ConocoPhillips Company v. Leon Oscar Ramirez, Jr., Individually, and Jesus M. Dominguez, as Guardian for Minerva Clementina Ramirez, an Incapacitated Person, Individually

Opinion

ACCEPTED

04-15-00487-CV

FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 12/17/2015 2:24:11 PM

KEITH HOTTLE

CLERK

No. 04-15-000487-CV

In the Court of Appeals FILED IN 4th COURT OF APPEALS

for the Fourth Judicial District of TexasSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS San Antonio, Texas 12/17/15 2:24:11 PM KEITH E. HOTTLE

Clerk

CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY,

Appellant,

V.

LEON OSCAR RAMIREZ JR., INDIVIDUALLY AND JESUS M. DOMINGUEZ, AS GUARDIAN OF THE ESTATE OF MINERVA CLEMENTINA RAMIREZ, AN INCAPACITATED PERSON,

Appellees.

From Cause No. 7,637

49th Judicial District Court, Zapata County, Texas Honorable Jose A. Lopez, Presiding Judge

CONOCOPHILLIPS’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLANT’S BRIEF Michael V. Powell Darrell L. Barger Texas Bar No. 16204400 Texas Bar No. 01733800 mpowell@lockelord.com dbarger@hdbdlaw.com Cynthia K. Timms HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP Texas Bar No. 11161450 800 N. Shoreline Boulevard ctimms@lockelord.com North Tower, Suite 2000 Amanda L. Cottrell Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 Texas Bar No. 24064972 Telephone: 361-866-8000 acottrell@lockelord.com Facsimile: 361-866-8039 LOCKE LORD LLP 2200 Ross Avenue, Suite 2800 Adolfo Campero Dallas, Texas 75201 Texas Bar No. 00793454 Telephone: 214-740-8000 acampero@camperotamez.com Facsimile: 214-740-8800 CAMPERO TAMEZ, PLLC 315 Calle Del Norte, Suite 207 Laredo, Texas 78041 Telephone: 956-796-0330 Facsimile: 956-796-0399

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellant ConocoPhillips Company (“ConocoPhillips”) moves for an

extension of time in which to file its Appellant’s brief in this matter.

ConocoPhillips requests an extension of 30 days to and including January 29, 2016

in which to file its Appellant’s brief. In support of this motion, ConocoPhillips

would show as follows:

1. This is an appeal from a final judgment. The record in this case was

filed on November 6, 2015. One of the Appellees, Leon Oscar Ramirez Jr., filed

for bankruptcy and this appeal was abated on November 13, 2015. Appellee Leon

Oscar Ramirez Jr. filed a motion to reinstate the appeal and the appeal was

reinstated on November 30, 2015. Appellants’ briefs are currently due on

December 30, 2015.

2. ConocoPhillips seeks an extension of time in which to file its

Appellant’s brief. In reviewing the record, counsel for both Appellant and

Appellees have identified items missing from the record. On November 20,

Appellees wrote the District Clerk of Zapata County listing items missing from the

record. That letter is attached as Exhibit A. ConocoPhillips filed a Request for

Preparation of Second Supplemental Clerk’s Record on December 2, 2015

detailing items it found were missing. That request is attached as Exhibit B. In

checking with the District Clerk of Zapata County, ConocoPhillips does not expect

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the supplemental record to be filed with this Court until after December 30, when

Appellant’s brief is due.

3. Counsel for ConocoPhillips also have other pending matters. Cynthia

Timms has a petition for review to be filed on January 6, 2016 in the Texas

Supreme Court in Samson Exploration v. T.S. Reed Properties, Cause No. 15-

0886. She also had to file a brief and evidentiary objections in a summary

judgment proceeding in Spice Resources v. Burlington Resources pending in

Montague County. The summary judgment hearing in that case was on December

14, 2015. Ms. Timms also has to respond to discovery in that case. Michael Powell

is preparing for a trial that starts in January in a multidistrict litigation pending in

the Northern District of Texas.

3. This is ConocoPhillips’ first request for an extension of time for filing

its Appellant’s brief.

4. ConocoPhillips has conferred with Lisa Hobbs, one of the counsel for

Appellees, regarding this motion for extension of time, and Ms. Hobbs has stated

this motion is unopposed.

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellant ConocoPhillips

Company requests the Court for an extension of time to and including January 29,

2016 in which to file its Appellant’s brief in the referenced action.

