On October 31, 2024, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals heard argument in Cause Nos. 15-24-00087-CV, In re Google, LLC (Midland County/Eleventh Court of Appeals) and 15-24-00090-CV, In re Google, LLC (Victoria County/Thirteenth Court of Appeals) addressing the question of whether the trial courts' denials of Google’s request to depose the State of Texas and the Office of the Attorney General was an abuse of discretion.
The majority, authored by Justice Field, granted Google's requested relief in part and denied it in part. The majority held that Google is entitled to depose the State of Texas (allowing for the trial courts to decide the scope and parameters of those depositions) but, as requested in the Midland County case, Google is not entitled to depose the Office of the Attorney General.
Chief Justice Brister dissented on the basis that Google "has other adequate legal remedies without this unprecedented deposition" of the State of Texas.
The opinion and dissent are found here: