in Re: UMTH General Services, L.P., UMT Holdings, L.P., UMTH Land Development, L.P., Hollis M. Greenlaw, Todd F. Etter, Ben L. Wissink, and Cara D. Obert

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 9, 2023
• Docket: 05-23-00016-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order entered January 9, 2023

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

No. 05-23-00016-CV

IN RE UMTH GENERAL SERVICES, L.P., UMT HOLDINGS, L.P., UMTH LAND DEVELOPMENT, L.P., HOLLIS M. GREENLAW, TODD F. ETTER, BEN L. WISSINK, AND CARA D. OBERT, Relators

Original Proceeding from the 192nd Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. DC-22-09833

ORDER Before Justices Reichek, Nowell, and Miskel

In this original proceeding, relators seek a writ of mandamus compelling the

trial court to grant their motion to dismiss based on a mandatory forum-selection

provision. The complained-of order denying the motion to dismiss was signed in

the 192nd Judicial District Court by the Honorable Kristina Williams, whose term

expired on December 31, 2022.

Rule 7.2(b) requires this Court to abate this proceeding to allow the

successor judge to reconsider the challenged order. See TEX. R. APP. P. 7.2(b) (“If the case is an original proceeding under Rule 52, the court must abate the

proceeding to allow the successor to reconsider the original party’s decision.”).

Accordingly, we ABATE this original proceeding pursuant to Texas Rule of

Appellate Procedure 7.2(b). This case is removed from the Court’s active docket

until further order of this Court. We ORDER the parties to file in this Court (1) a

status report and (2) a copy of the trial court’s order within TEN DAYS of any

ruling by the successor judge required by rule 7.2(b).

/s/ EMILY MISKEL JUSTICE