Opinion
NO. 14-19-01010-CV
12-30-2019
IN RE WARRIOR ENERGY SERVICES CORP., Relator
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING WRIT OF MANDAMUS
80th District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2019-46881
ORDER
Relator Warrior Energy Services Corp. filed a petition for writ of mandamus and an accompanying motion for emergency temporary relief in this court. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.221; see also Tex. R. App. P. 52. The petition and motion concern a December 18, 2019 order signed by the Honorable Larry Weiman, presiding judge of the 80th District Court of Harris County ("the Order"). The Order requires relator to deposit more than $2,000,000 into the trial court's registry within seven days and thereafter to deposit a percentage of certain revenue monthly into the court's registry "until [the underlying] lawsuit is resolved." The motion for emergency temporary relief asks this court to stay the Order.
The Order required compliance by Wednesday, December 25, 2019, a legal holiday for the trial court. The deadline for compliance was thus extended to Thursday, December 26, 2019, which was the next day the trial court was open that was not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. Tex. R. Civ. P. 4. Relator filed its petition and emergency motion at 5:03 p.m. on Monday, December 23, 2019. This court closed at 5:00 pm on December 23, 2019, and was closed for legal holidays on December 24, 25, and 26, 2019.
See State Holiday Schedule for Fiscal Year 2019, available at http://www.hr.sao.texas.gov/ Documents/Holidays/Holidays2019.pdf.
The court has been informed that relator deposited the initial required amount of money ($2,064,042.19) into the trial court's registry on December 26, 2019. To the extent the motion for emergency temporary relief requests a stay of the portion of the Order regarding that initial deposit, the motion is denied as moot.
The Order, however, requires future, periodic deposits into the court's registry. It appears from the facts stated in the petition and the motion that relator's request for mandamus relief requires further consideration and that relator will be prejudiced unless immediate temporary relief is granted. We therefore GRANT IN PART relator's request for a stay with respect to the following portion of the Order:
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that within thirty days of receipt of payment from its customers, Warrior Energy Services Corp. shall deposit 50% of the Gross Revenue received related to WIPR sales, services and rentals into the Court's registry. Warrior shall continue to deposit 50% of Gross Revenue into the Court's registry monthly until this lawsuit is resolved.
We ORDER the above-quoted portion of the Order STAYED until a final decision by this court on relator's petition for writ of mandamus, or until further order of this court.
A response to the petition for writ of mandamus is requested by January 10 , 2020 .
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Wise, Jewell, and Poissant.