MJS and Associates, L.L.C., a Texas Limited Liability Corporation v. Judy Master, RN and Matthew Master

Opinion

ACCEPTED 12-15-00219-CV TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS TYLER, TEXAS 10/16/2015 10:00:46 AM Pam Estes CLERK

No. 12-15-00219-CV

FILED IN In the Court of Appeals 12th COURT OF APPEALS TYLER, TEXAS Twelfth District of Texas at Tyler 10/16/2015 10:00:46 AM PAM ESTES Clerk MJS and Associates, L.L.C. Appellant

v.

Judy Master, RN and Matthew Master Appellees

Appeal from the 145th Judicial District Court Nacogdoches County, Texas Cause No. C127910, Hon. Campbell Cox, II, Presiding

MJS’s Unopposed Motion to Extend Time for Filing Appellant’s Brief

I. Introduction Under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.5(b), Appellant MJS and

Associates, L.L.C. requests a 3-week extension of time in which to complete

its appellant’s brief in this case, making the brief due on November 19,

2015. This motion is unopposed by the appellees.

II. Rule 10.5(b) Requirements A. Current Deadline The current deadline for MJS’s appellant’s brief is October 29, 2015. B. Extension MJS seeks an extension of 3 weeks, until November 19. MJS has not

requested any previous extensions for this brief.

C. Reasonable Explanation This appeal involves a novel, important, and complicated legal issue

that will require additional time to sufficiently research and brief. The issue

is whether an employee may use her employer’s proprietary and

confidential information in a qui tam action against the employer’s client,

which is a question of first impression in Texas and perhaps the nation.

Additionally, numerous competing projects with prior deadlines have

taken and will continue to take lead counsel’s time in addition to the

ordinary press of business:

• Assisting with numerous post-judgment motions in Case No.

10-CV-0990-A, Lindstrom Cleaning and Construction, Inc. v.

Betzler Investments, LLC, in the 122nd Judicial District of

Galveston County, Texas. Final judgment was entered in that

case on September 2, and post-judgment motions were due on

October 2.

• Drafting the reply brief in Case No. 15-20260, Rasheed al

Rushaid, et al. v. National Oilwell Varco, Inc., et al., in the

MJS’s Unopposed Motion to Extend Page 2 Time to File Appellant’s Brief United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. That brief

was due on October 5.

• Traveling to New York City from October 7 to 9 to participate in

a conference before the international arbitral tribunal in ICC

Case No. 20685/ZF, National Oilwell Varco, Inc., et al. v.

Rasheed al Rushaid, et al.

• Assisting with extensive post-trial research and briefing in Case

No. 2013-65334, Rogers et al. v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. and Cody

Fox, in the 151st Judicial District of Harris County, Texas. The

jury returned a verdict in that case on September 24 and a

hearing on entry of judgment is set for October 26.

In order to adequately assist the Court in deciding the issues in this

case, counsel requests an additional 3 weeks in order to complete MJS’s

appellant’s brief. No act of MJS contributed to the need for an extension of

time.

III. Prayer MJS requests an extension of 3 weeks for filing its appellant’s brief,

making the brief due on November 19, 2015.

MJS’s Unopposed Motion to Extend Page 3 Time to File Appellant’s Brief Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Michelle R. Meriam Michelle R. Meriam Texas Bar No. 24063871 michellemeriam@warejackson.com Timothy F. Lee Texas Bar No. 12139500 timlee@warejackson.com Ware, Jackson, Lee, O’Neill, Smith & Barrow, LLP 2929 Allen Parkway, 39th Floor Houston, Texas 77019 (713) 659-6400 (713) 659-6262 (fax)

Russell R. Smith Texas Bar No. 18682310 RSmith@fairchildlawfirm.com W. Wade Flasowski Texas Bar No. 24055482 Fairchild, Price, Haley & Smith, LLP P.O. Drawer 631668 Nacogdoches, Texas 75963-1668 (936) 569-2327 (936) 569-7932 (fax)

Mark Kennedy Texas Bar No. 24000122 mark@markkennedylaw.com Joanna Martin Texas Bar No. 24072153 joanna@markkennedylaw.com Kennedy Attorneys & Counselors at Law 12222 Merit Drive, Suite 1750 Dallas, Texas 75251 (214) 445-0740 (972) 661-9320 (fax)

Attorneys for Appellant

MJS’s Unopposed Motion to Extend Page 4 Time to File Appellant’s Brief Certificate of Conference

I spoke with Jerry Baker, local counsel for appellees, on October 14, 2015 and with Joseph M. Callow, Jr., lead counsel for appellees, on October 15. Appellees do not oppose this motion.

/s/ Michelle R. Meriam Michelle R. Meriam

Certificate of Service

On October 16, 2015, before the last day for filing this motion, a true and correct copy of this motion was provided to all counsel of record via ProDoc or email, as follows:

Jerry Baker Travis P. Clardy Clardy Law Offices 209 E. Main St. P.O. Box 635426 Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 (936) 564-2500 (936) 564-2507 (fax)

Gregory M. Utter Joseph M. Callow, Jr. Danielle M. D’Addesa Keating Muething & Klekamp One East Fourth St., Suite 1400 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 579-6400 (513) 579-6457 (fax)

Attorneys for Appellees

/s/ Michelle R. Meriam Michelle R. Meriam

MJS’s Unopposed Motion to Extend Page 5 Time to File Appellant’s Brief