In Re Union Carbide Corp.

In this case, family members who survived John Hall intervened in a pending personal injury suit filed by Kenneth Mof-fett. Union Carbide, a defendant in both the pending suit and the intervention, filed a motion to strike the intervention. Instead of ruling on that motion, the trial court severed the Halls’ claims into a new suit that then remained pending in the same court. We conclude that (1) the trial court abused its discretion by failing to rule on Union Carbide’s motion to strike before considering whether to sever the intervention; (2) the trial court only had discretion to grant the…