Court Opinion

ID: 4053180
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2016-09-29 03:08:28.312508+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:29.986336
License: Public Domain

ACCEPTED
                                                                                   01-15-00158-CV
                                                                          FIRST COURT OF APPEALS
                                                                                 HOUSTON, TEXAS
                                                                              3/9/2015 10:01:10 AM
                                                                               CHRISTOPHER PRINE
                                                                                            CLERK

                             CAUSE NO. 1-15-00158-CV
                  ______________________________________________
                                                               FILED IN
  IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST DISTRICT  1st COURT
                                                         OF OF   APPEALS
                                                              TEXAS
                                                      HOUSTON, TEXAS
                       AT HOUSTON, TEXAS          3/9/2015 10:01:10 AM
          ______________________________________________
                                                  CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
                                                                Clerk
                           CANDICE SCHWAGER, Pro Se
                                   Appellant

                                        V.

   CAROL ANNE MANLEY, DAVID PETERSON, SILVERADO SENIOR
   LIVING, INC. D/B/A SILVERADO LIVING CENTER-SUGAR LAND
                            Appellees
         ______________________________________________

   APPELLEE'S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION
         ______________________________________________
                                      C. Henry Kollenberg
                                      State Bar No. 11667800
                                      kollenberg@craincaton.com
                                      Sarah Patel Pacheco
                                      State Bar No. 00788164
                                      pacheco-efile@craincaton.com
                                      Kathleen Tanner Beduze
                                      State Bar No. 24052205
                                      beduze-efile@craincaton.com
                                      Crain, Caton & James, P.C.
                                      1401 McKinney St., Suite 1700
                                      Houston, Texas 77010
                                      (713) 658-2323 (Telephone)
                                      (713) 658-1921 (Facsimile)
                                      ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEES

ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED

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                                        TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ I

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................................................................ II

OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................1

ARGUMENT & AUTHORITY ..............................................................................2

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE ....................................................................7

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE ....................................................................7

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ..............................................................................8

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                                      TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

Bison Bldg. Materials, Ltd. v. Aldridge, 422 S.W.3d 582 (Tex. 2012).......................2

Jones v. Louis Vuitton Houston Galleria, 01-14-00403-CV, 2014 WL 2593442
  (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] June 10, 2014) ............................................... 4, 8

Riggs v. Perlman, 01-13-00974-CV, 2014 WL 2627841 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st
  Dist.] June 12, 2014) ...............................................................................................4

Stary v. DeBord, 967 S.W.2d 352 (Tex. 1998) ...........................................................2

Statutes

TEX. CIV. P & REM. CODE, §74.351(a) ........................................................................4

TEX. CIV. P. & REM. CODE, CHAPTER 10 ....................................................................5

TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE, §51.014 ................................................................ 2, 3

Rules

TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a)................................................................................................5

TEX. R. APP. P. 43.4. ...................................................................................................5

TEX. R. CIV. P., Rule 91(a)..................................................................................... 3, 4

Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.7 .....................................5

                                                            II
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                                        OVERVIEW

         1.       On February 9, 2015, Candice Schwager (“Appellant Schwager”), pro

se, filed a Notice of Appeal1 in Cause No. 1-15-00157-CV in which she complains

of five interlocutory orders entered by Probate Court One (1) of Harris County,

Texas. These orders are as follows:

         a.       Order granting Silverado Senior Living, Inc. d/b/a Silverado Senior
                  Living – Sugar Land's (“Silverado”) Rule 91a motion to dismiss;

         b.       Order denying motion to reconsider 91a motion to dismiss and motion
                  for sanctions, signed on January 9, 2015;

         c.       Order granting Silverado's first amended plea to the jurisdiction, signed
                  on January 9, 2015;

         d.       Order granting Sanctions against Candice Schwager under Texas Rule
                  of Civil Procedure 10 for $5000.00 signed November 10, 2014,
                  reconsideration denied January 9, 2015; and

         e.       Order granting Sanctions against Candice Schwager under Rule 3.7 of
                  the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct for $10,000,
                  dated November 10, 2014, reconsideration denied January 9, 2015.

