Court Opinion

ID: 9961959
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-22 08:10:56.85624+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:19:30.021074
License: Public Domain

In the
                    Court of Appeals
            Second Appellate District of Texas
                     at Fort Worth
                 ___________________________
                      No. 02-24-00121-CV
                 ___________________________

   TEXAS FARM BUREAU UNDERWRITERS, A TEXAS CORPORATION,
                        Appellant

                                V.

GUADALUPE CASTRO, INDIVIDUALLY, AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS
               SIMILARLY SITUATED, Appellee

              On Appeal from the 342nd District Court
                      Tarrant County, Texas
                  Trial Court No. 342-335023-22

              Before Womack, Wallach, and Walker, JJ.
              Memorandum Opinion by Justice Womack
                           MEMORANDUM OPINION

      Appellant Texas Farm Bureau Underwriters, a Texas Corporation, appealed the

trial court’s interlocutory order granting a motion for class certification filed by

Appellee Guadalupe Castro, Individually, and on Behalf of All Others Similarly

Situated. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(3). After the notice of

appeal was filed, we received an order from the trial court vacating the order granting

Appellee’s motion for class certification. See Tex. R. App. P. 29.5 (“While an appeal

from an interlocutory order is pending, the trial court retains jurisdiction of the

case and . . . may make further orders, including one dissolving the order complained

of on appeal.”).

      “Appellate courts are prohibited from deciding moot controversies.” Nat’l

Collegiate Athletic Ass’n v. Jones, 1 S.W.3d 83, 86 (Tex. 1999). A case becomes moot if a

justiciable controversy ceases to exist at any stage of the legal proceedings, including

the appeal. In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 166 S.W.3d 732, 737 (Tex. 2005) (orig.

proceeding); Williams v. Lara, 52 S.W.3d 171, 184 (Tex. 2001).

      On March 21, 2024, we notified Appellant that its appeal appeared to be moot.

We informed Appellant that unless it filed a response by April 1, 2024, showing

grounds for continuing the appeal, we would dismiss it as moot. See Tex. R. App.

P. 44.3. Appellant has not filed a response. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal as

moot. See Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f); Alorica and Alorica, Inc. v. Jasso, No. 08-18-00158-

CV, 2018 WL 6191488, at *1 (Tex. App.—El Paso Nov. 28, 2018, no pet.) (mem. op.)

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(dismissing appeal from interlocutory order as moot where trial court vacated

interlocutory order while appeal was pending); Morris v. Madrigal, No. 13-15-00203-

CV, 2015 WL 3637841, at *1 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg June 11, 2015,

no pet.) (mem. op.) (“Because the trial court has vacated the order subject to appeal,

we conclude that this appeal has been rendered moot.”).

                                                    /s/ Dana Womack

                                                    Dana Womack
                                                    Justice

Delivered: April 18, 2024

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