Opinion
No. 02-19-00035-CV
01-23-2020
LONNETTA BENSON-COOKS, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF MARY WILSON, DECEASED, Appellant v. TRANSITIONAL HOSPITALS CORPORATION OF TEXAS, INC. D/B/A KINDRED HOSPITAL - TARRANT COUNTY FORT WORTH SOUTHWEST; AND KINDRED HEALTHCARE OPERATING, INC., Appellees
On Appeal from the 342nd District Court Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 342-296118-17 Before Kerr, J.; Sudderth, C.J.; and Gabriel, J.
Memorandum Opinion
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
After they had filed their briefs but before this case was submitted, the parties notified us that they had settled. We have considered the "Parties' Joint Motion to Dismiss the Appeal," in which the parties confirm that they "have reached an agreement to compromise and settle their differences" in this case and ask us "to render judgment effectuating the parties' agreement and render a dismissal of the suit with prejudice to refiling the same." See Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(a)(2)(A). The parties also ask us to tax appellate costs against the party that incurred them.
Despite the motion's title, the parties do not ask us to dismiss the appeal.
We grant the motion. Effectuating the parties' agreement, we vacate the trial court's judgment and dismiss the case with prejudice. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(a)(2)(A), 43.2(e); see also Braums, Inc. v. Sifuentes, No. 02-16-00001-CV, 2016 WL 742023, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Feb. 25, 2016, no pet.) (mem. op.) ("While we cannot both vacate the trial court's judgment and dismiss the appeal, the appellate rules allow us to render judgment vacating the trial court's judgment and dismissing the case, whether that rendition occurs after we consider the merits of the appeal or in effectuating the parties' settlement agreement." (footnotes omitted)). Each party must bear its own appellate costs. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(d), 43.4.
Per Curiam Delivered: January 23, 2020