No. 01

- 14

- 00027

- CV

IN THE FIRST COURT OF APPEALS

TORY HOUSE, ET AL., Appellant s
v. THE O’QUINN LAW FIRM, JOHN M. O’QUINN & ASSOCIATES, L.L.P., AND T. GERALD TREECE , AS INDEPENDENT EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF JOHN M. O’QUINN, DECEASED, A ppellees
Appeal from Cause No. 392,247

- 414 In Probate Court No. 2 of Harris County, Texas

MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE BRIEF OF APPELLEES THE O’QUINN LAW FIRM, JOHN M. O’QUINN

& ASSOCIATES, L.L.P, AND T. GERALD TREECE AS INDEPENDENT EXECUTOR OF THE ESTAT E OF JOHN M. O’QUINN, DECEASED

Levon G. Hovnatanian Texas Bar No. 10059825 hovnatanian@mdjwlaw.com Dale Jefferson Texas Bar No. 10607900 jefferson@mdjwlaw.com Bruce E. Ramage Texas Bar No. 16492500

ramage@mdjwlaw.com Raul H. Suazo Texas Bar No. 24003021

suazo@mdjwlaw.com M ARTIN , D ISIERE , J EFFERSON & W ISDOM , L.L.P. 808 Travis, 20th Floor Houston, Texas 77002 (713) 632

- 1700 – Telephone (713) 222

- 0101 – Facsimile
Kenneth R. Breitbeil Texas Bar No. 02947690 kbreitbeil@mcfall

- law.com Norma N. Bennett Texas Bar No. 24028492 nbennett@mcfall

- law.com M C F ALL , B REITBEIL & E IDMAN , P.C. 1331 Lamar Street , Suite 1250 Houston, T exas 77010 ( 713 ) 590

- 9300 – Telephone (713) 590

- 9399 – Facsimile ACCEPTED 01-14-00027-CV FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 1/13/2015 5:03:02 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE

CLERK1 TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

Come now a ppellee s T he O’Quinn Law Firm, John M. O’Quinn &

Associates, L.L.P., and T. Gerald Treece
, as Independent Executor of The Estate of

John M. O’Quinn, Deceased (“ A ppellee s ”)
, a nd respectfully move for a 42

- day

extension of time to file t h e i r brief. The Appellees have requested a n d received

one previous extension of time (of 30 days) to file thei r brief.

The current deadline for the A ppellee s ’ brief is Friday, December 19 , 201 4

.
This motion is e

- filed on Tu e sday
, January 13 , 201 5 , and is therefore timely filed.

See T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 38.6(d) (“A motion to extend the time to file a brief may be

filed before or after the date a brief is due.”).
The facts reasonably relied upon to explain the need for a 42

- day extension

of time are as follows. First, over the Christmas holidays Appellees’ cou nsel

Levon Hovnatanian began experiencing excruciating back and leg pain

. Mr.
Hovnatanian was taken to an emergency room where his condition was diagnosed
as a herniated disk. He was placed on strong pain medication for several days,
followed up with a n eurologist, had an MRI , and is to begin physical therapy when

able. These circumstances have negatively affected the amount of time Mr.
Hovnatanian has been able to spend in the office.

Second, as managing partner of his law firm, Mr. Hovnatanian has bee n
obligated to undertake and complete pressing end

- of

- the

- year firm administrative2 matters. This year, as in past years, these issues commenced during the late days
of November, continued through the month of December, and will conclude in late
January, 2 015.

Third, along with his current physical disorder and seasonal administrative

duties
, Mr. Hovnatanian , when able, has performed the following recent legal

work:

1

. Mr. Hovnatanian is assisting in preparing the appellant’s reply brief, due on January 29 , 2015
, in Cause No. 01

- 14

- 00133

- CV; United Services Automobile Association v. Joseph Hayes, Jr. and Joanne Hayes ; in the First Court of Appeals.

