No. 03

- 14

- 00 782

- CV

In The Court Of Appeals For The Third Court Of Appeals Austin, Texas

SANTANDER CONSUMER USA, INC., Appellant,

v.

MARIO A. MATA, CENTROPLEX AUTOMOBILE RECOVERY, INC., JOHN F. THOMPSON d/b/a CENTROPLEX AUTOMOBILE RECOVERY, INC., REDSHIFT INVESTIGATION INC.,

and BLAKE THORNTON VANDUSEN, Appellee s.

O N A PPEAL FROM THE 353 RD J UDICIAL D ISTRICT C OURT

, T RAVIS C OUNTY

, T EXAS
T RIAL C OURT
C AUSE N O

. D-1- GN

- 13

- 000677

MOTIO N FOR LEAVE TO AMEND AND SUPPLEM ENT BRIEF

OF PLAINTIFF

- APPELLEE MARIO A. MA TA

E. J ASON B ILLICK , SBN: 24078230

W ILLIAM B. G AMMON , SBN: 07611280

G AMMON L AW O FFICE

, PLLC

1201 Spyglass Drive, Ste. 100 Austin, Texas 78746 Phone: (512) 472

- 8909 Fax: (888) 545

- 4279 firm@gammonlawoffice.com ACCEPTED
03-14-00782-CV

6882539
THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS
9/11/2015 10:50:29 AM

JEFFREY D. KYLE

CLERK1 TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF THIS COURT :

E. Jason Billick and William B. Gammon of the G AMMON L AW O FFICE

,

attorneys of record for Appellee Mario A. Mata, file this Motion for Leave to

Amend and Supplement Brief of Plaintiff

- Appellee Mario A. Mata pursuant to

Texa s Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.7

. Appellee Mario A. Mata respectfully asks

this Court leave to amend and supplement his brief on or before Tuesday,

September 15, 2015, at 5:00 PM. In support, Appellee states as follows:

RELEVANT FACTS

1. On February 17, 2015, Appellee Mario A. Mata filed his Brief of Plaintiff

Appellee, Pro Se

.

2. On March 9, 2015, Appellant Santander Consumer USA, Inc. filed its

Reply Brief of Appellant to Brief of Appellee, Mario A. Mata. To date,

there have been no other brief submissions.

3. On April 10, 2015, the Gammon Law Office, PLLC, filed its appearance in

this Court on behalf of Appellee Mario A. Mata.

4. On August 26, 2015, this Court set this matter for oral argument on

September 23, 2015 at 1:30 PM.

ARGUMENT

5. This C ourt has held that "[a] brief may be amended or supplemented

whenever justice requires, on whatever reasonable terms the court may2 prescribe." Majeed v. Hussain , 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 8477, *26 (Tex.

App. Austin Oct. 22, 2010) (citing T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 38.7). Generally, "a

party must seek leave of court to file an amended or supplemental brief,

and the appellate court has some discretion in deciding whether to allow

the filing." Standard Fruit & Vegetable Co. v. Johnson , 985 S.W.2d 62, 65

(Tex. 1998).

6. Here, Appellee Mario A. Mata’s counsel did not file an appearance until

after Maria A. Mata filed his brief pro se . Counsel has conducted an in

depth evaluation of the appeal in anticipation of the September 23, 2015,

oral argument

. Counsel has determined Mario A. Mata’s brief must be

amended and supplemented so that it may accurately "acquaint the court

with the issues in [this] case and...present [an] argument that will enable

the court to decide the case.” T EX

. R. A PP

. P. 38.9

.

7. Specifically, counsel for Appellee Mario A. Mata would like to raise an

argument with regard to the issue of whether there is a valid agreement to

arbitrate. Here, Plaintiff

- Appellee has brought suit against Appellant, in

relevant part, for breach

- of

- contract. The Court of Appeals of Texas for the

Eighth District has held:

Because arbitration is a creature of contract, we apply standard contract principles to determine the enforceability of arbitration

agreements. See Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin Mfg

. , 388 U.S. 395, 404 n.12 , 87 S. Ct. 1801, 1806 n.12, 18 L. Ed. 2d 12703 (1967); Ysleta Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Godinez , 998 S.W.2d 700, 702 (Tex. App.

-- El Paso 1999, no pet.). "A fundamental principle of contract law is that when one party to a contract commits a material

breach of t hat contract, the other party is discharged or excused from any obligation to perform." Hernandez v. Gulf Group Lloyds , 875 S.W.2d 691, 692, 37 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 731 (Tex. 1994). Thus, because material breach is a ground for revoking a contract, it should b e a ground for revoking an arbitration agreement

.

