EnerVest Operating, L.L.C. v. Perry Molett

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 1, 2012
• Docket: 03-11-00823-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

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NO. 03-11-00823-CV

EnerVest Operating, L.L.C., Appellant

v.

Perry Molett, Appellee

FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF LEE COUNTY, 21ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT

NO. 14,542, HONORABLE DAN R. BECK, JUDGE PRESIDING

O R D E R

PER CURIAM

Appellant EnerVest Operating, L.L.C. (EnerVest), has filed an interlocutory appeal from the district court's order denying EnerVest's motion to compel arbitration in an underlying personal injury lawsuit. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 171.098(a)(1) (West 2011). The interlocutory appeal is currently pending in this Court, with the brief of appellee Perry Molett due to be filed by May 29, 2012. Meanwhile, the underlying suit is currently set for trial in the district court beginning on May 7, 2012. On March 30, 2012, EnerVest filed a motion for continuance of the trial setting, citing the pending appeal of the arbitration ruling. On April 12, the district court denied the motion.

EnerVest has now filed with this Court an emergency motion for temporary relief, seeking to stay commencement of trial in the underlying proceeding pending resolution of its appeal of the arbitration issue. See Tex. R. App. P. 29.5(b). EnerVest urges that proceeding to trial will deprive it of any rights it possesses to arbitration before this Court can determine or enforce those rights and concomitantly render this appeal moot.

We agree with appellant that temporary relief is warranted in this case. Accordingly, we grant the emergency motion for temporary relief to the extent of staying the trial scheduled for May 7, 2012, pending our disposition of the interlocutory appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 29.3.

It is ordered May 1, 2012.

Before Chief Justice Jones, Justices Pemberton and Rose