2

. Mr. Hovnatanian assisted in the filing on Ja nuary 12, 2015, of the appellants’ reply brief in Cause No. 01

- 13

- 00963

- CV; Medical Discount Pharmacy, L.P., LifeChek Rosenberg GP, Inc., LifeChek, Inc., and Bruce V. Gingrich, Individually, Appellants v. State of Texas, Appellee ; in the First Court of Appeals.

3. Mr. Hovnatani an prepared, and, on December 15, 2014, filed the response to the petition for review on behalf of respondent Safeco Surplus Lines, in Case No. 14

- 08442; Mohammed Khan, Petitioner v. Safeco Surplus Lines, Crawford & Company and Gary Whightsil, Respondents ; in the Supreme Court of Texas.

4. Mr. Hovnatanian assisted in preparing the appellees’ brief in Cause No. 14

- 20224; Ambre Bodle, Leslie Meech, Plaintiffs

– Appellants v. TXL Mortgage Corporation, William Dale Couch, Individually, Defendants

– Appellees ; in t he United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit , which was filed with corrections on December 2, 2014.3 Based on the above, The O’Quinn Law Firm, John M. O’Quinn &

Associates, L.L.P., and T. Gerald Treece
, as Independent Executor of The Estate of

John M. O’Quinn, Deceased, respectfully request a 42

- day extension of time to file

t h e i r brief , that is, to and including Friday
, January 30 , 201 5

. Respectfully submitted,

M ARTIN , D ISIERE , J EFFERSON & W ISDOM , L.L .P.

By: /s/ Levon G. Hovnatanian Levon G. Hovnatanian State Bar No. 10059825 hovnatanian@mdjwlaw.com Bruce E. Ramage Texas Bar No. 16492500 ramage@mdjwlaw.com 808 Travis, 20th Floor Houston, Texas 77002 Telephone: (713) 632

- 1700 Facsimile: (713) 222

- 0101

ATTORNEYS FOR T. GERALD TREECE , AS INDEPENDENT EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF JOHN M. O’QUINN, DECEASED4 By: /s/ Kenneth R. Breitbeil Kenneth R. Breitbeil Texas Bar No. 02947690 kbreitbeil@mcfall

- law.com Norma N. Bennett Texas Bar No. 24028492 nbennett@mcfall

- law.com M C F ALL , B REITBEIL & E IDMAN , P.C. 1331 Lamar Street, Suite 1250 Houston, T exas 77010 Telephone: ( 713 ) 590

- 9300 Facsimile: (713) 590

- 9399

ATTORNEYS FOR THE O’QUINN LAW FIRM AND JOHN M . O’QUINN & ASSOCIATES, L.L.P.

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE
This is to certify that I attempted to contact Mr. M artin Siegel, counsel for appell ant s Tory House
, et al., on January 13, 2015 , regarding whether he opposes this motion
, but could not reach him.

By: /s/ Levon G. Hovnatanian Levon G. Hovnatanian

C E R T I F I CA TE OF C O MP L I ANCE

T h i s i s t o ce r ti fy t h at t h i s c o m put e r

- g e n er a t e d motion for extension of time to file brief of appellee s c o n t a in s 518 w o r d s.

By: /s/ Levon G. Hovnatanian Levon G. Hovnatanian January 13, 20155 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing motion for extension of time to file brief of appellees ha s been served upon the following counsel of record via the method (s) indicated on this, the 13 th day of January
, 20 1 5

. Martin J. Siegel martin@siegelfirm.com L AW O FFICES O F M ARTIN J. S IEGEL 700 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300 Houston, TX 77002 (via e

- Filing and e

- mail) (Attorney for Appellant s Tory House, et al. )
Jerry Pusch pusch@midtownlaw.net L AW O FFICE OF J ERRY P USCH 2701 Louisiana Street Houston, TX 77006 (via e

- Filing and e

- mail) (Attorney for Appellants Tory House, et al.)

Jim Peacock jimpeacock@msn.com L AW O FFICES OF J IM L. P EACOCK 112 East 4th Street Houston, TX 77007

- 2502 (via e

- Filing and e

- mail) (Attorney for Appellee Abel Manji)

By: /s/ Levon G. Hovnatanian Levon G. Hovnatanian