         2.       This Court does not have jurisdiction to hear this appeal because a final

judgment has not been entered by the Honorable Judge Loyd Wright, presiding

judge of Harris County Probate Court One (1), a statutory probate court.

         3.       Accordingly, Appellant Schwager’s appeal should be dismissed for

lack of jurisdiction.

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                              ARGUMENT & AUTHORITY

         4.       Texas appellate courts only have jurisdiction to review final judgments;

interlocutory orders are appealable only if specified by statute. See Bison Bldg.

Materials, Ltd. v. Aldridge, 422 S.W.3d 582, 585 (Tex. 2012); Stary v. DeBord, 967
S.W.2d 352, 352-353 (Tex. 1998). The orders Appellant Schwager appeals in the

instant matter are not a final judgment, and no statute allows for an interlocutory

appeal in this case. Id.

         5.       Section 51.014 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code provides

as follows:

         A person may appeal from an interlocutory order of a district court,
         county court at law, statutory probate court, or county court that:
               (1) appoints a receiver or trustee;
               (2) overrules a motion to vacate an order that appoints a
                      receiver or trustee;
               (3) certifies or refuses to certify a class in a suit brought under
                      Rule 42 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure;
               (4) grants or refuses a temporary injunction or grants or
                      overrules a motion to dissolve a temporary injunction as
                      provided by Chapter 65;
               (5) denies a motion for summary judgment that is based on an
                      assertion of immunity by an individual who is an officer
                      or employee of the state or a political subdivision of the
                      state;
               (6) denies a motion for summary judgment that is based in
                      whole or in part upon a claim against or defense by a
                      member of the electronic or print media, acting in such

1
  Mackey Glen Peterson, Tonya Peterson, Don Leslie Peterson, Carol Peterson, and Lonny
Peterson, Appellant Schwager’s clients in trial court Cause No. 427,208-401, filed a First
Amended Notice of Appeal in Cause No. 01-15-00157-CVseeking relief on identical grounds.

                                              2
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                         capacity, or a person whose communication appears in or
                         is published by the electronic or print media, arising under
                         the free speech or free press clause of the First
                         Amendment to the United States Constitution, or Article I,
                         Section 8, of the Texas Constitution, or Chapter 73;
                  (7)    grants or denies the special appearance of a defendant
                         under Rule 120a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, except
                         in a suit brought under the Family Code;
                  (8)    grants or denies a plea to the jurisdiction by a
                         governmental unit as that term is defined in Section
                         101.001;
                  (9)    denies all or part of the relief sought by a motion under
                         Section 74.351(b), except that an appeal may not be taken
                         from an order granting an extension under Section 74.351;
                  (10)   grants relief sought by a motion under Section 74.351(1);
                  (11)   denies a motion to dismiss filed under Section 90.007;
                  (12)   denies a motion for summary judgment filed by an electric
                         utility regarding liability in a suit subject to Section
                         75.0022; or
                  (13)   denies a motion to dismiss filed under Section 27.003.

TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE §51.014.

         6.       In Jones v. Louis Vuitton Houston Galleria, a similar case involving, in

part, an interlocutory order of dismissal pursuant to Rule 91(a) of the Texas Rules of

Civil Procedure, this Court held that:

         Texas appellate courts only have jurisdiction to review final
         judgments, and interlocutory orders are only appealable if
         specified by statute. An order that disposes of claims against one or
         some of the defendants in a suit does not render a judgment final. The
         order appealed from here is not a final judgment because the suit is
         still pending in Brazoria County and only Mercedes Benz has been
         dismissed as defendant. The appellant has failed to point to any
         statutory authority that would allow for an interlocutory appeal. We
         dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

                                               3
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Jones v. Louis Vuitton Houston Galleria, 01-14-00403-CV, 2014 WL 2593442, at

*1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] June 10, 2014) (internal citations omitted)

(emphasis added).