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Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Cynthia K. Timms Michael V. Powell Texas Bar No. 16204400 mpowell@lockelord.com Cynthia K. Timms Texas Bar No. 11161450 ctimms@lockelord.com Amanda L. Cottrell Texas Bar No. 24064972 acottrell@lockelord.com LOCKE LORD LLP 2200 Ross Avenue, Suite 2200 Dallas, Texas 75201 Telephone: 214-740-8000 Facsimile: 214-740-8800 Darrell L. Barger Texas Bar No. 01733800 dbarger@hdbdlaw.com HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 800 N. Shoreline Blvd., N. Twr., Ste. 2000 Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 Telephone: 361-866-8000 Facsimile: 361-866-8039

Adolfo Campero, Jr. Texas Bar No. 00793454 acampero@camperotamez.com CAMPERO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 315 Calle Del Norte, Suite 207 Laredo, Texas 78041 Telephone: 956-796-0330 Facsimile: 956-796-0399

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY

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CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE I hereby certify that on December 16, 2015, counsel for ConocoPhillips conferred with Lisa Hobbs, counsel for Appellees in this case, regarding this Motion. Ms Hobbs stated that Appellees do not oppose the extension of time requested in this motion.

/s/ Cynthia K. Timms Cynthia K. Timms

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on the 17th day of December 2015, a true and correct copy of this Motion for Extension of Time was served by eFileTexas and/or email on the other parties to this appeal through their counsel of record listed below:

J. Alberto Alarcon Jessie Castillo Hall, Quintanilla, & Alarcon, LLC CASTILLO SNYDER PC P.O. Box 207 300 Convent Street, Suite 1020 1302 Washington San Antonio Texas 78205 Laredo, Texas 78042-0207 Attorney for El Milagro Minerals, Ltd., Attorney for Appellees and Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and as Independent Executor of the Lisa Hobbs Estate of Ileana Ramirez, Deceased Kuhn Hobbs PLLC 3307 Northland Drive, Suite 310 Austin, Texas 78731 Attorney for Appellees John A. Kazen Kazen, Meurer & Pérez, L.L.P. 211 Calle del Norte, Suite 100 P.O. Box 6237 Laredo, Texas 78041-6237 Trial Attorneys for El Milagro Minerals, Ltd., and Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and as Independent Executor of the Estate of Ileana Ramirez, Deceased

/s/ Cynthia K. Timms Cynthia K. Timms

EXHIBIT A 7637 Filed 11/20/2015 4:07:04 PM Dora Castanon

District Clerk

Zapata County, Texas

LAW OFFICES OF

HALL, QUINTANILLA & ALARCON A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY P.O. BOX 207

LAREDO, TEXAS 78042

†H.C. HALL, III (1932-2012) PHYSICAL ADDRESS: GUSTAVO T. QUINTANILLA 1302 WASHINGTON STREET GUILLERMO G. ALARCON LAREDO, TEXAS 78040 ALBERTO ALARCON TELEPHONE: (956) 723-5527 FACSIMILIE: (956) 723-8168

November 20, 2015

Ms. Dora Martinez Castañón Via E-filing and Facsimile No. 956 765 9931 District Clerk, Zapata County, Texas 200 E. 7th Avenue, Suite 119 Zapata, Texas 78076

Re: Leon Oscar Ramirez, Jr. et al. v. ConocoPhillips Company, et al.-No. 7,637, Zapata County, Texas, 49th Judicial District Court

Dear Ms. Castañon:

Plaintiffs Leon Oscar Ramirez, Jr. and Minerva Clementina Ramirez have identified errors in the Clerk’s Record in the above-styled case that was previously filed with the Fourth Court of Appeals. Specifically, the following items requested by ConocoPhillips Company in its Request for Preparation of Clerk’s Record were not included in the Clerk’s Record:

Items 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 27, 30, 33, 38, 53, 68, 71, 74, and 103

As to Plaintiff’s First Supplemental Request for Additional Items to be Included in the Clerk’s Record, the following items requested by Plaintiffs were not included in the Clerk’s Record:

Items 1 and 2

For your convenience, I am enclosing copies of ConocoPhillips’ and Plaintiffs’ requests.

