Agilex Supply Chain, LLC v. Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations, LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: July 18, 2019
• Docket: 14-18-01112-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Motion Granted and Order filed July 18, 2019

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-18-01112-CV ____________

AGILEX SUPPLY CHAIN, LLC, Appellant

V.

BAKER HUGHES OILFIELD OPERATIONS, LLC, Appellee

On Appeal from the 11th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2018-66289

ORDER

This is an accelerated appeal from the denial of a motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(12). All proceedings in the trial court were automatically stayed when the appeal was perfected. See id. § 51.014(b). Appellee has filed an unopposed motion to lift the stay for the limited purpose of allowing appellee to nonsuit two parties1 in the court below (not parties on appeal) with whom appellee has settled.

A court of appeals may not lift the stay under section 51.014(b) when one party opposes such action. See In re Geomet Recycling LLC, No. 18-0443, __ S.W.3d __, 2019 WL 2482125, at *2, *6 (Tex. June 14, 2019) (orig. proceeding). However, the court of appeals may lift the stay if the parties so agree. Id. at *2 n.1 (“Although the stay is mandatory, like most other legal rights its application may be waived by agreement of the parties.”).

Accordingly, we grant appellee’s motion. The stay imposed by section 51.014(b) is lifted for the limited purpose of allowing appellee to nonsuit the settling parties.

PER CURIAM

1 Kemlon Products & Development Group, Inc. and US Synthetic Corporation.