## In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas

at Fort Wor th

_____ ______________________ No. 02

- 24

- 00187

- CV

___________________________

On Appeal from the 67th District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 067

- 330985

- 21
Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Walker, JJ. Memoran dum Opin ion by Justice Walker 

### J OHNATHAN 

### C OOPER 

### , Appellant

V



### . J AMES 

### W

ARREN 

### S T



### . J OHN 

### , Appellee2 MEMORANDUM OPINION Appellant Jo h nathan Coo per filed his “ Plainti ff Prema ture Notice of Appeal ” with this court. In his notice, Cooper states that h e filed his notice pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Proc edure 27.1 “ in [an ] abunda nce of caution due to incarceration , no email, or access to receive up [

- ] to [

- ] da te rulings b y this court. ” He prays that we act upon his notice “ on ly on a detr [ i ] mental final or appealable order ” against him. However, Cooper d id not p rovide us wi t h an appealable order

. 1 Accordingly, w e informed C ooper of our concern that we lacked jurisdiction over this appeal

. We requested the parties to , within twenty days, provide us with a copy of an ap pealable ord er and warned that t he appeal would be dism issed for want
of jurisdiction if no such order was fur nished. Cooper respon ded to our letter and explain ed again that he had filed his premature notice of appeal “ in [an] abundance of
caution ” s o t hat he does not lose his ri ght to appeal any future detri mental ruling s agains t him. Coop er is apparently incarcerated and has concerns that t here might be a delay in mailing and processing his notice of appeal if he waits until a n appealable

1 While this appeal was pending, the trial court clerk provided us with a n
“ Interlocutory Order Granting In Part and Denying In Part Defendant ’ s No Evidence and Traditional Motions For Summa ry Judgment. ” I n that order, the trial court par tially grant ed summary judgment for Appellee James Warren St. John on cert ain of Cooper ’ s claims , but explicitly denied his motion for summary judgment as to Cooper ’ s pending contract claim. Thus, this order is not final and appealable nor is it
a n appeal able interlocutory order. See Matter of Marriage of Davis & Luo , No. 07

- 23

- 00396

- CV, 2023 WL 8470633, at *1 (Tex. App.

— Amarillo Dec. 6, 2023, no pet.) (mem. op.).3

order is eve ntually rendere d against him. He re iterated that his pre mature notice of
appe al “ should only be in effect upon any final or appealable ju dgment against ” him.
Rule 27.1 provides , in civil cases, that “ a pr emature ly filed notice of ap peal is

e ffecti ve and deemed filed on the day of, but after, the event that be gins the pe r iod for perfecting the appeal. ” Tex. R. App. P. 27.1(a). How ever, this r ule “ does not contemplate an appellate p lace holder until there is a final appea lable judgme nt
. ”
Ganeson v . Reeves , 236 S.W.3d 816, 817 (Tex. App.

— W aco 2007, pet. denied ).
Rule 27. 1 does not serve to require an appellate court to “ docket and hold an appeal open until there is an appealable judgment or order at some future date. ” Id .; see Burns
v. Burns , No. 12

- 22

- 00051

- CV, 2022 WL 1483623, at *1 (Tex. App.

— Tyler May 11, 2022, no pe t.) (mem . op.). Cooper concedes that there is no appealable judgment or order in this case and
instead asks us to use his premature notice of appeal as a n indefi nite place holder in
the event that such a judgment or order is eventually signed

. But w ithou t a final judgment or appealable order, we have no jurisdiction ove r his appeal. See Burns , 2022 WL 1483623, at *2. Thus, we dismiss this appeal for wan t of jurisdi ction. See
Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a) , 43.2(f). /s / Br ian Walker
Brian Walk er Justice
Delivered : June 13, 2024