Opinion
05-23-00774-CV 05-24-00470-CV
04-26-2024
IN RE DAVID BARNES AND LASAUNDRA BARNES, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF JANIE DOE, A MINOR IN RE DESOTO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
On Appeal from the 44th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause Nos. DC-23-03760, DC-23-03760-B
Before Justices Molberg, Pedersen, III, and Nowell
ORDER
KEN MOLBERG JUSTICE
Before the Court is appellant and relator DeSoto Independent School District's Unopposed Motion to Consolidate, which it filed in cause number 05-23-00774-CV. DeSoto ISD asks us, in the interest of judicial efficiency and economy, to consolidate this appeal proceeding with the mandamus proceeding in cause number 05-24-00470-CV. In both proceedings, DeSoto ISD challenges the same underlying order-the trial court's July 20, 2023 order granting, in part, appellees and real parties in interest's amended verified petition for pre-suit discovery,wherein the trial court ordered the pre-suit deposition of a corporate representative of DeSoto ISD on certain topics and required DeSoto ISD to produce certain documents and tangible items responsive to a subpoena duces tecum. We conclude these proceedings should be decided together. See In re Valero Energy Corp., 968 S.W.2d 916, 916-17 (Tex. 1998) (per curiam).
Appellees and real parties in interest are David Barnes and LaSaundra Barnes, as next friend of Janie Doe, a minor.
The court stated, "[T]he better course of action for a court of appeals confronted with an interlocutory appeal and a mandamus proceeding seeking to compel arbitration would be to consolidate the two proceedings and render a decision disposing of both simultaneously, thereby conserving judicial resources and the resources of the parties." In re Valero Energy Corp., 968 S.W.2d at 916-17. While the proceedings here do not concern arbitration, the same principles regarding conservation of judicial resources also apply here.
Accordingly, we GRANT DeSoto ISD's unopposed motion to consolidate and ORDER cause number 05-24-00470-CV CONSOLIDATED into cause number 05-23-00774-CV. We DIRECT the Clerk of this Court to remove all documents from cause number 05-24-00470-CV and refile them in cause number 05-23-00774-CV and to treat cause number 05-24-00470-CV as a closed case. We ORDER that all future filings bear only cause number 05-23-00774-CV. All current deadlines in cause number 05-23-00774-CV remain in place.
We request that the real parties in interest and respondent file a response to the petition for writ of mandamus, if any, on or before May 17, 2024. In accordance with this consolidation order, that response, if any, should be filed in cause number 05-23-00774-CV.
We DIRECT the Clerk of this Court to send a copy of this order to all parties, the trial judge, and the Dallas District Court Clerk.