Drake v. Walker

529 S.W.3d 516
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 6, 2017
DocketNo. 05-16-00306-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 529 S.W.3d 516 (Drake v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Drake v. Walker, 529 S.W.3d 516 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice Lang

In this opinion, we must decide two issues of first impression. First, we address whether the filing of a petition pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 202 to “investigate” a “potential” health care liability claim triggers the-requirement-of a plaintiff to 'file an expert report pursuant to section 74.351(a) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 202; Tex. Civ. Peac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 74.351(a) (West Supp. -2016). .We conclude, on this record, it does not...

Second, we must decide if, after the dismissal with prejudice of a health care liability claim pursuant to' Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a and the reversal on appeal of that dismissal, the 120-day time period for filing an expert report pursuant to section 74.351(a) is tolled for the period during which the case was on appeal. See Tex. R. Civ, P. 91a; Civ. Prac. <& Rem. § 74.351(a). We conclude, on this record, that the 120-day time period is tolled.

Eric Drake, proceeding pro se, appeals the trial court’s order dismissing this health care liability lawsuit for failure to provide an expert report and awarding attorney’s fees to appellees • pursuant to section 74.351. See Civ. Prac. • & Rem. § 74.351. In eight issues on appeal, Drake contends the trial court erred by denying Drake’s motions for continuances, to. reinstate, and for new trial and requests to participate in hearings by telephone; awarding attorney’s fees to appellees in the amount of $15,374.50; awarding attorney’s fees against a party “declared as an indigent”; concluding Drake failed to comply with section 74.351(a); violating Drake’s due process rights; and not recus-ing the trial court judge.1 '

[519]*519We decide (1) in favor of Drake on his fourth issue and portions of his second, seventh, and eighth issues, and (2) against him on his fifth and sixth issues. We need not address Drake’s first and third issues or the 'remaining portions of his second and eighth issues.

We reverse the trial court’s order granting appellees’ motion to dismiss for failure to provide an expert report and awarding attorney’s fees to appellees pursuant to section 74.351, render judgment denying appellees’ motion to dismiss for failure to provide an expert report, and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL CONTEXT

On December 19, 2011, Drake received dental treatment from appellee Stephen Walker, D.D.S., at a dental clinic owned by appellee Marshal Goldberg, D.D.S. Ten days later, on December 29, 2011, Drake filed a pro se “Petition for Pre-Suit Investigatory Depositions Under T.R.C.P. 202.1(b),” see Tex. R. Civ. P. 202.1(b), which proceeding was assigned trial court cause number CC-11-08852-D (the “Rule 202 proceeding”). Appellees, who were the named “Respondents” in that petition, jointly filed a January 19, 2012 original answer in that proceeding. On January 22, 2012, Drake nonsuited that proceeding.

Drake filed this case, trial court cause number CC-13-06774-D, against appellees on December 3, 2013. In his last-filed petition at the time of the order complained of, Drake asserted causes of action against appellees for “medical negligence” and deceptive trade practices' pertaining to the dental care provided by appellees. Goldberg arid Walker filed separate general denial answers dated, respectively, December 30, 2013, and January 8, 2014. Further, appellees jointly filed a February 13, 2014 “Motion to Dismiss Baseless Causes of Action” pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a, see Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a, and a March 11, 2014 “Motion' to Dismiss With Prejudice for Failure to Provide Expert' Report” pursuant to section 74.351. In their motion to dismiss for failure to provide an expert report, appellees stated in part,

In this case, ... the Í20 day deadline [for providing an expert report] began" to run from the date Plaintiff filed his Petition for Rule 202'Pre-Suit Depositions (here. December 29, 2011). The, 120 day deadline was then tolled from the .time that Plaintiff non-suited the Rule 202 Petition and the case was dismissed without prejudice (January 22, 2012) until he refiled this case on December 3, 2013....
As the original claim was filed on December 29, 2011, tolled between January 22, 2012 and December 3, 2013, and refiled on December 3, 2013, Plaintiff was required by. statute to provide expert reports by March .10, 2014, Plaintiff did not serve on Defendants or Defendants’ counsel an expert report with a curriculum vitae of the expert listed in the report. Thus, Plaintiff did not comply with the requirements of Chapter 74;

The trial court signed an order dated March 19, 2014, granting appellees’ motion to dismiss baseless causes of action with prejudice pursuant to rule 91a. Additionally, (1) the trial court judge, Judge Ken Tápscott, denied a motion by Drake to recusé him, and (2) Regional Administrative Judge Mary Murphy denied several motions by Drake to recuse Judge Tonya Parker, who was assigned to hear Drake’s [520]*520recusal motion respecting Judge Tapscott. Drake appealed those rulings in this Court. See Drake v. Walker, No. 05-14-00355-CV, 2015 WL 2160565 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 8, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op.). This Court affirmed the denial of the recu-sals requested by Drake and the dismissal of his claim for deceptive trade practices, but concluded the trial court erred by granting appellees’ rule 91a motion to dismiss Drake’s negligence claim. Accordingly, this Court reversed, in part, the trial court’s March 19, 2014 order and remanded this case to the trial court.

On May 14, 2015, Drake served an expert report on appellees. Additionally, Drake filed a May 26, 2015 “emergency motion” to compel discovery. Appellees filed objections to the sufficiency of Drake’s expert report on June 1, 2015, asserting the report was “not a good faith effort as to defendants” and should be stricken.

The mandate in the appeal described above was issued on July 20, 2015. On July 27, 2015, the trial court granted a motion by appellees for substitution of counsel. Also, on that same date, the trial court held a hearing on appellees’ March 11, 2014 motion to dismiss. At that hearing, the trial court denied a request by Drake that his motion to compel discovery be heard before appellees’ motion to dismiss. Further, as to the motion to dismiss, the trial court stated to Drake, “This motion to dismiss is based on one issue. Okay? It is the failure to file an expert report and serve them with an expert report within 120 days of the filing of a healthcare liability claim.” Appellees contended section 74.351(a)’s 120-day deadline for serving an expert report was triggered by the filing of Drake’s Rule 202 proceeding and therefore Drake’s expert report was not timely served. Drake argued his expert report was timely served because (1) a Rule 202 petition does not trigger the 120-day statutory deadline and (2) the 120-day time period was triggered by the filing of appel-lees’ answers in this case on December 30, 2013, and January 8, 2014, and “stopped with the dismissal and during the time the matter was on appeal.”

On July 31, 2015, Drake filed a motion to recuse Judges Tapscott and Murphy. In that motion, Drake stated in part,

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Bluebook (online)
529 S.W.3d 516, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drake-v-walker-texapp-2017.