpose and contours.
We first interpreted the predecessor to Rule of Appellate Procedure 43.3 more than a half century ago. In D.C. Hall Transport, Inc. v. Hard, the jury rendered a verdict for the plaintiff, but the trial court granted the defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. 355 S.W.2d 257, 258 (Tex.Civ.App.-Fort Worth) writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 163 Tex. 504, 358 S.W.2d 117 (1962). Neither the jury nor the trial court, however, had made a finding concerning the disputed scope of a contract. Id. Because the existing record created a fact issue concerning the scope of the contract, we remanded for the trial court to make the omitted finding. Id. The trial court resolved the fact issue on remand without taking new evidence and entered a new final judgment that awarded interest from the date of the original, erroneous judgment. Id. The court of appeals affirmed the award of postjudgment interest from the date of the original judgment, reasoning that, "[i]n effect, the [remand] judgment was the judgment which should have been rendered ... when the non obstante judgment was rendered." Id. at 260. We approved that decision.
We likewise applied the American Paper exception in Thornal v. Cargill, Inc., 587 S.W.2d 384 (Tex.1975). There, the court of appeals affirmed a judgment in part and reversed and rendered the remainder of the judgment. Id. at 384. But the court of appeals' judgment failed to award postjudgment interest, and we reformed the judgment to award postjudgment interest from the date of the trial court's erroneous judgment. Id. at 385.
Most recently, in Bramlett, we summarized American Paper and Thornal as holding that "when an appellate court reverses a trial court's judgment and renders judgment on appeal, postjudgment interest begins to run from the date of the trial court's judgment, not the later date of the appellate court's judgment." 407 S.W.3d at 239. But we viewed the Bramlett fact pattern as akin to that in D.C. Hall where, instead of rendering the judgment the trial court should have rendered, we remanded and the trial court made further determinations on the existing record. Id. at 240. As in D.C. Hall, we held that postjudgment interest accrues from the date of the original trial court judgment if the appellate court remands for entry of judgment consistent with its opinion and the trial court is not required to admit new or additional evidence to enter that judgment. Id. at 239. After discussing the court of appeals' opinion at issue here, we specifically left open the question of the date from which postjudgment interest accrues if there is a retrial or new evidence is required on remand. Id. at 242-43.
Thus, the general rule is that postjudgment interest accrues from the date of the judgment, which is the final judgment in a case where the trial court issues multiple judgments. TEX. FIN.CODE § 304.005(a); TEX.R. CIV. P. 301. The exception is when the appellate court renders (or could have rendered) judgment, in which case postjudgment interest accrues from the date of trial court's original, erroneous judgment. TEX.R.APP. P. 43.3. But when an appeal instead results in a retrial or a remand for further proceedings where new evidence is required, postjudgment interest will accrue from the trial court's subsequent judgment.
The purpose behind the long-standing exception under Rule of Appellate Procedure 43.3 confirms the general rule that postjudgment interest should accrue from
We cannot agree with Castle that postjudgment interest should always accrue from the date of the trial court's first judgment. Such an interpretation renders meaningless the Finance Code provisions and Rule of Civil Procedure 301, which require postjudgment interest to accrue from the final judgment date. Similarly, if postjudgment interest always accrues from the date of the original, erroneous trial court judgment, our precedents construing the rules of appellate procedure would have had no need to address whether the appellate court could or did render the judgment the trial court should have rendered. We must interpret statutes and rules of procedure to give them effect, and thus we decline to adopt Castle's blanket rule that postjudgment interest accrues from the date of the original, erroneous trial court judgment in every proceeding. See City of Waco v. Lopez, 259 S.W.3d 147, 153 (Tex.2008) ("[C]ourts are to avoid interpreting a statute in such a way that renders provisions meaningless.").
Having determined the parameters of the postjudgment-interest accrual rule and its exception, the parties here raise two related procedural questions: (1) which court decides whether the record must be reopened on remand, and (2) at what point should that decision be based? As a practical matter, the trial court should determine whether the record must be reopened on remand. While Rule of Appellate Procedure 43.3 requires a court of appeals to render the judgment the trial court should have rendered, the limited nature of appellate records can make this task impossible. Such was the case in Bramlett where we remanded for the trial court to enter judgment consistent with our opinion, and the trial court did not reopen the record in order to enter judgment. 407 S.W.3d at 233. Thus, the trial court should determine whether it must reopen the record on remand.
Taken together, the Finance Code, our rules of procedure, and our precedent from D.C. Hall to Bramlett require the conclusion that postjudgment interest accrues from the date of the final judgment (rather than the original, erroneous judgment) unless the appellate court can or does render the judgment the trial court should have rendered. As the parties discussed at oral argument, however, our precedent and rules of procedure offer some methods through which courts and parties may affect postjudgment interest with severance, offers of proof, and bills of exception.
Under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 41, a court may sever and proceed separately with a claim against a party and may sever different grounds of recovery before submission to the trier of fact.