In accordance with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.5(c), Plaintiffs respectfully request the omitted items be prepared, certified, and filed in the Fourth

Court of Appeals at the earliest opportunity, along with a copy of this letter requesting supplementation.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter. If you have any questions, or need additional information, please do not hesitate to call me.

Sincerely,

/s/ Alberto Alarcon Alberto Alarcon Attorney for Plaintiffs

cc: All counsel of record

EXHIBIT B 7637 Filed 12/2/2015 3:23:08 PM Dora Castanon

District Clerk

Zapata County, Texas

CAUSE NO. 7,637

LEON OSCAR RAMIREZ, JR., § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF INDIVIDUALLY, ROSALINDA § RAMIREZ ECKHARDT, § INDIVIDUALLY, and JESUS M. § DOMINGUEZ, AS GUARDIAN OF THE § ESTATE OF MINERVA CLEMENTINA § RAMIREZ, an incapacitated person, § Plaintiffs, § §

v.

§ ZAPATA COUNTY, TEXAS CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY, EOG § RESOURCES, INC., ESTATE OF § ILEANA RAMIREZ, DECEASED, EL § MILAGRO MINERALS, LTD., AND § RODOLFO C. RAMIREZ, § INDIVIDUALLY AND AS § INDEPENDENT EXECUTOR OF THE § ESTATE OF ILEANA RAMIREZ, § DECEASED, Defendants. § 49TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT

CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY’S REQUEST FOR PREPARATION OF SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL CLERK’S RECORD

TO: THE HONORABLE DORA MARTINEZ CASTAÑON DISTRICT CLERK ZAPATA COUNTY, TEXAS

On November 6, the San Antonio Court of Appeals filed an electronic Clerk’s Record

and an electronic Supplemental Clerk’s Record in Cause No. 04-15-00487-CV in ConocoPhillips

Company et al. v. Leon Oscar Ramirez, Jr., et al. Some of the items previously requested were

not contained in those Clerk’s Records and two items did not contain all of the attachments.

ConocoPhillips Company hereby requests that you prepare a Second Supplemental

Clerk’s Record containing the following items. To assist the Court with the preparation of this

request for a supplemental Clerk’s record, ConocoPhillips will be separately providing file-

stamped copies of the requested documents, in the event the Court does not have or cannot locate

the listed documents.

REQUEST FOR PREPARATION OF SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL CLERK’S RECORD Page 1

NO. DOCUMENT TITLE DATED 1. In Vol. 10, stamped pp. 3322-3781 (Clerk Record Ref. pp. (bottom left) 04/22/13 3396-3845), ConocoPhillips Company’s Motion to Reopen and Reconsider the December 6, 2012 Summary Judgment Evidence, with exhibits A-F. Exhibits E-F are missing. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 6/28/15 at No. 65.)

2. In Vol. 14, stamped pp. 5500-5570 (Clerk Ref. pp. 5569-5639) (Plaintiffs’ 06/25/14 Response to ConocoPhillips’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Will Construction, Estoppel, Ratification, and Alleged Bad Faith Cotenancy, with Exs. 1-13). Ex. 2 is cut off at the bottom of the page. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 6/28/15 at No. 76.)

3. Plaintiffs’ Response to EOG’s First and ConocoPhillips Second Amended 11/18/11 Motions for Summary Judgment. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 6/28/15 at No. 19.)

4. All Defendants’ Post-Hearing Brief on Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ Cross- 01/30/12 Motions for Partial Summary Judgment. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 6/28/15 at No. 38.)

5. ConocoPhillips Company’s Brief on Proposed Expert Testimony of 04/25/13 Luciano Adrian Rodriguez. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 6/28/15 at No. 68.)

6. Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and as the Independent Administrator 06/24/15 of the Estate of Ileana Ramirez, and El Milagro Minerals, Ltd.’s Joinder of ConocoPhillips Company’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Will Construction, Estoppel, Ratification, and Alleged Bad Faith Cotenancy. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 6/28/15 at No. 74.)

7. Order [Denying Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and as the Independent 12/03/14 Executor of the Estate of Ileana Ramirez, and El Milagro Minerals, Ltd.’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Will Construction, Estoppel and Ratification]. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 6/28/15 at No. 102.)

8. Defendants Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and as the Independent 06/09/15 Administrator of the Estate of Ileana Ramirez, and El Milagro Minerals, Ltd.’s Notice of Appeal. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 7/28/15 at No. 125.)

