William T. Kiper v. Juan Carlos Gomez-Figueroa

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 9th District (Beaumont)
• Decided: January 22, 2026
• Docket: 09-25-00366-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

__________________

NO. 09-25-00366-CV __________________

WILLIAM T. KIPER, Appellant

V.

JUAN CARLOS GOMEZ-FIGUEROA, Appellee

__________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 457th District Court Montgomery County, Texas Trial Cause No. 25-04-05162 __________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant William T. Kiper filed a notice of appeal from an order denying a

motion for summary judgment. Appellee Juan Carlos Gomez-Figueroa filed a

motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. Kiper did not file a response. Generally,

appeals may be taken only from final judgments or interlocutory orders that are

otherwise appealable by statute. Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195,

200 (Tex. 2001); see Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 51.012 (appeal from

final judgment), 51.014 (authorizes accelerated appeals from certain interlocutory

1 orders). A judgment or order is final if it disposes of every pending claim and party.

Lehmann, 39 S.W.3d at 205. An order denying a motion for summary judgment does

not finally dispose of the plaintiff’s claims. Appellate courts have jurisdiction over

appeals from interlocutory orders only if a statute explicitly provides such

jurisdiction. See Tex. A & M Univ. Sys. v. Koseoglu, 233 S.W.3d 835, 840 (Tex.

2007). A denial of a motion for summary judgment is not a final judgment and it is

therefore generally not appealable. Cincinnati Life Ins. Co. v. Cates, 927 S.W.2d

623, 625 (Tex. 1996); Mitchell v. Thomas, No. 09-24-00035-CV, 2026 Tex. App.

LEXIS 140, *12 (Tex. App.—Beaumont Jan. 8, 2026, no pet. h.) (mem. op.)

(“Absent a final judgment, we do not have jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal,

unless authorized by statute.”); Brannon v. Kaur, No. 05-20-00718-CV, 2020 Tex.

App. LEXIS 7657, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Sept. 21, 2020, no pet.) (mem. op.).

Accordingly, we grant the motion and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See

Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f).

APPEAL DISMISSED.

PER CURIAM

Submitted on January 21, 2026 Opinion Delivered January 22, 2026

Before Golemon, C.J., Johnson and Wright, JJ.