Opinion
01-23-00838-CV
02-06-2024
Chad Gunal v. Gary Block and Lyndsey Gunal
309th District Court of Harris County Trial court case number: 2023-35730
ORDER
Peter Kelly, Judge
The clerk's record shows that the trial court entered an order enforcing a child support order with commitment suspended against appellant Chad Gunal on July 29, 2021. Chad Gunal filed a petition for bill of review on June 9, 2023, complaining of the trial court's judgment signed on July 29, 2021. In the petition, Chad Gunal also sought damages from both his ex-wife Lyndsey Gunal and Gary Block.
Block and Lyndsey Gunal filed a motion to sever and realign on October 13, 2023, and subsequently filed an amended motion to sever and realign on October 16, 2023. Block and Lyndsey Gunal asked the trial court to sever out Chad Gunal's third party claims against Keith Gross into a new case number, leaving in the original trial court cause number the trial court's oral ruling, granting Block and Lyndsey Gunal's Rule 91a motion and motion for summary judgment. Lyndsey Gunal and Block observed in their motions to sever that the trial court orally granted their dispositive motions on September 28, 2023, disposing of Chad Gunal's petition for bill of review, but acknowledged that the trial court had not yet signed a written order. The trial court granted the motion to sever on October 30, 2023. Chad Gunal filed a notice of appeal on November 7, 2023.
This Court lacks jurisdiction unless the trial court has signed a final judgment adjudicating all claims and parties. See Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 200 (Tex. 2001). The clerk's record does not contain a written order disposing of Chad Gunal's petition for bill of review and therefore, despite the severance order, the October 30, 2023 order does not appear to be a final judgment. If the trial court has signed an order disposing of Chad Gunal's petition for bill of review, that order is not in the clerk's record.
Accordingly, the Court may dismiss this appeal unless appellant Chad Gunal establishes that this Court has jurisdiction, either by presenting argument with citation to authority or by a supplemental clerk's record containing a signed, written order from the trial court disposing of Chad Gunal's petition for bill of review. The response to this order is due by February 16, 2024.
It is so ORDERED.