Dominant-Jurisdiction Principle Law and Legal Definition
Dominant jurisdiction principle is a rule of common law that the court in which suit is first filed acquires dominant jurisdiction to the exclusion of other coordinate courts. Any subsequent suit involving the same parties and the same controversy must be dismissed if a party to that suit calls the second court's attention to the pendency of the prior suit by a plea in abatement. If the second court refuses to sustain a proper plea in abatement, or attempts to interfere with the prior action, the first court has the power to act by mandamus or other appropriate writ to settle the conflict of jurisdictions.[ Curtis v. Gibbs, 511 S.W.2d 263, 267 (Tex. 1974)]
