Case Information

*0 FILED IN 6th COURT OF APPEALS TEXARKANA, TEXAS 12/18/2015 4:26:55 PM DEBBIE AUTREY Clerk *1 ACCEPTED 06-15-00090-CV SIXTH COURT OF APPEALS TEXARKANA, TEXAS 12/18/2015 4:26:55 PM DEBBIE AUTREY CLERK

No. 06-15-00090-CV ___________________________________________________ IN THE SIXTH COURT OF APPEALS AT TEXARKANA, TEXAS

___________________________________________________ TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Appellant v.

HALEY BROWN,

Appellee ___________________________________________________ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEE’S BRIEF ___________________________________________________ TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

Comes now, Haley Brown, the Appellee in the above case and file this Unopposed Motion to Extend Time to File Response to Appellant’s Brief, and shows as follows:

BACKGROUND

This is an appeal in a civil case, wherein Defendant / Appellant Texas Department of Transportation is appealing the Court’s Order Denying Texas Department of

Transportation’s Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction and No Evidence Motion for

Summary Judgment (the “Appealed Order”). The Appealed Order was signed on September

23, 2015 by the Hon. Will Biard, presiding over the 62 nd Judicial District Court of Lamar

County, Texas, in Cause No. 82395, styled Haley Brown v. RK Hall Construction, Ltd., Stacy

Lyon, d/b/a Lyon Barricade & Construction, and Texas Department of Transportation . The

Trial Court later signed an order severing case number 82395, thereby placing all defendants

other than the Texas Department of Transportation into trial court cause number 84841;

which is being separately appealed to this Court as Case No. 06-15-00099-CV.

MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEE’S BRIEF 2. In the instant case, Defendant / Appellant Texas Department of Transportation filed its Notice of Interlocutory Appeal on October 20, 2015. The Clerk’s Record was filed

in this case on October 23, 2015. The Reporter’s Record was filed in this case on October

27, 2015.

3. Appellant’s Brief was initially due in this appeal on November 16, 2015.

After this Court granted Appellant’s Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File

Appellant’s Brief, Appellant filed its brief on December 4, 2015.

4. Accordingly, Appellee’s Brief in this appeal is currently due to be filed on December 24, 2015.

5. Appellee requests an extension of time to file Appellee’s Brief until Tuesday, January 23, 2016, which is thirty (30) days after the current due date of December 24, 2015. This is Appellee’s first request for extension of time to file Appellee’s Brief

in this appeal.

7. Good cause exists for this request for extension of time. The deadline to file Appellee’s Brief is currently the day before Christmas. With the holidays, Appellee’s

counsel’s trial docket, and another appeal in which Appellee and Appellee’s counsel are

involved arising from the same trial court proceeding below, there is not adequate time to

complete Appellee’s Brief by the current due date. Specifically, at the trial court level, prior to denying Appellant’s motion for

summary judgment which is the subject of this appeal, the trial court granted motions for

summary judgment filed by Appellant’s co-defendants, R.K. Hall Construction, Ltd., R.K.H.

Capital, LLC and Stacy Lyon d/b/a Lyon’s Barricade & Construction. The claims against

R.K. Hall and Lyon’s Barricade were severed, and the severed cause is now on appeal in this

Court in Appeal No. 06-15-00099-CV, styled Haley Brown, Appellant v. R.K. Hall

Construction, Ltd., R.K.H. Capital, LLC and Stacy Lyon d/b/a Lyon’s Barricade &

Construction . Appellee in this appeal (who is also the Appellant in Appeal Case No. 06-15-

00099-CV) has just requested the clerk’s and court reporter’s records from the severed cause,

and appellant’s briefing therein will have to commence. Thus, in addition to his normal trial

docket, Appellee’s counsel will be preparing appellant’s brief and other necessary documents

in the related appeal. Given that the Christmas holidays falls square in the middle of all of

this appellate activity, Appellee’s counsel will be disadvantaged in this appeal unless the

extension requested herein is granted.

9. Moreover, the extension sought herein will not materially delay the disposition of the case. Although this appeal is on an accelerated schedule due to the fact it is an

interlocutory appeal, delay in the finality of this appeal will not delay the underlying trial of

this matter. As noted above, there is another appeal pending in this Court arising from the

same suit filed below. Until Appeal No. 06-15-00099-CV is fully decided, the trial court

cannot proceed to trial in the suit below, as the trial judge desires to have a single trial from

the one set of facts giving rise to the underlying suit. Thus, delaying this interlocutory,

accelerated appeal will not delay the trial in the underlying suit.

10. This Motion is unopposed. Counsel for Appellee has conferred by phone with counsel for Appellant, and all counsel agreed that the extension of time requested herein will

not delay the trial in the trial court below, and thus, this motion is not opposed.

Wherefore, premises considered, Appellee respectfully requests that the Court extend the time for filing Appellee’s Brief to January 23, 2016.

Respectfully submitted: By: K EVIN W. V ICE State Bar No. 00785150 kvice@mmvllp.com D ALE H. H ENLEY State Bar No. 24048148 dhenley@mmvllp.com 5368 State Hwy. 276 Royse City, Texas 75189 (469) 402-0450 (469) 402-0461 (Facsimile) Attorneys for Appellee Certificate of Conference

I hereby certify that I conferred with counsel for the Appellant –Texas Department of Transportation about this requested extension of time. The Appellant does not oppose the

extension. Therefore, this motion is submitted as “unopposed”.

KEVIN W. VICE *6 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document has been forwarded to the following counsel of record, on this 18 th day of December, 2015:

Garland Williams Via E-File Service

Transportation Division

Office of the Attorney General

P.O. Box 12548, Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711-2548

KEVIN W. VICE