NUMBER 13-21-00148-CV

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG 

 

LOIS HOLLMAN, Appellant,

v.

KLEBERG COUNTY, TEXAS, Appellee.

On appeal from the 105th District Court

of Kleberg County, Texas.

ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND 

REFERRING CASE TO MEDIATION

Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Benavides and Silva

Order Per Curiam

This cause is before the Court on a joint motion to abate for mediaton. Upon review 

of said motion, the Court has determined that it should be granted. Accordingly, it is 

ORDERED 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 

fourteen days of this Order, notify the Court in writing of the name 
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and address of the mediator selected. If the parties are unable to 

agree upon a mediator, they must so notify the Court within the 

fourteen-day period and the Court will appoint a mediator.

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

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

fourteen 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. In accordance with the Supreme Court of 

Texas’s Emergency Orders Regarding the Covid-19 State of 

Disaster, the parties may elect to attend the mediation remotely by 

teleconference or videoconference. 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. 

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 fourteen 

days of the conclusion of the mediation. If the parties need more time 

to effectuate the terms of the settlement agreement, they must, within 

fourteen 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. 

PER CURIAM

Delivered and filed the 

24th day of August, 2021.