Tri

- Star Petroleum Co. v. Tipperary Corp ., 107 S.W.3d 607, 612

- 613 (Tex. App. El Paso 2003 , pet. denied ) (emphasis added)

.

8. Appellant has brought this appeal with unclean hands. It attempts to rely

upon an agreement it breached several years ago. Therefore, Appellee

Mario A. Mata should, at the very least, be afforded the opportunity to

amend and supplement his brief to adequat ely present this argument.

9. Appellant is correct that the question of whether an enforceable agreement

to arbitrate exists is a legal question that the appellate court reviews de

novo. Rachal v. Reitz , 403 S.W.3d 840, 843 (Tex. 2013). Therefore, there

are some legal arguments Appellee Mario A. Mata may raise for the first

time on this appeal.

10. Appellee Mario A. Mata respectfully asks this Court leave to amend and

supplement its brief. Counsel for Appellee Mario A. Mata believes a

supplemental and amended br ief can be filed no later than Tuesday,

September 15, 2015, at 5:00 PM.4 Respectfully submitted,

/s/ E. Jason Billick

E. J ASON B ILLICK , SBN: 24078230

W ILLIAM B. G AMMON , SBN: 07611280

G AMMON L AW O FFICE

, PLLC 1201 Spyglass Drive, Ste. 100 Austin, Texas 78746 Phone: (512) 472

- 8909 Fax: (888) 545

- 4279 firm@gammonlawoffice.com

Counsel for Appellee Mario A. Mata5 CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

Pursuant to Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 10.1(a)(5), I hereby certify that our office has conferred, or made a reasonable attempt to confer, with all other parties which are listed below about the merits of this motion on the 10 th day of September, 2 015.

David L. Treat , SBN: 20205300

L INDOW S TEPHENS T REAT

, LLP

A TTORNEY FOR A PPELLEE R ED S HIFT Method of contact: Email and telephone

Results: Attorney for Appellee advised that they oppose this motion

.

Karen C. Burgess , SBN: 00796276

R ICHARDSON + B URGESS

, LLP

A TTORNEY FOR A PPELLEES C ENTROPLEX A UTOMOBILE R ECOVERY

, I NC

. AND
J OHN F. T HOMPSON Method of contact: Email and telephone

Results: Attorney for Appellee advis ed that they oppose this motion.

John S. Kenefick, SBN: 24006294

M AC D ONALD D EVIN

, P.C

A TTORNEY FOR A PPELLEE B LAKE T HORNTON V ANDUSEN Method of contact: Email and telephone

Results: Attorney for Appellee advised that they do not oppose this motion.

Vicki W. Hart, SBN: 24046037

D EVIN

, N AYLOR & T URBYFILL

, PLLC

A TTORNEY FOR A PPELLANT S ANTANDER C ONSUMER USA, I NC

. Method of contact: Telephone

Results: Attorney for Appellant advised that they oppose this motion.

/s/ E. Jason Billick

E. Jason Billick6 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing instrument has been

served by Pro

- Doc e

- service or facsimile on this the 1 1 th day of September 2015 :

Christopher A. Lotz Karen C. Burgess

David L. Treat R ICHARDSON + B URGESS

, L L P

L INDOW S TEPHENS T REAT

, L L P 221 West 6 th Street, Suite 900 The Vogue Building Austin, Texas 78701 600 Navarro Street, Sixth Floor Tel : (512) 482

- 8808

San Antonio , Texas 78205 Fax: (512) 499

- 8886

Tel : (210) 227

- 2200 kburgess@richardsonburgess.com

Fax: (210) 227

- 4602 Attorney for Appellees Centroplex

clotz@1stlaw.com Automobile Recovery, Inc. and

dlt@1stlaw.com John F. Thompson Attorneys for Appellee Red Shift Investigation, Inc.

John S. Kenefick Donald L. Turbyfill John R. Sigety Deborah C. S. Riherd

M AC D ONALD D EVIN

, P.C. Vicki W. Hart

3800 Renaissance Tower D EVIN

, N AYLOR & T URBYFILL

, 1201 Elm Street PLLC

Dallas , Texas 75270 4801 Woodway, Suite 420

- West

Tel : (214) 744

- 3300 Houston, Texas 77056

Fax: (214) 747

- 0942 Tel: (713) 622

- 8338 jkeneifick @macdonalddevin.com Fax: (713) 586

- 7053 jsigety@macdonalddevin.com dturbyfil@dntlaw.com Attorneys for Appellee driherd@dntlaw.com

Blake Thornton Vandusen vhart@dntlaw.com Attorneys for Appellant Santander Consumer USA, Inc.

/s/ E. Jason Billick

E. Jason Billick