         7.       In Riggs v. Perlman, this Court considered the appeal of an “Order of

Dismissal with Prejudice” pursuant to Section74.351(a) of the Texas Civil Practice

& Remedies Code, which dismissed only Appellant Riggs’ causes of action against

Appellee Perlman, did not dispose of all parties and claims, and did not purport to

be a final judgment. Riggs v. Perlman, 01-13-00974-CV, 2014 WL 2627841, at *1

(Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.], June 12, 2014).             Finding no evidence of a

severance or final judgment in the record, this Court ruled that the Order of

Dismissal with Prejudice was an interlocutory order and, therefore, not appealable.

See id.

         8.       As in Jones and Riggs, the order granting Silverado’s Rule 91(a)

Motion to Dismiss is not a final judgment because the suit is still pending in the

statutory probate Court Number One in Harris County, Texas and only Silverado

has been dismissed as a defendant. Appellant Schwager’s claims against Silverado

have not been severed and no final judgment has been rendered.               Appellant

Schwager has failed to point to any statutory authority that would allow an

interlocutory appeal of the order granting Silverado’s Rule 91(a) Motion to Dismiss

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or Appellant Schwager’s Motion to Reconsider 91a Motion to Dismiss and Motion

for Sanctions, signed on January 9, 2015.

         9.       Likewise, Appellant Schwager points to no statutory authority that

would allow an interlocutory appeal of the January 9, 2015 order granting

Silverado’s First Amended Plea to the Jurisdiction or the November 10, 2014 orders

assessing monetary sanctions against Appellant Schwager, personally, for

groundless and bad faith pleading violation of Chapter 10 of the Texas Civil

Practice & Remedies Code and for violation of Rule 3.7 of the Texas Disciplinary

Rules of Professional Conduct.

         10.      Accordingly, this Court should dismiss this appeal for lack of

jurisdiction and the cost of appeal should be taxed against Appellant Schwager. See

TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a); TEX. R. APP. P. 43.4.

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                  Respectfully submitted,

                  CRAIN, CATON & JAMES
                  A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

                  By: /s/ Sarah Patel Pacheco
                         C. Henry Kollenberg
                         State Bar No. 1166780
                         ckollenberg@craincaton.com
                         Sarah Patel Pacheco
                         State Bar No. 00788164
                         pacheco-efile@craincaton.com
                         Kathleen Tanner Beduze
                         State Bar No. 24052205
                         beduze-efile@craincaton.com
                         1401 McKinney St, Suite 1700
                         Houston, Texas 77010
                         (713) 658-2323 (Telephone)
                         (713) 658-1921 (Facsimile)

                        Attorneys for Appellees
                        Carol Manley and David Peterson

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                      CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

       This document contains 1102 words. This word count was created by
highlighting portions of the document and performing a word count on such
highlighted portions. This word count does not include words excluded from the
count by Rule 9.4(i)(1), such as caption, identity of parties and counsel, table of
contents, index of authorities, statement of issues presented, signature, certificate
of service, or certificate of compliance.

                                             /s/Kathleen Tanner Beduze
                                             KATHLEEN TANNER BEDUZE

                      CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

       I hereby certify that I attempted to confer with Candice Schwager, pro se,
prior to filing this motion. Ms. Schwager indicated that she would dismiss her
appeal once Phil Ross filed an unknown document. As of filing, Ms. Schwager
had not dismissed her appeal, so presumably Ms. Schwager is opposed to this
motion.

                                             /s/ Kathleen Tanner Beduze

                                         7
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                          CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

      I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing instrument has
been forwarded to:

           Philip M. Ross                    Jill Young
           1006 Holbrook Road                Macintyre,    McCulloch,     Stanfield,
           San Antonio, TX 78218             Young, LLP
                                             2900 Weslayan, Suite 150
                                             Houston, Texas 77027

           Candice Schwager                  Russ Jones
           1417 Ramada Drive                 Underwood, Jones, Scherrer & Malouf,
           Houston, Texas 77062              PLLC
                                             5177 Richmond Avenue, Suite 505
                                             Houston, Texas 77056

                                             Josh Davis
                                             Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP
                                             Weslayan Tower, Suite 1400
                                             24 Greenway Plaza
                                             Houston, Texas 77046

via facsimile, e-file and/or electronic delivery, by agreement, on the 9th day of
March, 2015.

                                      /s/ Kathleen Tanner Beduze
                                      KATHLEEN TANNER BEDUZE

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