NUMBER 13-18-00411-CV

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

CANDACE ROXANNE FLORES, Appellant,

v.

BRANSCOMB P.C. AND OMAR JAVIER LEAL, Appellees.

On appeal from the County Court at Law No. 2

of Nueces County, Texas.

ORDER ABATING APPEAL AND

REFERRING CASE TO MEDIATION

Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Hinojosa and Tijerina

Order Per Curiam

The case is before the Court on appellant’s unopposed motion for the court to order 

the parties to mediation. The Court, having examined and fully considered the motion, 

is of the opinion that said motion should be GRANTED. Accordingly, it is ORDERED 
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that this appeal be ABATED and this case be mediated under the following terms and 

conditions:

1. The parties must promptly agree upon a mediator and, within seven 

days of this Order, notify the Court in writing of the name and address of the 

mediator selected. If the parties are unable to agree upon a mediator, they 

must so notify the Court within the seven-day period and the Court will 

appoint a mediator.

2. All parties must confer with their mediator within seven days of the 

date of this Order, or in the case of a court appointed mediator, within seven 

days of the appointment of the mediator, to establish a date and place for 

the mediation. The parties shall agree on a date for the mediation that is 

consistent with the mediator’s schedule and is no later than thirty days after 

the date of this Order. In the event the parties cannot agree on a date, the 

mediator shall select and set a date. The mediator shall notify the Court of 

the date selected for the mediation.

3. In the discretion of the mediator, each party may be required to 

provide a confidential memorandum and/or information sheet setting forth 

the issues of the case and their positions on these issues. Additionally, 

upon request of the mediator, the parties shall produce all information the 

mediator deems necessary to understand the issues of the case. The 

memorandum and/or information sheet and other information produced to 

the mediator will not be made a part of the file in this case and will be 

destroyed by the mediator at the conclusion of the mediation proceeding.

4. All parties to this matter or their authorized representatives, 

accompanied by their counsel, must appear and attend the mediation 

proceeding. The mediation shall be for a full day. 

5. Mediation is a mandatory, non-binding settlement conference 

conducted with the assistance of a mediator. The mediation proceeding 

will be confidential within the meaning of the Texas Civil Practice and 

Remedies Code sections 154.053 and 154.073. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. &

REM. CODE ANN. §§ 154.053, 154.073.

6. Unless otherwise agreed, the mediation proceeding will not be 

recorded.

7. The mediator will negotiate a reasonable fee with the parties. The 

mediator's fee will be borne equally by the parties unless otherwise agreed 

by the parties, and will be paid directly to the mediator. If the parties do not 

agree upon the fee requested by the mediator, the court will set a 

reasonable fee, which shall be taxed as costs. Id. § 154.054.
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8. Within two days after the conclusion of the mediation, the mediator 

shall certify to this Court as follows: (a) whether the parties appeared as 

ordered, (b) whether the case settled, and (c) whether the mediation fees 

were paid in accordance with the court's order or as otherwise agreed by 

the parties.

9. If mediation fully resolves the issues in this case, the parties must file a 

joint or agreed motion seeking dispositive relief within seven days of the 

conclusion of the mediation. If the parties need more time to effectuate the 

terms of the settlement agreement, they must, within seven days of the 

conclusion of mediation, file a joint or agreed motion for an extension of time 

to file their disposition motion. 

It is FURTHER ORDERED that this case is ABATED pending this Court’s review 

of the mediator’s report and further order of this Court. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

PER CURIAM

Delivered and filed the

7th day of October, 2019.