Ensign Services, L.L.C. (f/K/A Fe Services, L.L.C.), Fe Services Holdings Inc., and James Stewart v. Marc Jan Levesconte

Opinion

ACCEPTED 01-14-01026-CV FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 4/3/2015 12:26:37 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK

No. 01-14-01026-CV _____________________________________________________

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TEXAS FILED IN FOR THE FIRST DISTRICT 1st COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS HOUSTON, TEXAS 4/3/2015 12:26:37 PM _____________________________________________________ CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE ENSIGN SERVICES, LLC (F/K/A FE SERVICES, L.L.C.), Clerk FE SERVICES HOLDINGS, INC., AND JAMES STEWART,

Appellants,

V.

MARC JAN LEVESCONTE

Appellee. _____________________________________________________

Appealed from the 333rd District Court of Harris County, Texas, Cause No. 2009-04966 _____________________________________________________

FIRST UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLANTS’ BRIEF _____________________________________________________

Emma C. Mata Wanda McKee Fowler Seyfarth Shaw LLP Wright & Close LLP State Bar No. 24029470 State Bar No. 13698700 700 Milam, Suite 1400 Three Riverway, Suite 600 Houston, Texas 77002 Houston, Texas 77056 Telephone: (713) 225-2300 (713) 572-4321 Telecopier: (713) 225-2340 (713) 572-4320 (Fax) emata@seyfarth.com fowler@wrightclose.com

Attorneys for Appellants/Cross-Appellees, Ensign Services, L.L.C. (f/k/a FE Services, L.L.C.), FE Services Holdings, Inc., and James Stewart

19543507v.3 TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellants Ensign Services, LLC, FE Services Holdings, Inc., and James Stewart respectfully file this

unopposed motion for a 30-day extension of time to file their appellants’ brief.

Appellants’ brief is currently due on April 13, 2015. Appellants request a 30-day extension of the

deadline, which would reset the deadline for appellants’ brief to May 13, 2015.

This is Appellants’ first request to extend the briefing deadline.

Although counsel for Appellants have been working diligently to prepare the brief, counsel need

additional time due to concurrent deadlines and briefing requirements in other matters, some of which cannot

be extended, including:

• Matthew Kendall v. Turn-Key Specialists, Inc., and James T. Lewellen, Case No. 2012-72621; in the 152nd Judicial District Court, Harris County, Texas (prepared for and attended trial as appellate counsel February 23 - March 10, 2015; prepared four separate bench briefs, filed on March 3, 2015 and March 9, 2015; prepared Findings of Fact and Conclusions, filed on March 18, 2015);

• Smith, et al. v. Williams, Case No. 06-14-00040-CV; in the Sixth Court of Appeals, Texarkana, Texas (prepared for and presented oral Argument on April 1, 2015);

• Belghiti v. Select Restaurants d/b/a Top of the Hub Restaurant & Skywalk, Case No. 10-12049- MBB; in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts (prepared for jury trial scheduled for March 30, 2015);

• Litvinov v. UnitedHealth Group Inc., No. 14-1183-cv, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (appellee’s brief due May 18, 2015); and

• Larobina v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 14-2961-cv, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (appellee’s brief due June 12, 2015).

One of appellants’ lead counsel also had a pre-planned vacation from March 16 - 20, 2015 and other

counsel have pre-planned vacations on April 9 - 12, 2015 and April 18 - 26, 2015.

Additionally, Appellee Marc Jan LeVesconte (“LeVesconte”) filed a late notice of cross-appeal on

February 21, 2015, and a motion to extend the time to file a notice of cross-appeal on March 20, 2015. As a

result, Appellants’ counsel spent time preparing a motion to dismiss LeVesconte’s cross-appeal and an

objection to his motion to extend time. While Appellants believe the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain

LeVesconte’s cross-appeal and motion to extend, a contrary ruling might materially affect Appellants’

19543507v.3 briefing. Thus, Appellants request additional time to file their brief, to provide sufficient time to account for

this Court’s anticipated decision on whether it will consider LeVesconte’s cross-appeal.

Finally, this extension is warranted so that appellants have sufficient time to present their arguments

to this Court in a concise, helpful manner. The trial court record is voluminous. There are hundreds of

pages of post-verdict briefing, and hundreds more pages of post-judgment briefing. Appellants need

additional time to distill that briefing for the Court’s ready review.

Marc Jan LeVesconte is not opposed to this request for an extension.

For the foregoing reasons, Appellants Ensign Services, LLC, FE Services Holdings, Inc., and James

Stewart respectfully request that this Court grant this motion and extend the deadline for appellants to file

their appellants’ brief to May 13, 2015.

Respectfully submitted,

SEYFARTH SHAW LLP

/s/ Emma C. Mata Emma C. Mata State Bar No. 24029470 700 Milam, Suite 1400 Houston, Texas 77002 Telephone: (713) 225-2300 Telecopier: (713) 225-2340 emata@seyfarth.com

WRIGHT & CLOSE LLP

Wanda McKee Fowler State Bar No. 13698700 Three Riverway, Suite 600 Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 572-4321 (713) 572-4320 (Fax) fowler@wrightclose.com

Attorneys for Appellants/Cross-Appellees, Ensign Services, L.L.C. (f/k/a FE Services, L.L.C.), FE Services Holdings, Inc., and James Stewart

19543507v.3 CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

I certify that I conferred with Lloyd Kelley, counsel for Appellee, regarding the filing of this motion, and that he stated Appellee is unopposed.

/s/ Emma C. Mata Emma C. Mata

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this 3rd day of April, 2015, a true and correct copy of the foregoing instrument was properly forwarded to counsel of record for Appellee Marc Jan LeVesconte in accordance with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, as follows:

Lloyd E. Kelley THE KELLEY LAW FIRM 2726 Bissonnet, Ste. 240 PMB 12 Houston, Texas 77005 (281) 652-5973 - fax Attorney for Appellee

19543507v.3