Before the court of appeals' decision at issue here, only two court of appeals' opinions had substantively addressed the accrual date for postjudgment interest if the trial court must reopen the record on remand. Both courts of appeals held that postjudgment interest accrues from the date of the original, erroneous trial court judgment. The court of appeals here had previously addressed the issue in State Department of Highways and Public Transportation v. City of Timpson, 795 S.W.2d 24 (Tex.App.-Tyler 1990, writ denied). In Timpson, the trial court erroneously failed to submit a jury question regarding a settling defendant's negligence, and the court of appeals remanded for a retrial only on the comparative negligence of the two defendants. Id. at 25. On retrial, the trial court awarded postjudgment interest from the date of the subsequent judgment. Id. at 27. The court of appeals reversed, and — without discussion — stated that "[i]nterest on the revised judgment should run from the date of the original or erroneous judgment." Id. As support, the court cited D.C. Hall and Copper Liquor v. Adolph Coors Co., 701 F.2d 542 (5th Cir.1985). But as addressed previously, D.C. Hall involved a remand where the trial court took no new evidence, and thus fell under the exception in the Rules of Appellate Procedure applicable to cases in which the court of appeals can or does render the judgment the trial court should have rendered. Bramlett, 407 S.W.3d at 240. D.C. Hall does not support the conclusion in Timpson.
Likewise, Timpson relied upon Copper Liquor, as support for the conclusion that postjudgment interest accrues from the date of the original, erroneous trial court judgment. 795 S.W.2d at 27. Federal cases such as Copper Liquor are necessarily predicated on federal rules of procedure and are of limited value.
The other court of appeals to have addressed the question before us was Gamma Group v. Transatlantic Reinsurance Co., 365 S.W.3d 469 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2012, no pet.). In Gamma Group, the court of appeals first held that the trial court erroneously awarded reasonable losses of $1.3 million rather than incurred losses and ordered a retrial on the limited issue of damages. Id. at 471. After taking new evidence, the trial court awarded more than $2.7 million in incurred-loss damages, with postjudgment interest accruing from the date of its original, erroneous judgment. Id. at 471, 475. The court of appeals affirmed that holding, citing to the court of appeals opinion at issue here and Timpson. Id. at 476. But as explained previously, these opinions do not properly give effect to the Finance Code and our rules of procedure, under which postjudgment interest accrues from the final judgment date unless the appellate court can or does render the judgment the trial court should have rendered. To the extent Timpson and Gamma Group conflict with this opinion, we overrule them.
Other jurisdictions often rely on their particular statutes, rules, and interpreting caselaw, so their relevance here is particularly weak. Nonetheless, we note that California appears to follow this general approach. See Stockton Theatres, Inc. v. Palermo, 55 Cal.2d 439, 11 Cal.Rptr. 580, 360 P.2d 76, 78 (1961) ("When a judgment is modified upon appeal, whether upward or downward, the new sum draws interest from the date of entry of the original order, not from the date of the new judgment. On the other hand, when a judgment is reversed on appeal the new award subsequently entered by the trial court can bear interest only from the date of entry of such new judgment." (citations omitted)).
Having construed the Finance Code and our rules of procedure to require postjudgment interest to accrue from the final judgment date unless the appellate court can or does render the judgment the trial court should have rendered, we turn to the facts of the case at hand. Castle counterclaimed against the Long Trusts for breach of the parties' joint operating agreement by failing to pay their share of joint interest billings. The joint operating agreement provided for interest to accrue on joint interest billings not paid within fifteen days of their receipt. 134 S.W.3d at 288. In its 2001 judgment, the trial court failed to specify its calculation for $73,998.90 of prejudgment interest it awarded Castle. The court of appeals reversed and remanded, holding prejudgment interest should have been calculated pursuant to the joint operating agreement. Id. at 288. On remand, the trial court concluded multiple times that it required evidence indicating when the Long Trusts received the joint interest billings to adjudicate prejudgment interest under the joint operating agreement. Castle sought writs of mandamus and prohibition regarding one such ruling, which the court of appeals denied after concluding "there are issues before the trial court requiring factual determinations." In re Castle Tex. Prod. Ltd. P'ship, 189 S.W.3d 400, 405 (Tex.App.-Tyler 2006, orig. proceeding). Castle eventually waived its prejudgment interest claim, and on that same day in 2009, the trial court entered a final judgment that awarded Castle postjudgment interest from the 2001 judgment.
As explained above, postjudgment interest accrues from the final judgment date unless the appellate court can or does render the judgment the trial court should have rendered. And the determination of whether the record must be reopened on remand is one for the trial court in the first instance to be made based upon the time of remand. Here, the trial court determined new evidence was required at the time of remand — a decision the court of appeals did not overturn. In re Castle, 189 S.W.3d at 405 ("[T]here are issues before the trial court requiring factual determinations."). We review the trial court's decision to admit new evidence for an abuse of discretion. Serv. Corp. Int'l v. Guerra, 348 S.W.3d 221, 235 (Tex.2011).
