Case Information
*0 FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 10/7/2015 3:59:10 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk NOS. 03-14-00283-CV & 03-14-00360-CV THIRD COURT OF APPEALS 10/7/2015 3:59:10 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE AUSTIN, TEXAS 03-14-00283-CV *1 ACCEPTED [7276799] CLERK In the Court Of Appeals for the Third Judicial District Austin, Texas T EXAS E DUCATION A GENCY and M ICHAEL L. W ILLIAMS , C OMMISSIONER OF
E DUCATION , in his O FFICIAL C APACITY , Appellants/Defendants, V.
A MERICAN Y OUTHWORKS , I NC ., d/b/a A MERICAN Y OUTHWORKS C HARTER
S CHOOL , H ONORS A CADEMY , I NC ., d/b/a H ONORS A CADEMY , and T WO
A ZLEWAY , I NC . d/b/a/ A ZLEWAY C HARTER S CHOOL , Appellees/Plaintiffs/Intervenors. On Appeal from the 261st District Court Travis County, Texas Cause No. D-1-GN-14-000672 APPELLANTS’ OPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE POST
SUBMISSION LETTER K EN P AXTON S HELLEY N IETO D AHLBERG
Attorney General of Texas Associate Deputy Attorney General
For Civil Litigation C HARLES E. R OY State Bar No. 24012491
First Assistant Attorney O FFICE OF THE A TTORNEY G ENERAL
General P.O. Box 12548, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711-2548 J AMES E. D AVIS Tel.: (512) 936-1864
Deputy Attorney General for Fax: (512) 320-0667
Civil Litigation
shelley.dahlberg@texasattorneygeneral.gov A TTORNEYS FOR R ESPONDENT *2 TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF THE THIRD COURT OF APPEALS:
This motion seeks leave to file a post-submission letter brief.
Oral argument in the above-referenced matter was held on September 24,
2015. During argument, Justice Field inquired whether amendments to T EX . E DUC .
C ODE § 12.115(c), enacted in Senate Bill 2 in 2013, are unconstitutionally retroactive
under the Supreme Court’s analysis in Robinson v. Crown Cork & Seal Co ., 335
S.W.3d 126 (Tex. 2010). Appellants submit that under Robinson and the Court’s
later opinion in Union Carbide Corp. v. Synatzske , 438 S.W.3d 39 (Tex. 2014), the
statute is not unconstitutionally retroactive.
Given the length of Appellees’ argument, Counsel for Appellants seeks this
leave to further explain the Commissioner’s argument related to Justice Field’s
question for which there was little time allotted during rebuttal.
Accordingly, Appellants request that the Court grant leave to file their Post
Submission Letter Brief.
Respectfully submitted, KEN PAXTON Attorney General of Texas CHARLES E. ROY First Assistant Attorney General JAMES E. DAVIS Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation *3 General Litigation Division Post Office Box 12548, Capitol Station Austin, Texas 78711-2548 (512) 463-2120 (Telephone) (512) 320-0667 (Facsimile) CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE I certify that my legal assistant, at my direction, emailed Appellees’ counsel
on October 6, 2015 at 9:13 a.m. to determine whether they are opposed to this
motion. I was copied on the email. Mr. O’Hanlon indicated that he was unopposed
to the motion but deferred to Mr. Schulman given that the issues addressed in the
letter pertain to American YouthWorks’ claim. Mr. Schulman asked for additional
time to consider the content of the letter. As of the filing of this motion, I have not
heard further from Appellees’ counsel. I therefore assume the motion is opposed. *4 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on October 7, 2015 the foregoing document was filed
electronically and sent to the following counsel of record via email and/or ECF
Notification:
Robert A. Schulman Kevin O'Hanlon
SCHULMAN , LOPEZ & HOFFER , L . L . P . Leslie McCollom
Joseph E. Hoffer 808 West Avenue
517 Soledad Street Austin, Texas 78701
San Antonio, Texas 78205-1508 kohanlon@808west.com
rschulman@slh-law.com lmccollom@808west.com
jhoffer@slh-law.com Attorneys for Plaintiff-Intervenor
Honors Academy, Inc.
Cris Feldman
3355 West Alabama Street, Suite 1220 Susan G. Morrison
Houston, Texas 77098 The Fowler Law Firm, PC
cris.feldman@thefeldmanfirmpc.com 919 Congress Ave. Suite 900
Attorneys for Plaintiff Austin, TX 78701
smorrison@thefowlerlawfirm.com Attorneys for Plaintiff- IntervenorAzleway Charter School