9. Defendants Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and as the Independent 06/10/15 Administrator of the Estate of Ileana Ramirez, and El Milagro Minerals, Ltd.’s Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, Modify, Correct, or Reform Judgment. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 7/28/15 at No. 126.)

REQUEST FOR PREPARATION OF SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL CLERK’S RECORD Page 2 10. ConocoPhillips Company’s First Amended Notice of Appeal. (Originally 07/28/15 requested by ConocoPhillips 7/28/15 at No. 128.)

11. ConocoPhillips Company’s First Supplemental Request for Preparation of 07/28/15 Clerk’s Record. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 7/28/15 at No. 129.)

12. Plaintiffs’ Cross Notice of Appeal. (Originally requested by Plaintiffs on 07/30/15 8/7/15 at No. 1.)

13. Plaintiffs’ First Supplemental Request For Additional Items to be 08/07/15 Included in the Clerk’s Record Requested by ConocoPhillips Company. (Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 8/7/15 at No. 2.)

14. Court docket sheet listing documents filed after August 11, 2015.

(Originally requested by ConocoPhillips 7/28/15 at No. 130.)

At your earliest convenience, please inform the undersigned counsel of your requirements

whether any additional payments will be required for this Second Supplemental Record.

Dated: December 2, 2015

REQUEST FOR PREPARATION OF SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL CLERK’S RECORD Page 3

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Amanda L. Cottrell Michael V. Powell Texas Bar No. 16204400 mpowell@lockelord.com Cynthia K. Timms Texas Bar No. 11161450 ctimms@lockelord.com Amanda L. Cottrell Texas Bar No. 24064972 acottrell@lockelord.com LOCKE LORD LLP 2200 Ross Avenue, Suite 2200 Dallas, Texas 75201-6776 214-740-8000 (Main Telephone) 214-740-8800 (Main Facsimile)

-And – Darrell L. Barger Texas Bar No. 01733800 dbarger@hdbdlaw.com HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 800 N. Shoreline Blvd., North Tower, Ste. 2000 Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 361-866-8000 (Telephone) 361-866-8039 (Facsimile)

- And- Adolfo Campero, Jr. Texas Bar No. 00793454 acampero@camperolaw.com CAMPERO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 315 Calle Del Norte, Ste. 207 Laredo, Texas 78041 956-796-0330 (Telephone) 956-796-0399 (Facsimile) ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY

REQUEST FOR PREPARATION OF SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL CLERK’S RECORD Page 4

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Request for Preparation of Second Supplemental Clerk’s Record was served on the following counsel of record by ECF and Email in accordance with Tex. R. Civ. P. 21a via email PDF on this the 2nd day of December, 2015:

J. Alberto Alarcon Bruce Werstak HALL, QUINTANILLA, & ALARCON SAMES & WERSTAK, LLP P.O. Box 207 6721 McPherson Road, Suite 360 1302 Washington Laredo, Texas 78041 Laredo, Texas 78042-0207 bruce@sameswerstak.com aalarcon@sbcglobal.net Counsel for Leon O. Ramirez, Jr. and Rosalinda Attorney for All Plaintiffs Ramirez Eckhardt in their capacity as the coexecutors of the Estate of Leon O. Ramirez, Sr., Deceased, Third Party Defendants

John A. Kazen Jesse Castillo KAZEN, MEURER & PÉREZ, L.L.P. CASTILLO SNYDER PC 211 Calle del Norte, Suite 100 300 Convent Street, Ste 1020 P.O. Box 6237 San Antonio Texas 78205 Laredo, Texas 78041-6237 jcastillo@casnlaw.com ftamez@kmp-law.com Attorneys for El Milagro Minerals, Ltd., and Attorneys for El Milagro Minerals, Ltd., Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and as and Rodolfo C. Ramirez, Individually and Independent Executor of the Estate of Ileana as Independent Executor of the Estate of Ramirez, Deceased, Defendants Ileana Ramirez, Deceased, Defendants

Lisa Hobbs KUHN HOBBS PLLC 3307 Northland Drive, Suite 310 Austin, Texas 78731 Lisa@KuhnHobbs.com Attorney for All Plaintiffs

/s/ Amanda L. Cottrell Amanda L. Cottrell

REQUEST FOR PREPARATION OF SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL CLERK’S RECORD Page 5