John Duck and Phillip Willits v. Shiloh Enterprises, Inc.

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 5, 2010
• Docket: 14-10-00192-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Motion Granted, Appeal Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed August 5, 2010.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

____________

NO. 14-10-00192-CV

JOHN DUCK AND PHILLIP WILLITS, Appellant

V.

SHILOH ENTERPRISES, INC., Appellee

On Appeal from the 113th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 2008-11876

M E M O R A N D U M   O P I N I O N

This appeal is from an order signed February 10, 2010, denying the special appearance of John Duck and Phillip Willits.  On July 7, 2010, appellee filed a motion to dismiss the appeal as moot on the grounds a notice of non-suit as to John Duck and Phillip Willits has been filed. 

Appellants filed a response claiming that even though they have been non-suited, the appeal is not moot because CIT Healthcare, L.L.C. has designated them as responsible third parties thus they will be bound by the trial court’s judgment.

The designation of a person as a responsible third party does not impose liability and may not be used in another proceeding to impose liability.  Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 33.004(i) (Vernon 2008).  Appellants are no longer parties to the underlying suit.  Thus the issue of whether the trial court erred in denying their special appearance is moot.

Appellee’s motion to dismiss is granted and the appeal is ordered dismissed.  See Tex. R. App. P. 42.1. 

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Brown, Sullivan, and Christopher.