Texas Forms, Pleading & Practice: Using Texas Forms, Pleading & Practice

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TFPP is updated annually with pocket parts and supplement volumes.

Here’s a hypothetical example of how to use TFPP.

You are a new associate at a local law firm. This morning, one of the partners assigned a new case to you. The facts of the case are as follows: Jam Fredrickson is a collector of baseball cards. Rich Smith is an expert in the procurement of rare items, no matter the legality of acquiring them. Jam tells Rich that if he can acquire five, mint condition 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings cards that he will pay him $1 billion dollars. In order to ensure that Rich does not take the money and run away to Aruba, Jam wants to put the money in escrow with an agent until Rich produces the cards. Rich tells Jam that he knows just the man for the job—Yuri, a former associate of Rich’s. You need more information on what escrow is, how to establish and escrow account, and what rules govern the agent.

1. First, using the index, locate the chapter containing information on Escrow. It is located in Volume 6A, chapter 109.
2. Now that you have the correct chapter, it is important to look at the chapter outline and see which sections will be the most helpful. The outline tells you that there are several forms related to escrow as well as a pleading guide.
3. Let’s start by getting a quick overview of what escrow is. To do this, you would look at the Introductory Comments §109:1. Escrow is “the deposit of a written instrument or thing of value with a third person, the escrow agent, with clear and definite instructions to deliver it to another party when a stated condition is performed or a specified event occurs.” TFPP §109:1.
4. Now that you know what escrow is, you want to find out what requirements there are for an escrow account and/or agent. §109:2 gives these requirements. This section tells you that the agreement must be clear and definite but does not have to be in writing. The agreement must also be irrevocable. You aren’t sure where these requirements came from, so you’d like some background information. The footnote references tell you that Johnson v. Freytag and Cutbirth v. Snowden defined these requirements for an escrow agreement. You can read these two cases if you need further information.
5. Being the highly prepared associate that you are, and knowing of Rich and Yuri’s shady past, you want to be prepared in the event that he attempts to trick Jam and make off with the money. Is there a form that would assist you in this situation? Look at §109:5. This form is a plaintiff’s petition for relief based on the unauthorized delivery of funds by an agent. If Rich and Yuri are in cahoots, this could come in handy. §109:14 might also be useful if Yuri decides to make a quick buck and run off to Aruba on his own.
6. All of this information seems to be right on track, but you are still uncertain that you’ve got enough details to be working with such shady characters and large sums of money. Are there any other form books that you could look at for assistance? Yes! American Jurisprudence Legal Forms Second Edition has a section on Escrow, as does Am. Jur. Pleading and Practice Forms.
7. Finally, if you wanted related information about topics similar to escrow, what are some keywords you could look for? Agency, Assignments, Brokers, Contracts, Deeds, and Secured Transactions would all be related topics for further research.