Laura Corina Martinez Tovar v. Liberty County Mutual Insurance Company

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 29, 2024
• Docket: 10-24-00233-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10-24-00233-CV

LAURA CORINA MARTINEZ TOVAR, Appellant v.

LIBERTY COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee

From the 249th District Court Johnson County, Texas Trial Court No. DC-C202300317

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Laura Corina Martinez Tovar attempts to appeal from the trial court’s

“Order Granting Defendant Liberty’s Rule 91a Motion to Dismiss,” signed on June 17,

2024. The order provides as follows:

On this day, the Court considered Liberty’s Rule 91a Motion to Dismiss and the arguments of counsel. The Court is of the Opinion that Liberty’s Motion should be GRANTED.

IT IS THEREFORE, ORDERED ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Plaintiff’s claim against Defendant Liberty County Mutual Insurance Company (wrongly named “Liberty County Mutual Insurance Company Safeco Insurance”) is dismissed with prejudice and Plaintiff shall pay Liberty’s costs in the amount of $7,500.

The order does not mention Martinez Tovar’s claim(s) against defendant Robert Belk.

This Court has no jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a judgment that is not final,

unless there is specific statutory authority permitting an appeal before final judgment.

See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 51.012. No statute authorizes an appeal from an

interlocutory order granting a rule 91a motion to dismiss. See Tamborello v. Town of

Highland Park, No. 05-20-00755-CV, 2021 WL 1540653, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Apr. 20,

2021, no pet.) (mem. op.).

In a letter dated August 14, 2024, the Clerk of the Court notified Martinez Tovar

that this appeal was subject to dismissal because it appeared that there was no final

judgment. The Clerk of the Court further notified Martinez Tovar that unless she showed

grounds for continuing this appeal within fourteen days of the letter, the appeal may be

dismissed.

Martinez Tovar filed a response in which she provided the Court with a copy of

the trial court’s June 17, 2024 “Order Granting Defendant Liberty’s Rule 91a Motion to

Dismiss” and stated that it is the final order in the case. “[C]ourts will deem a judgment

without a trial to be final ‘(1) [when the judgment] actually disposes of every pending

claim and party or (2) [when] it clearly and unequivocally states that it finally disposes

of all claims and parties, even if it does not actually do so.’” Patel v. Nations Renovations,

LLC, 661 S.W.3d 151, 154 (Tex. 2023) (per curiam) (quoting In re Guardianship of Jones, 629

S.W.3d 921, 924 (Tex. 2021) (per curiam)). The “Order Granting Defendant Liberty’s Rule

Martinez Tovar v. Liberty Cnty. Mut. Ins. Co. Page 2 91a Motion to Dismiss” does not dispose of Martinez Tovar’s claim(s) against defendant

Robert Belk, nor does the order state that it finally disposes of all claims and parties.

Therefore, we cannot deem it a final judgment. See id.

Accordingly, we must dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP.

P. 42.3(a).

MATT JOHNSON Justice

Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Johnson, and Justice Smith Dismissed Opinion delivered and filed August 29, 2024 [CV06]

Martinez Tovar v. Liberty Cnty. Mut. Ins. Co. Page 3