Opinion
NO. 14-19-00487-CV
05-18-2021
DESMOND DUFFIELD, Appellant v. METRO GREASE SERVICE, LLC AND CHRISTY Y. KIM, DON KWAN KIM, AND J & DC INC. D/B/A FRANK'S GRILL, Appellees
On Appeal from the County Civil Court at Law No. 1 Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 1108665
ABATEMENT ORDER
This is an appeal from an order signed March 20, 2019. It appears from the record that the order does not constitute a final judgment and the trial court did not otherwise render a final judgment. In the trial court's March 20, 2019 order, the court granted appellees' joint motion for summary judgment, in which appellees requested a final judgment ordering that appellant take nothing on all claims and that the court assess costs against appellant. In the March 20, 2019 order, the court states, "It is accordingly, ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED, this Court shall enter Final Judgment." However, although appellees' motion attached a proposed final judgment, no signed final judgment appears in the record and the court made no order assessing costs.
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 27.2 provides as follows:
The appellate court may allow an appealed order that is not final to be modified so as to be made final and may allow the modified order and all proceedings relating to it to be included in a supplemental record.Tex. R. App. P. 27.2. Moreover, the Texas Supreme Court has advised that an appellate court may abate an appeal to permit clarification of an order. See Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 206 (Tex. 2001).
Accordingly, we order the case abated and remanded to the trial court for a period of thirty days to permit further proceedings that all parties and the trial court are able to agree are necessary for the rendition of a final judgment. The trial court clerk shall prepare, certify, and file with the clerk of this court within thirty days of the date of this order a supplemental clerk's record containing (1) the trial court's order(s) or (2) a statement than no further order was signed.
The appeal is abated, treated as a closed case, and removed from this court's active docket. The appeal will be reinstated on this court's active docket when the supplemental clerk's record is filed in this court. The court will also consider an appropriate motion to reinstate the appeal filed by either party, or the court may reinstate the appeal on its own motion. It is the responsibility of any party seeking reinstatement to request a hearing date from the trial court and to schedule a hearing, if a hearing is required, in compliance with this court's order. If the parties do not request a hearing, and a hearing is required, the court coordinator of the trial court shall set a hearing date and notify the parties of such date.
If, within thirty days of the date of this order, no supplemental record is filed in this court demonstrating that a final, appealable judgment has been signed, this appeal will be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a).
PER CURIAM Panel Consists of Justices Wise, Bourliot, and Spain.