Rosa Ena Cantu v. Southern Insurance Company and Steve Dollery

Opinion

ACCEPTED

03-15-00303-CV

7655680

THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

11/3/2015 11:01:55 AM

JEFFREY D. KYLE

CLERK

CASE NO. 03-15-00303-CV

FILED IN

3rd COURT OF APPEALS

IN THE THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 11/3/2015 11:01:55 AM

AUSTIN, TEXAS JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk

Rosa Ena Cantu, Appellant v.

Southern Insurance Company and Steve Dollery, Appellees

On Appeal from the 21st Judicial District Bastrop County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 053-21 Hon. Carson Campbell

Unopposed Motion to Extend Time to File Appellees’ Brief

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellees Southern Insurance Company and Steve Dollery ask the Court to

extend the time to file Appellees’ Brief.

1. Appellees are Southern Insurance Company and Steve Dollery;

Appellant is Rosa Ena Cantu.

2. There is no specific deadline to file this motion to extend time. See

Tex. R. App. P. 38.6(d). The Court may grant a motion to extend time to file a

brief and postpone submission of the case on a motion complying with Texas Rule

of Appellate Procedure 10.5(b). Id.

3. The deadline to file Appellees’ Brief is November 6, 2015. Appellees

request an additional thirty (30) days to file their brief, extending the time until

Monday, December 7, 2015. No previous extension of time has been granted to

file Appellees’ Brief.

4. The subject of this appeal is the trial court’s dismissal of the

underlying action based on dominant jurisdiction. This Court has already affirmed

a declaratory judgment in favor of Appellee Southern Insurance in the parties’

dispute. See Cantu v. Southern Ins. Co., No. 03-14-00533-CV, 2015 WL 5096858

(Tex. App.–Austin Aug. 25, 2015, no pet.). Although Appellees believe that

Appellant’s current appeal is without merit, a heavy briefing schedule, including

mandamus briefing in the Amarillo Court of Appeals; summary judgment briefing

in two federal cases; and an appellate brief in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of

Appeals, all due by the deadline for Appellees’ brief in this case, has left the

undersigned with insufficient time to adequately respond to the points raised in

Appellant’s brief by the current deadline. The Court granted Appellant two

extensions of time to file her brief in this appeal, which Appellees did not oppose.

Appellees therefore request a 30-day extension to prepare a brief that will better

assist the Court in its deliberations.

5. This request is not sought for the purpose of delay but so that justice

may be done.

3

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellees Southern Insurance

Company and Steve Dollery respectfully pray that the Court grant this motion to

and for such other and further relief to which Appellees may show themselves

justly entitled.

Respectfully submitted,

HANNA & PLAUT, L.L.P. 211 East Seventh Street, Suite 600 Austin, Texas 78701 Telephone: (512) 472-7700 Facsimile: (512) 472-0205

By: /s/ Eric S. Peabody

Catherine L. Hanna State Bar No. 08918280 channa@hannaplaut.com Eric S. Peabody State Bar No. 00789539 epeabody@hannaplaut.com Laura D. Tubbs State Bar No. 24052792 ltubbs@hannaplaut.com

COUNSEL FOR APPELLEES SOUTHERN INSURANCE COMPANY AND STEVE DOLLERY

4

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

On October 28, 2015, counsel for Appellees conferred with Audrey Guthrie, counsel for Appellant Rosa Ena Cantu, via email regarding this motion. Counsel for Appellant advised that she is unopposed to the relief sought.

/s/ Eric S. Peabody Eric S. Peabody

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Motion to Extend Time to File Appellees’ Brief has been forwarded by e-service and/or facsimile on the 3rd day of November, 2015 to:

Via Facsimile: (713) 467-8883 M. Chad Gerke Robert L. Collins Audrey E. Guthrie Email: houstonlaw2@aol.com P.O. Box 7726 Houston, Texas 77270-7726

Via Facsimile: (713) 467-8883 Christopher D. Lewis Email: houstonlaw2@aol.com 1721 West T.C. Jester Blvd. Houston, Texas 77008

Counsel for Appellant

/s/ Eric S. Peabody Eric S. Peabody