Opinion
01-23-00329-CV
06-29-2023
Richard Andert Robins v. Commission for Lawyer Discipline
Trial court: 61st District Court of Harris County, Trial court case number: 2018-46488.
ORDER
April Farris, Judge.
On May 1, 2023, appellant Richard Andert Robins filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's February 13, 2023 Judgment of Disbarment. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a)(1). On June 13, 2023, appellant filed a "Motion for an Extension to File a Bill of Exception." In the motion, appellant requests that the deadline for filing a formal bill of exception be extended to June 29, 2023.
Generally, a "formal bill of exception must be filed no later than 30 days after the filing party's notice of appeal is filed." See TEX. R. APP. P. 33.2(e)(1). Because appellant filed his notice of appeal on May 1, 2023, any formal bill of exception was therefore due to be filed on or before May 31, 2023. However, the rules also provide that an "appellate court may extend the time to file a formal bill of exception if, within 15 days after the deadline for filing the bill, the party files in the appellate court a motion" to extend that deadline. See TEX. R. APP. P. 33.2(e)(3). Accordingly, any request to extend the deadline to file a formal bill of exception was due to be filed with this Court by June 15, 2023.
As noted above, appellant filed his motion to extend the deadline for filing a formal bill of exception with this Court on June 13, 2023, which is within the period contemplated by the rules.
Appellant's motion includes a "certificate of conference." See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.1(a)(5). However, that certificate of conference does not reflect that appellant actually conferred with appellee, the Commission for Lawyer Discipline, regarding the relief requested in the motion. Instead, the certificate states that counsel for appellant "has very recently reached out, generally speaking, by e-mail" to counsel for appellee. However, because "the two have not previously interacted," appellant's counsel determined that he could "more appropriately send follow-ups making inquiries such as conferencing" after "hearing back" from counsel for appellee.
However, more than ten days have passed since appellant filed his motion and no party has objected to the relief requested. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.3(a). Appellant's motion for extension of time to file a formal bill of exception is granted. Any formal bill of exception must be filed, in compliance with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 33.2(c), on or before June 29, 2023.
It is so ORDERED.