Court Opinion

ID: 9376616
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-03 10:08:37.39623+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:07.857236
License: Public Domain

IN THE
                           TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

                                  No. 10-23-00029-CV

             IN RE RICHARD DE LEON, JR., INDIVIDUALLY
            AND D/B/A SURVEY SOLUTIONS OF TEXAS AND
                         XAVIER CHAPA

                           From the County Court at Law
                               Walker County, Texas
                              Trial Court No. 13897CV

                              DISSENTING OPINION

       Chief Justice Gray dissents. A separate opinion, as such, will not issue, but he

provides this note to explain his vote. He notes that if the trial court's denial of relator's

motion to dismiss for failure to provide an adequate certificate of merit is reversed in the

interlocutory appeal currently pending at this Court, the resources, and more specifically

the time, expended to take those depositions is lost forever; and there is no remedy that

any human can provide for that loss. The real parties in interest have alleged no injury

in their response that would be caused by the delay to engage in this discovery until the

pending interlocutory appeal is decided. Accordingly, Chief Justice Gray would grant

the petition and issue a writ of mandamus, ordering the trial court to withdraw its order
compelling the relators to appear for depositions and to engage in other discovery,

pending the disposition of the interlocutory appeal to determine if the real parties in

interest's claims will be dismissed in their entirety. If the claims should have been

dismissed, as will be determined in the interlocutory appeal, there is absolutely no reason

to compel the relators to engage in discovery. Therefore, Chief Justice Gray respectfully

dissents to the denial of the petition for a writ of mandamus. 1

                                                  TOM GRAY
                                                  Chief Justice

Dissenting opinion delivered and filed March 1, 2023

1Surely the summary denial in this mandamus proceeding is not solely because the relators might possibly
have obtained some of the requested relief by filing a motion to stay the trial court's order in the currently
pending interlocutory appeal.

In re De Leon                                                                                          Page 2