In Re Koch Industries, Inc., Koch Engineering Solutions, LLC, David Dotson, PVS Assurance Consulting Corporation, and Paul Switzer v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 11, 2024
• Docket: 01-24-00387-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued June 11, 2024

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-24-00387-CV ——————————— IN RE KOCH INDUSTRIES, INC., KOCH ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS, LLC, DAVID DOTSON, PVS ASSURANCE CONSULTING CORPORATION, AND PAUL W. SWITZER, Relators

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On May 24, 2024, relators, Koch Industries, Inc., Koch Engineering

Solutions, LLC, David Dotson, PVS Assurance Consulting, and Paul W. Switzer,

filed a petition for writ of mandamus asserting that the trial court had abused its

discretion by ordering relators “to proceed to trial on June 3, 2024, even though their

counsel timely filed summer vacation letters entitling them to mandatory protection

from conflicting trial settings under the express terms of Harris County District Courts Local Rule 11.2.”1 In their mandamus petition, relators requested that the

Court issue a writ of mandamus and direct the trial court to “continue the trial to a

date when all counsel [were] available for trial.”

In connection with their mandamus petition, relators also filed an “Emergency

Motion for Temporary Relief,” requesting that the Court “stay the underlying

proceedings pending resolution” of the petition for writ of mandamus.

However, on May 28, 2024, relators filed a “Voluntary Motion to Dismiss”

their petition for writ of mandamus. In the motion, relators stated that the trial court

continued the June 3, 2024 trial setting to September 23, 2024, thereby mooting the

relief requested in their mandamus petition. Accordingly, relators requested that the

Court dismiss their petition for writ of mandamus.

Relators’ motion does not include a certificate of conference, but more than

ten days have passed since the motion was filed, and no party has opposed the relief

requested in the motion. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.1(a)(5), 10.3(a)(2).

Accordingly, we grant relators’ motion and dismiss the petition for writ of

mandamus. We deny as moot relators’ “Emergency Motion for Temporary Relief”

and dismiss any other pending motions as moot.

1 The underlying case is PVS Assurance Consulting Corp. and Paul W. Switzer v. Alliance Process Partners, LLC d/b/a International Alliance Group, and Triten Corp. v. Koch Engineered Solutions, LLC, Koch Industries, Inc., and David Dotson, Cause No. 2020-35773, in the 215th District Court of Harris County, Texas, the Honorable Elaine Palmer presiding.

2 PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Landau, Countiss, and Guerra.