Walter, James A. v. 21st Century Insurance Company

Opinion

Affirm and Opinion Filed October 31, 2013

S In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-12-01293-CV

JAMES A. WALTERS, Appellant V. 21ST CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY, OLD AMERICAN COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, AND KATRESIA RUSH, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS CLAIMS REPRESENTATIVE OF OLD AMERICAN COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellees

On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 1 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. CC-10-08240-A

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices FitzGerald, Francis, and Myers Opinion by Justice Francis James A. Walters appeals the trial court’s order granting appellees’ motion for summary

judgment and dismissing his claims against them. We affirm.

After appellant filed his brief, this Court notified him by letter that the brief contained

several deficiencies, including a failure to provide record references in the statement of the case

and the statement of facts and a failure to provide appropriate citations to authorities in the

argument. Thereafter, appellant filed an amended brief, which is now before this Court.

The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure control the required content and organization for

an appellant’s brief. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.1. Among other things, the brief must contain (1) a

statement of the case supported by record references, (2) a statement of facts supported by record references, and (3) an argument for the contentions with appropriate citations to authorities and

to the record. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.1(d), (g), and (i). We are not responsible for identifying

possible trial court error, searching the record for facts that may be favorable to a party’s

position, or doing the legal research that might support a party’s position. See Bolling v.

Farmers Branch Indep. Sch. Dist., 315 S.W.3d 893, 895 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2010, no pet.). We

may not speculate as to the substance of the specific issues asserted by an appellant and may not

make a party’s arguments for him. Strange v. Cont’l Cas. Co., 126 S.W.3d 676, 678 (Tex.

App.—Dallas 2004, pet. denied). An appellant’s failure to cite legal authority or provide

substantive analysis of a legal issue results in waiver of the complaint. Fredonia State Bank v.

Gen. Am. Life Ins. Co., 881 S.W.2d 279, 284 (Tex. 1994) (observing that error may be waived by

inadequate briefing); Huey v. Huey, 200 S.W.3d 851, 854 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2006, no pet.).

Here, appellant’s statement of the case and statement of facts in the amended brief

contain no citations to the 620-page clerk’s record. Although his two-page argument section,

which presumably was intended to address all seven of his issues, lists three statutes and five

federal cases, it does not provide any substantive analysis of any legal issues as they relate to the

facts of this case nor is there any citation to the record. Although appellant was given an

opportunity to correct the deficiencies in his brief, he failed to do so. Because appellant has

failed to file a brief that complies with the rules of appellate procedure, he has waived his issues

on appeal.

We affirm the trial court’s order.

/Molly Francis 121293F.P05 MOLLY FRANCIS JUSTICE

–2– S Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas JUDGMENT

JAMES A. WALTERS, Appellant On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 1, Dallas County, Texas No. 05-12-01293-CV V. Trial Court Cause No. CC-10-08240-A. Opinion delivered by Justice Francis; 21ST CENTURY INSURANCE Justices FitzGerald and Myers participating. COMPANY, OLD AMERICAN COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, AND KATRESIA RUSH, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS CLAIMS REPRESENTATIVE OF OLD AMERICAN COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellees

In accordance with this Court’s opinion of this date, the order of the trial court is AFFIRMED. It is ORDERED that appellees 21ST CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY, OLD AMERICAN COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, AND KATRESIA RUSH, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS CLAIMS REPRESENTATIVE OF OLD AMERICAN COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, recover their costs of this appeal from appellant JAMES A. WALTERS.

Judgment entered October 31, 2013

/Molly Francis/ MOLLY FRANCIS JUSTICE

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