State of Texas v. Arity 875, LLC

Opinion

ACCEPTED 15-25-00082-CV FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 8/11/2025 12:46 PM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE No. 15-25-00082-CV CLERK

In the Court of Appeals 15th AUSTIN, FILED IN COURT OF APPEALS TEXAS for the Fifteenth Judicial District8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Austin, Texas Clerk

State of Texas, Appellant, v. ARITY 875, LLC Appellee.

On Appeal from the 457th Judicial District Court, Montgomery County Trial Court Cause No. 25-01-00561

APPELLANT’S UNOPPOSED FIRST MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE APPELLANT’S REPLY BRIEF

TO THE HONORABLE FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellant, State of Texas, (“Appellant”) pursuant to Rule 10.5(b) and 38.6(d) of the Texas

Rules of Appellate Procedure files this unopposed first motion to extend time to file Appellant’s

reply brief on the merits by 20 days. Appellant respectfully shows the Court the following:

1. Appellant’s reply brief is currently due on August 25, 2025.

2. This is the first request for extension of time to file Appellant’s Reply Brief.

3. On May 27, 2025 this Court granted Appellant’s unopposed motion to extend time by 20

days to file Appellant’s opening brief.

4. On July 2, 2025 this Court granted Appellee’s unopposed motion to extend time by 20 days

to file Appellee’s brief. 5. On August 25, 2025, State of Texas attorney Rick Berlin is scheduled for trial in State of

Texas v. Happy Foot Spa, No. 2020-14987 (333rd Dist. Ct., Harris County, Tex. Mar. 3,

2020).

6. The undersigned conferred with Appellee’s counsel regarding this motion via email on

August 7, 2025, and Appellee confirmed on August 11, 2025, it is unopposed.

7. Appellant asks for this extension to fully prepare its reply brief. This request for an

extension of time is not made for the purpose of delay, but to permit Appellant time to

adequately prepare and submit a thorough reply brief that is helpful to the Court; no party

will be prejudiced if granted.

PRAYER

For these reasons, Appellant respectfully requests that the Court extend the deadline to file

its reply brief from August 25, 2025, to September 15, 2025.

2 Dated: August 11, 2025 Respectfully submitted,

KEN PAXTON /s/ Rick Berlin Attorney General of Texas RICK BERLIN (TX Bar No. 24055161) RICHARD MCCUTCHEON (TX Bar No. BRENT WEBSTER 24139547) First Assistant Attorney General MADELINE FOGEL (TX Bar No. 24141985) DANIEL ZWART (TX Bar No. 24070906) RALPH MOLINA KAYLIE BUETTNER (TX Bar No. 24109082) Deputy First Assistant Attorney General MEREDITH SPILLANE (TX Bar No. 24131685) Assistant Attorneys General AUSTIN KINGHORN OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation Consumer Protection Division 808 Travis Street, Suite 1520 JOHNATHAN STONE Houston, Texas 77002 Chief, Consumer Protection Division Tel: (713) 223-5886 Fax: (713) 223-5821 Rick.Berlin@oag.texas.gov Richard.McCutcheon@oag.texas.gov Madeline.Fogel@oag.texas.gov Daniel.Zwart@oag.texas.gov Kaylie.Buettner@oag.texas.gov Meredith.Spillane@oag.texas.gov

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT, THE STATE OF TEXAS

3 CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE As required by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.1(a)(5), I certify that I have conferred

with Kelsey Harclerode, attorney for Appellee Arity 875, LLC, who indicated that this motion is

unopposed.

/s/ Rick Berlin RICK BERLIN

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on August 11, 2025, the foregoing was electronically served, via the Court’s electronic filing system, on all defendants, by and through their attorneys:

W. Reid Wittliff Jake Sommer WITTLIFF CUTTER PLLC Kelsey Harclerode 510 Baylor St. ZWILLGEN PLLC Austin, TX 78703 1900 M Street NW, Suite 250 Tel: (512) 960-4866 Washington, D.C. 20036 Email: reid@wittliffcutter.com Tel: (202) 296-3585 Email: jake@zwillgen.com kelsey@zwillgen.com

Sudhir V. Rao ZWILLGEN PLLC 183 Madison Ave., Suite 1504 New York, NY 10016 Tel: (646) 362-5590 Email: sudhir.rao@zwillgen.com

Attorneys for Defendants

/s/ Rick Berlin RICK BERLIN

4 Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system. The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Carlos Fernandez on behalf of Richard Berlin Bar No. 24055161 carlos.fernandez@oag.texas.gov Envelope ID: 104211170 Filing Code Description: Motion Filing Description: 20250811 Motion to Extend Time to Reply Brief Status as of 8/11/2025 1:35 PM CST

Associated Case Party: State of Texas

Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status

Rick Berlin Rick.Berlin@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Daniel Zwart Daniel.Zwart@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Kaylie Buettner Kaylie.Buettner@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Zoann Willis zoann.willis@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Meredith Spillane Meredith.Spillane@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Zeilic Contreras Zeilic.Contreras@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Carlos Fernandez Carlos.Fernandez@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Madeline Fogel madeline.fogel@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Richard RMcCutcheon richard.mccutcheon@oag.texas.gov 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Case Contacts

Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status

Jonathan Hung johung@winston.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Eric Shinabarger EShinabarger@winston.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

W. Reid Wittliff reid@wittliffcutter.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Jake Sommer jake@zwillgen.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Kelsey Harclerode kelsey@zwillgen.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Sudhir V. Rao sudhir.rao@zwillgen.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Sean Wieber swieber@winston.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT

Kevin Simpson kpsimpson@winston.com 8/11/2025 12:46:11 PM SENT