Court Opinion

ID: 9894263
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-01 07:08:56.874824+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:27.387379
License: Public Domain

DISMISS and Opinion Filed October 25, 2023

                                            S   In The
                                 Court of Appeals
                          Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
                                      No. 05-23-00641-CV

        ALEE PENCE, LAUREN TROMMER, AND SHAUN BELCHER,
                            Appellants
                               V.
               CARRIE VALK A/N/F OF G.W.B.V., Appellee

                   On Appeal from the 439th Judicial District Court
                              Rockwall County, Texas
                         Trial Court Cause No. 1-23-0428

                          MEMORANDUM OPINION
        Before Chief Justice Burns, Justice Pedersen, III, and Justice Goldstein
                           Opinion by Chief Justice Burns
        This appeal challenges the trial court’s order granting appellee’s verified

petition to take the pre-suit depositions of appellants, her son’s former teacher and

two of her son’s former special education paraprofessionals.1 See TEX. R. CIV. P.

202. Because the order is not appealable, we dismiss the appeal for want of

jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a).

    1
     Appellee also sought to depose the school district’s director of human services, but the trial court
denied the petition as to him.
                                 BACKGROUND

      Appellee filed the petition after her son, a child with Down Syndrome, began

coming home from school soiled and began “fussing” about going to school, and

after she watched a video of her son in the classroom being mistreated “at the hands

of his previous teacher” and by his classmates, who were being encouraged by a

paraprofessional to kick him. As reflected in the record, appellee sought to depose

appellants to investigate potential claims against the school district; school district

employees, both within and outside their scope of employment; and third parties.

Among the specific claims she sought to investigate were whether any school staff

(1) engaged in discriminatory behavior, (2) assaulted or caused any third party to

assault her son, and (3) acted in concert with each other or third parties to conceal

their misconduct. Following a hearing, the trial court granted the petition as to

appellants.

                                   DISCUSSION

      It is well-settled that an appeal may be taken only from final orders that

dispose of all parties and claims or interlocutory orders as authorized by statute. See

Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001). An order on a petition

for pre-suit deposition is final and appealable if the deposition is sought from

someone against whom suit is not anticipated, as the order disposes of the only issue

between the parties—discovery. In re Jorden, 249 S.W.3d 416, 419 (Tex. 2008)

(orig. proceeding); IFS Sec. Grp., Inc. v. Am. Equity Ins. Co., 175 S.W.3d 560, 562

                                         –2–
(Tex. App.—Dallas 2005, no pet.). If the deposition is sought from an anticipated

defendant, the order is deemed ancillary to the subsequent suit and is neither final

nor otherwise appealable. In re Jorden, 249 S.W.3d at 419.

       Because it appeared from the record that appellants are anticipated defendants,

we questioned our jurisdiction over the appeal. At our direction, appellants filed a

letter brief,2 but nothing in the letter brief demonstrates our jurisdiction.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a); In re Jorden, 249

S.W.3d at 419.

                                                    /Robert D. Burns, III/
                                                    ROBERT D. BURNS, III
230641F.P05                                         CHIEF JUSTICE

   2
     Appellants also filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the event we determined the order was not
appealable. See In re Jorden, 249 S.W.3d at 419. The petition was docketed cause number 05-23-00817-
CV.

                                                 –3–
                                  S
                           Court of Appeals
                    Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
                                 JUDGMENT

ALEE PENCE, LAUREN                          On Appeal from the 439th Judicial
TROMMER, AND SHAUN                          District Court, Rockwall County,
BELCHER, Appellants                         Texas
No. 05-23-00641-CV  V.                      Trial Court Cause No. 1-23-0428.
                                            Opinion delivered by Chief Justice
CARRIE VALK A/N/F OF                        Burns, Justices Pedersen, III and
G.W.B.V., Appellee                          Goldstein participating.

      In accordance with this Court’s opinion of this date, we DISMISS the appeal.

      We ORDER that appellee Carrie Valk a/n/f of G.W.B.V. recover her costs, if
any, of this appeal from appellants Alee Pence, Lauren Trommer, and Shaun
Belcher.

Judgment entered October 25, 2023.

                                      –4–