Castle argues that new evidence was not needed because (1) the record included evidence of when the Long Trusts received joint interest billings, and (2) even without such evidence, the trial court had a duty to rule that Castle failed to carry its burden of proving prejudgment interest on the existing record. The Long Trusts argue that, although evidence existed that Castle was entitled to prejudgment interest, the remand required reopening the record for evidence of when the Long Trusts received the billings. We agree with the Long Trusts and hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that it needed additional evidence.
Castle claimed in the trial court that the existing record could substantiate when the Long Trusts received certain joint interest billings because the record included a letter from Castle to the Long Trusts that purportedly enclosed joint interest billings. But the letter Castle filed with the trial court failed to include the allegedly enclosed joint interest billings, and Castle does not argue that any other evidence in the record establishes when the Long Trusts received the billings. Thus, we cannot agree with Castle that the existing
Neither do we agree with Castle that the trial court had a duty to deny it recovery of prejudgment interest on the existing record. Castle relies on Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 270, which provides that a court may permit additional evidence to be offered at any time when it clearly appears necessary to the due administration of justice, except that "in a jury case no evidence on a controversial matter shall be received after the verdict of the jury." TEX.R. CIV. P. 270. But, Rule 270 is not designed to prohibit the trial court from reopening the record when a court of appeals reverses and remands for further proceedings. The ability to remand a portion of a claim is instead governed by Rule of Appellate Procedure 44.1, and Castle has not challenged the court of appeals' decision to remand only the issue of prejudgment interest rather than the entirety of its claim. TEX.R.APP. P. 44.1(b). Moreover, the record in 2001 included some evidence that Castle was entitled to prejudgment interest because the Long Trusts had not paid certain amounts owed on joint interest billings by the date of the original judgment. But this was not evidence as to the specific amount of prejudgment interest the Long Trusts owed under the joint operating agreement. Because evidence existed that the Long Trusts owed prejudgment interest, the court of appeals remanded for a recalculation. See Glover v. Tex. Gen. Indem. Co., 619 S.W.2d 400, 402 (Tex. 1981) (providing that the court of appeals must ordinarily remand for a new trial when, despite some evidence, the evidence is factually insufficient); see also City of Laredo v. Montano, 414 S.W.3d 731, 737 (Tex.2013) (remanding for recalculation of attorney's fees when evidence of work performed existed but was insufficient to support the amount awarded in the judgment). And Castle does not argue here that the court of appeals was required to render judgment that Castle take nothing on its prejudgment interest issue rather than remanding it. Accordingly, we disagree with Castle that the trial court had a duty to deny its claim for prejudgment interest based upon the existing record, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that new evidence was required to properly calculate prejudgment interest.
Neither waiver nor severance affect our conclusion. After the trial court required additional evidence on Castle's prejudgment interest claim, Castle waived the claim. But this waiver of prejudgment interest does not affect the date on which postjudgment interest accrues. Because the trial court did not possess a sufficient record on which to render a correct judgment on its claims in 2001, Castle is not entitled to postjudgment interest from the 2001 judgment. In 2009, Castle amended its pleadings to, for the first time, yield a sufficient record for the trial court to render a correct judgment. Castle is therefore entitled to postjudgment interest from the 2009 judgment.
Finally, the issue of severance does not affect our analysis. The court of appeals did not sever the portion of Castle's claim it affirmed from the portion it remanded — as we did in Danziger. The court of appeals was familiar with severance, a procedure it implemented in severing the Long Trusts' claim from Castle's counterclaim in the first appeal. 134 S.W.3d at 288-89. And Castle does not claim here that the court of appeals erred by not severing the prejudgment interest issue from the remainder
In sum, under the Finance Code and our rules of procedure, postjudgment interest accrues from the final judgment date unless the appellate court can or does render the judgment the trial court should have rendered. If the trial court determines that it must reopen the record on remand based upon the record and pleadings as they existed at the time of the remand, postjudgment interest will accrue from the subsequent judgment. But if the court of appeals can or does render the judgment the trial court should have rendered, postjudgment interest accrues from the original, erroneous trial court judgment.
Here, the court of appeals remanded for the trial court to assess prejudgment interest based upon the date the Long Trusts received joint interest billings. The trial court determined it required additional evidence to decide that issue. Because there was insufficient evidence in the record establishing when the Long Trusts received the billings and because the trial court had no duty to deny Castle's request for prejudgment interest on the existing record, we find no basis to conclude that the trial court's ruling to reopen the record was an abuse of discretion. Accordingly, postjudgment interest must accrue from the trial court's final judgment in 2009. We reverse the court of appeals' judgment and remand for the trial court to render judgment for Castle, with postjudgment interest to accrue in accordance with this opinion.
TEX.R. CIV. P. 320.
TEX.R.APP. P. 44.1(b).
FED. R.APP. P. 37.