I’m certainly no expert in Texas Civil Procedure, and I have no idea what the state court civil docket is like in Houston. But the defendant has not even filed an answer in any of the cases yet, and I don’t expect that for a while, as there will likely be procedural jockeying for position at the start. Once the complaint is answered, the parties engage in discovery, including depositions. In this situation, I would expect that to be very extensive. Somewhere in there, the court will hold a conference, out of which comes the schedule for disposition of the case, including trial. 3 yrs. from filing to trial would not surprise me in the least.
And the number is now 21.