IIRC, you are right.
Had the Appeal not gone their way, do you think the Writ would have ‘held water’?
It was a well thought out pleading. On it’s face it had merit. The big problem the lawyers faced was trying to get a court to undo something another court of equal standing had already done. Usually, once a district court has properly assumed jurisdiction over a controversy, another district court will defer and not enter into a jurisdictional competition with the first court.