James Hallbeck v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: July 9, 2019
• Docket: 14-19-00325-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order filed July 9, 2019

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-19-00325-CV ____________

JAMES HALLBECK, Appellant

V.

LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee

On Appeal from the 61st District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2014-71521

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed January 15, 2019. Appellant timely filed a post judgment motion. The notice of appeal was due April 15, 2019. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on April 16, 2019, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal. A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when the perfecting instrument is filed within 15 days of its due date. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Appellant did not file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal. While an extension may be implied, appellant is still obligated to come forward with a reasonable explanation to support the late filing. See Miller v. Greenpark Surgery Center Assocs., Ltd., 974 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.). Accordingly, we ORDER appellant to file a proper motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal on or before July 19, 2019. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3;10.5(b). If appellant does not comply with this order, we will dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.

PER CURIAM