Case Information
*0 FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 11/18/2016 1:21:47 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk NO. 03-16-00131-CV THIRD COURT OF APPEALS 11/18/2016 1:21:47 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE AUSTIN, TEXAS 03-16-00131-CV *1 ACCEPTED [13876430] CLERK _______________________________________________
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
_______________________________________________
Mary Louise Serafine, Appellant
v. Alexander Blunt, Ashley Blunt; Scott Lockhart, Austin Drainage and Foundation, LLC D/B/A Austin Drainage and Landscape Development; Viking Fence Company, Ltd.; and Viking GP, LLC, Appellees.
UNOPPOSED SECOND JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION
OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEFS TO THE HONORABLE THIRD COURT OF APPEALS:
Appellees Alexander and Ashley Blunt, Scott Lockhart and Austin
Drainage & Foundation, LLC, and Viking Fence Company, Ltd. and Viking
GP, LLC (“the Appellees”) move pursuant to Rules 10.5(b) and 38.6(d) of
the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, asking that this Court grant a
37-day extension of time for filing their Appellees’ Brief from December 2,
2016 until January 9, 2017. Appellant is unopposed to this request.
I. ARGUMENT & AUTHORITIES 1. The Court has the authority under Texas Rule of Appellate
Procedure 38.6(d) to extend the time to file the Appellees’ Briefs. This
Motion is filed in accordance with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure
10.5(b)(1).
2. No rule provides a deadline to file this Motion to Extend. See
Tex. R. App. P. 38.6(d).
3. Appellees’ Briefs are currently due on December 2, 2016.
4. Appellees need additional time to prepare their Briefs due to the
pending holidays and other deadlines including:
a. offices will be closed for Thanksgiving on November 24-25; and counsel for the Viking Appellees will be traveling out of state
from November 22–26 to visit family during the Thanksgiving holiday.
b. counsel for the Viking Appellees also needs additional time to prepare the Viking Appellees’ brief because counsel has been and
will be occupied with preparing appellate briefs in Shull v. Westover
Crossing (SA) HOA, Inc., et al. , No. 04-15-00692-CV, pending in the Fourth
District Court of Appeals at San Antonio, Texas (which brief is due
December 7, 2016); and Elkay Manufacturing Co. v. Guttenberg
Industries, Inc ., No. 02-16-00385-CV, pending in the Second Court of
Appeals at Fort Worth, Texas (which brief is due December 12, 2016).
c. counsel Amanda Taylor is specially set for trial in Travis County District Court on December 19-22, including a series of pretrial
deadlines in the weeks preceding that setting (Cause No.
D-1-FM-15-005879);
d. counsel Amanda Taylor has other Appellees’ Briefs that will be due in this Court on January 6 (Cause No. 03-16-00250-CV) and
January 17, 2017 (Cause No. 03-16-00704-CV), both of which will require
time to prepare contemporaneous with the brief in this matter;
e. offices will be closed for the winter holidays on December 23, 26, and January 2, and will include out-of-town travel by counsel
Amanda Taylor on December 24-29; and
f. as previously discussed, the large number and complexity of the issues presented and the voluminous nature of the record designated
by Appellant require additional time to review and prepare the Appellees’
Brief.
5. A standard 30-day extension would fall on January 3, 2017
because day 30 is Sunday, January 1, 2017 (New Year’s Day) and the next
Monday, January 2, 2017, is a state and federal observed holiday (for New
Year’s Day). Also in light of counsel’s travel schedules and other deadlines,
it would be very difficult to complete the Briefs by this date. Hence,
counsel for all Appellees jointly and respectfully request an additional week,
moving the deadline to Monday, January 9, 2017.
6. The requested extension of Appellees’ Briefs deadline will not
prejudice any party. To this end, Appellees do not oppose granting
Appellant a commensurate 37-day extension of her Reply Brief deadline,
which incorporates the 30-day extension she previously obtained and adds
an extra week to equal the extension requested by Appellees.
7. One extension of time has previously been granted to Appellees
in this appeal.
8. The $10.00 filing fee has been submitted in connection with this
Motion.
III. PRAYER For these reasons, Appellees Alexander and Ashley Blunt, Scott
Lockhart and Austin Drainage & Foundation, LLC, and Viking Fence
Company, Ltd. and Viking GP, LLC respectfully pray, without any
opposition of any party, that this Court grant an extension of time to file
their Appellees’ Briefs from December 2, 2016 to January 9, 2017, which is
37 days from the current deadline.
Respectfully submitted, M ARTENS , T ODD , L EONARD , T AYLOR & A HLRICH By: /s/ Amanda G. Taylor Amanda Taylor ataylor@textaxlaw.com State Bar No. 24045921 301 Congress Ave., Suite 1950 Austin, Texas 78701 Telephone: (512) 542-9898 ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES ALEXANDER AND ASHLEY BLUNT Joined by,
T HOMPSON C OE C OUSINS & I RONS , LLP By: /s/ Sara Churchin (with permission) Wade C. Crosnoe wcrosnoe@thompsoncoe.com State Bar. No. 00783903 Sara B. Churchin schurchin@thompsoncoe.com State Bar No. 24073913 701 Brazos Street, Suite 1500 Austin, Texas 78701 Telephone: (512) 708-8200 COUNSEL FOR APPELLEES VIKING FENCE COMPANY, LTD. AND VIKING GP, LLC *6 And by,
L AW O FFICE OF R ONALD M AX R AYDON By: /s/ Ron Raydon (with permission) Ronald M. Raydon ron@raydonlaw.com State Bar No. 00798456 1718 Fry Road, Suite 450 Houston, Texas 77084 Telephone: (281) 398-6402 COUNSEL FOR APPELLEES SCOTT LOCKHART AND AUSTIN DRAINAGE & FOUNDATION, LLC CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE As required by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.1(a)(5), I certify
that I have conferred, with permission and agreement by counsel for all
Appellees, with Mary Louise Serafine (pro se counsel for Appellant). All
Appellees join in this Motion, and Ms. Serafine is unopposed.
/s/ Amanda G. Taylor Amanda G. Taylor *7 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing
Unopposed Second Joint Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellees’
Briefs has been electronically filed and served on all counsel below on
November 18, 2016. See Tex. R. App. P. 9.2(c)(1), 9.5(b)(1).
Mary Louise Serafine, Esq.
P.O. Box 4342
Austin, Texas 78765
mlserafine@gmail.com
Appellant, Pro Se
Ronald M. Raydon
LAW OFFICE OF RONALD MAX RAYDON
1718 Fry Road, Suite 450
Houston, Texas 77084
ron@raydonlaw.com
Counsel for Appellees Scott Lockhart and
Austin Drainage & Foundation, LLC
Sara B. Churchin
Wade C. Crosnoe
THOMPSON COE COUSINS & IRONS, LLP
701 Brazos Street, Suite 1500
Austin, Texas 78701
schurchin@thompsoncoe.com
wcrosnoe@thompsoncoe.com
Counsel for Appellees Viking Fence
Company, Ltd. and Viking GP, LLC
/s/ Amanda G. Taylor Amanda G. Taylor