Mohican Oil & Gas, LLC and MOG Producing, LP v. ConocoPhillips Company

Opinion

ACCEPTED 04-15-00478-CV FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 12/21/2015 6:06:30 PM KEITH HOTTLE CLERK

No. 04-15-00478-CV

FILED IN IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 4th COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS FOURTH DISTRICT 12/21/2015 6:06:30 PM SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS KEITH E. HOTTLE Clerk

MOHICAN OIL & GAS, LLC, and MOG PRODUCING, LP, Appellants/Defendants,

VS.

CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY, Appellee/Plaintiff.

On Appeal from the 49th Judicial District Court Webb County, Texas Judge Joe Lopez

APPELLEE’S RESPONSE TO APPELLANTS’ SECOND MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE APPELLANTS’ BRIEF

December 21, 2015 GRAY REED & MCGRAW, P.C.

Darin L. Brooks Texas Bar No. 00796252 dbrooks@grayreed.com John G. George, Jr. Texas Bar No. 24051944 jgeorge@grayreed.com Meagan W. Glover State Bar No. 24076769 mglover@grayreed.com 1300 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 2000 Houston, Texas 77056-3000

3061235.1 Telephone: (713) 986-7228 Facsimile: (713) 986-7100

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE/PLAINTIFF CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY

Appellee ConocoPhillips Company (ConocoPhillips) files this response to the

Second Motion of Appellants Mohican Oil & Gas, LLC, and MOG Producing, LP,

(Appellants) to Extend Time to File Appellants’ Brief.

1. The Appellants’ original deadline to file their brief was November 23,

2015. On November 18, the Appellants filed a motion to extend time to file their

brief, claiming an additional 30 days was needed because of proceedings in the

underlying trial court, “work on other cases,” and the birth of the lead counsel’s

child. The Court granted the Appellants’ motion, making the current deadline to file

the Appellants’ brief December 23.

2. On December 18, the Appellants contacted ConocoPhillips and asked

if it would agree to an additional 16-day extension, claiming additional time is

needed because of a hearing held on December 1 in the underlying trial court and

the illness of the father of John Newman, the Appellants’ representative.

ConocoPhillips responded that it opposed an additional 16-day extension.

3. As explained by ConocoPhillips in its response to the Appellants’ first

motion to extend time to file their brief, ConocoPhillips normally does not oppose

3061235.1 reasonable extensions of time. However, the Appellants’ repeated requests for

extensions on the eve of deadlines with often implausible excuses established a clear

pattern of excuse and delay during the proceedings in the trial court—and now in the

appellate court.

4. As with the Appellants’ first motion to extend time to file their brief,

although ConocoPhillips is sympathetic to some of the Appellants’ reasons in its

second motion to extend time, the implausible excuses outweigh the seemingly

legitimate ones (the illness of John Newman’s father), leading ConocoPhillips to

believe that the Appellants’ second motion is yet another delay tactic.

5. Because the Court has already granted a 30-day extension, and given

the Appellants’ established pattern of excuse and delay, ConocoPhillips respectfully

requests the Court deny the Appellants’ second motion to extend time to file their

brief. In the event that this Court is inclined to grant Appellants’ second motion to

extend time to file their brief, then ConocoPhillips respectfully requests that the

Court order that no further extensions will be allowed for Appellants to file their

brief.

Respectfully submitted,

GRAY, REED & MCGRAW, P.C.

By: /s/ Darin L. Brooks Darin L. Brooks 3

3061235.1 Texas Bar No. 00796252 dbrooks@grayreed.com John G. George, Jr. Texas Bar No. 24051944 jgeorge@grayreed.com Meagan W. Glover State Bar No. 24076769 mglover@grayreed.com 1300 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 2000 Houston, Texas 77056-3000 Telephone: (713) 986-7228 Facsimile: (713) 986-7100

3061235.1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on December 21, 2015, a true and correct copy of the forgoing instrument was served on all counsel-of-record via facsimile and the Court’s electronic filing service.

/s/ Darin L. Brooks Darin L. Brooks

3061235.1