Opinion
No. 09-04-252 CV
Opinion Delivered August 12, 2004.
On Appeal from the 136th District Court, Jefferson County, Texas, Trial Cause No. D-167035.
Appeal Dismissed for Lack of Jurisdiction.
J. Thad Heartfield, Beaumont, TX, for appellant.
Larry E. Meyer and J.C. Loftis, Houston, TX, and Walter D. Snider, Beaumont, TX, for appellees.
Before McKEITHEN, C.J., BURGESS and GAULTNEY, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Tex.R.App.P. 47.4.
On June 7, 2004, the Court received the clerk's record in this appeal. On June 24, 2004, we notified the parties that the appeal appeared to be interlocutory because the judgment did not dispose of all of the claims in controversy. An appellee, Argonaut Holdings, Inc., filed a response confirming the unappealable interlocutory nature of the appeal. The appellant did not file a response.
The Court finds no final judgment has issued. Subject to certain statutory exceptions not applicable in this case, only final judgments are appealable. Tex. Civ. Prac. Rem. Code Ann. § 51.012, 51.014 (Vernon 1997 Supp. 2004). A prematurely filed notice of appeal is effective and deemed filed on the day of, but after, the event that begins the period for perfecting the appeal. Tex.R.App.P. 27.1(a). In this case, however, the act which will begin the period for perfecting the appeal-signing the judgment-has not occurred. Accordingly, we hold the jurisdiction over this case is still vested in the trial court. The appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.