National Collegiate Student Loan Trust v. Texas Student Borrower: Brief in Support of Defendant's Appeal from a Default Judgment

Abstract

Under TRAP 11, a friend-of-the-court brief submitted to a Texas appellate court does not require prior consent of the parties, or leave of court, but it must be in the form of a party’s brief. See Tex. R. App. P. 11 (a) (stating that an amicus curiae brief must comply with the briefing rules for parties). Although compliance with this rule in the Courts of Appeal and in the Texas Supreme Court is shoddy (many amici submit letters), the instant brief endeavors to live up to this format rule to the fullest extent possible. The only missing ingredient are the page references to the Clerk’s Record (CR __), which were not available because the author did not have access to the appellate record prepared and paginated by the Harris County Clerk. The author instead relied on the trial court documents available online from the county clerk’s website, some of which are attached to the appellate brief in the book-marked appendix. The former student - now judgment debtor - proceeds pro se and in forma pauperis. He filed an answer in the court below, but did not participate in the trial, which resulted in the entry of a post-answer default judgment for the Trust. The student loan defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.The court of appeals struck his first attempt at a self-authored brief as non-compliant with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure (TRAPs), and set a deadline for an amended brief. The author of the amicus brief is a political scientist. The subject matter of the appellate case, and the evidentiary and legal issues addressed in the amicus brief, are part and parcel of one of the author’s current research interests: Litigation stemming from origination and securitization of private educational loans under the National Collegiate Student Loan Trust moniker, with a focus on cases in Texas trial and appellate courts. Also see the following related papers: Hirczy de Mino, Wolfgang, Private Student Loan Origination in Hindsight: What the Litigation Paper Trail (in PDF) and SEC Filings Can Tell Us About the National Collegiate Student Loan Trust Debacle (April 24, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3168268 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3168268 Hirczy de Mino, Wolfgang, Houston vs. Indiana in the National Collegiate Trust Liquidation End Game: H-Town Panel of Judges Gives Thumbs-Up to Affidavit of Debt Collector Transworld Systems, Inc. Rejected by Indiana Court of Appeals in Holmes v. National Collegiate as Incompetent. (May 16, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3179746 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3179746