Arthur Bouier v. Jeff 1, LLC

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals

San Antonio, Texas

May 13, 2021

No. 04-21-00145-CV

Arthur BOUIER,

Appellant

v.

JEFF 1, LLC,

Appellee

From the 408th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2020-CI-00448 Honorable Laura Salinas, Judge Presiding

ORDER

Appellant filed his brief on May 7, 2021, but Appellant’s brief does not comply with Rule 38.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.1. Specifically, the brief has the following defects:

• the Statement of the Case is just over two pages long, discusses the facts, and includes arguments, contra id. R. 38.1(d);

• the Statement of Facts refers to numerous documents, but it has only one citation to the clerk’s record, and it refers to several documents or authorities that appear to be outside the appellate record, contra id. R. 38.1(g); Greystar, LLC v. Adams, 426 S.W.3d 861, 865 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2014, no pet.) (“[A]n appellate court may not consider matters outside the record . . . .”);

• the Argument section contains no citations to the record, contra id. R. 38.1(i); • there is no Appendix, contra id. R. 38.1(k); and • the Certificate of Compliance omits the required word count, contra id. R. 9.4(i)(3). This court may order a party to amend, supplement, or redraw a brief if it flagrantly violates Rule 38. See id. R. 38.9(a). We conclude that the defects described above constitute flagrant violations of Rule 38.

Therefore, we STRIKE Appellant’s brief and ORDER Appellant to file an amended brief within TEN DAYS of the date of this order. The amended brief must correct all the violations listed above and fully comply with the applicable rules. See, e.g., id. R. 9.4, 9.5, 38.1. If the amended brief does not comply with this order, we “may strike the brief, prohibit [Appellant] from filing another, and proceed as if [Appellant] had failed to file a brief.” See id. R. 38.9(a); see also id. R. 38.8(a) (authorizing this court to dismiss an appeal if an appellant fails to timely file a brief).

If Appellant timely files a brief that complies with this order, Appellee’s brief will be due thirty days after Appellant’s brief is filed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.6(b).

_________________________________

Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 13th day of May, 2021.

___________________________________

MICHAEL A. CRUZ, Clerk of Court