Mark P. Hardwick, Individually and D/B/A Mark P. Hardwick Oil and Gas Properties and Mark P. Hardwick, LLC v. Smith Energy Company, on Its Own Behalf and on Behalf of Smith Energy Resource Oil, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership, and on Behalf of Smith Energy Partners I, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership

Opinion

ACCEPTED 07-15-00083-CV SEVENTH COURT OF APPEALS AMARILLO, TEXAS 9/21/2015 4:32:28 PM Vivian Long, Clerk

07-15-00083-CV

FILED IN 7th COURT OF APPEALS COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE AMARILLO, TEXAS SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS 9/21/2015 4:32:28 PM Amarillo, Texas VIVIAN LONG CLERK

MARK P. HARDWICK, INDIVIDUALLY AND D/B/A MARK P. HARDWICK OIL AND GAS PROPERTIES AND MARK P. HARDWICK, LLC

Defendants - Appellants,

v.

SMITH ENERGY COMPANY, ON ITS OWN BEHALF AND ON BEHALF OF SMITH ENERGY RESOURCE OIL, LTD., A TEXAS PARTNERSHIP, AND ON BEHALF OF SMITH ENERGY PARTNERS I, LTD., A TEXAS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

Plaintiff - Appellee.

APPELLEE’S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEE’S BRIEF

TO THE HONORABLE SEVENTH COURT OF APPEALS:

Pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.5(b), Appellee Smith

Energy Company, on its own behalf and as the General Partner of Smith Energy

Resource Oil, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership, (“SERO”) and as General Partner

of Smith Energy Partners I, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership, (“SEP I”) and as the

party authorized to bring suit on behalf of interested parties who have been damaged by Defendants’ acts and omissions,1 (“Plaintiff” or “Smith Energy” or “Smith”)

moves to extend the time to file its Appellee’s Brief and shows the following:

I.

Appellee’s Brief is due on October 9, 2015. Appellee seeks an extension of

this deadline by 32 days, making the brief due on Tuesday, November 10, 2015.

II.

An extension of the deadline for filing the Appellee’s Brief is needed because

of conflicts with other matters counsel is presently involved. For example,

Appellee’s counsel is assisting Rice University respond to Open Records Requests

over the next several months. The Rice University Police Department only recently

became subject to these requests, and the deadlines for filing letters requesting

opinions from the Texas Attorney General’s office arise with little notice, are

numerous and varied, and are not extendable. Appellee’s counsel is presently aware

of letter filing deadlines on September 22nd and 25th, and October 2nd, 6th and 13th.

Appellee’s counsel believes that the likelihood is high that there will be additional

nonmovable deadlines for filings with the Texas Attorney General within the next

month. Appellee’s counsel is also set for trial on October 5, 2015 in Cause No.

2012-31192, Johnny Doe, et al. v. Camp LaJunta, 1928, LP, et al., in the 333rd

1 Smith Energy has received assignment of claims. 2 Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas with the pretrial conference and

exchange of pretrial materials due on September 28, 2015.

III.

This motion is Appellee’s first request to extend the time for filing its

Appellee’s Brief.

IV.

Appellant is unopposed to this motion.

This motion is made in good faith and not solely for purposes of delay.

VI.

Appellee Smith Energy requests that the motion be granted and that the Court

establish Tuesday, November 10, 2015, as the deadline for filing their Appellee’s

Brief.

Respectfully submitted,

RUSTY HARDIN & ASSOCIATES, LLP

Lara Hudgins Hollingsworth State Bar No. 00796790 Rusty Hardin State Bar No. 08972800 3 Ryan K. Higgins State Bar No. 24007362 Carolyn P. Courville State Bar No. 24007042 5 Houston Center 1401 McKinney, Suite 2250 Houston, Texas 77010 lhollingsworth@rustyhardin.com rhardin@rustyhardin.com rhiggins@rustyhardin.com ccourville@rustyhardin.com Telephone: (713) 652-9000 Facsimile: (713) 652-9800

Attorneys For Appellee Smith Energy

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

Appellee’s counsel has conferred with Appellants’ counsel and they are not opposed to the filing of Appellee’s Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellee’s Brief.

Lara Hudgins Hollingsworth

4 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

This is to certify that a true and correct copy of Appellee’s Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellee’s Brief has been served in accordance with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.5 on September 21, 2015:

David M. Gunn By E-Service dgunn@beckredden.com Chad Flores cflores@beckredden.com Beck Redden LLP 1221 McKinney, Suite 4500 Houston, Texas 77010-2010 Telephone: 713-951-3700 Facsimile: 713-951-3720