Opinion
04-24-00319-CV
05-10-2024
HYQUALITY ALLOYS, LLC; JWF Group, Inc.; Jason W. Fowler; and Sandra Fowler,Appellants v. TRANSPECOS BANKS, SSB, Appellee
From the 407th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2022CI03154 Honorable Mary Lou Alvarez, Judge Presiding
ORDER
Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice
On May 9, 2024, Appellants filed their notice of appeal and a motion for extension of time to file their notice of appeal.
In their motion for extension of time to file their notice of appeal, Appellants assert the following facts.
The clerk's record has not yet been filed.
The trial court signed the final judgment on November 11, 2023, but Appellants did not receive the required notice or acquire actual knowledge of the signing until January 29, 2024. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 306a.4.
On February 12, 2024, Appellants filed a motion to reset the date to begin the postjudgment time periods to January 29, 2024. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 306a.5; Tex.R.App.P. 4.2(b). Subsequently, the parties presented an agreed order to the trial court; the agreed orderproposed to grant Appellants' motion to set the beginning date for the periods to run to January 29, 2024. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 306a.5; Tex.R.App.P. 4.2(a)(1).
The copy of the agreed order is signed by Appellants and Appellees, but it is not signed by the trial court.
Appellants timely filed a motion to reconsider the final judgment, which made the notice of appeal due on April 29, 2024. See Tex. R. App. P. 4.2(a)(1); 26.1(a).
Appellants' notice of appeal and motion for extension of time to file their notice of appeal were filed on May 9, 2024, which was within fifteen days after the April 29, 2024 deadline. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; Hone v. Hanafin, 104 S.W.3d 884, 886 (Tex. 2003) (per curiam).
In their motion for extension of time, Appellants state that their notice of appeal was late because of their mistake: they miscalculated the deadline to file the notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(b)(1)(C) (requiring a reasonable explanation); Hone, 104 S.W.3d at 886 ("[A] reasonable explanation is 'any plausible statement of circumstances indicating that failure to file within the [specified] period was not deliberate or intentional, but was the result of inadvertence, mistake or mischance.'" (quoting Meshwert v. Meshwert, 549 S.W.2d 383, 384 (Tex. 1977))).
Appellants insist that their delay was not deliberate or intentional. See Hone, 104 S.W.3d at 887 ("Absent a finding that an appellant's conduct was deliberate or intentional, the court of appeals should ordinarily accept the appellant's explanations as reasonable.").
Appellants' motion for extension of time to file their notice of appeal is granted. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; Hone, 104 S.W.3d at 887. Appellants' notice of appeal is deemed timely filed.