Opinion
Appellate case number: 01-20-00578-CV
10-20-2020
Joan Gottlieb Mendell v. Laurence Scott and Rachel Chaput
ORDER Trial court case number: 475348 Trial court: Probate Court No. 1 of Harris County
On August 12, 2020, appellant, Joan Gottlieb Mendell filed a notice of appeal from four trial court orders, that were signed on different dates, in this probate proceeding. These orders include: a June 10, 2020 order denying appellant's motion for summary judgment, and three orders granting separate motions for partial summary judgment filed by appellees, Laurence Scott and Rachel Chaput's -with one such order signed on February 7, 2020, and the other two orders being signed on July 23, 2020.
Our review of the record does not indicate that the trial court signed either a final judgment disposing of all parties and claims in the underlying proceeding or any appealable interlocutory order. This Court generally has appellate jurisdiction only over appeals from final judgments and specific interlocutory orders that the legislature has designated as appealable orders. See CMH Homes v. Perez, 340 S.W.3d 444, 447-48 (Tex. 2011); see also TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 51.014.
Here, appellant appears to be attempting to appeal from non-appealable interlocutory orders. See Jackson v. U.S. Bank Trust, N.A., No. 01-16-00559-CV, 2016 WL 5480659, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Sept. 29, 2016, no pet.) (order granting partial summary judgment "did not dispose of all claims and all parties and was an appealable interlocutory order").
Moreover, if any of the interlocutory orders referenced above are in fact appealable, our review of the record further suggests that appellant's notice of appeal may not have been timely filed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b), 28.1 (designating interlocutory appeals as "accelerated" and making a notice of appeal due within twenty days after the complained of appealable order was signed). Without a timely notice of appeal, this Court lacks appellate jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.1.
Accordingly, we order appellant to file a written response, with citation to law and the record, demonstrating that this Court has appellate jurisdiction over this appeal from the four complained of orders referenced above. Failure to timely respond will result in dismissal of the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). Appellant's response is due in this Court within fourteen (14) days of the date of this notice. We further request appellees to file a reply to appellant's written response regarding our jurisdiction over this appeal. Appellees' reply, if any, is due within ten (10) days of the date that appellant's response is filed.
It is so ORDERED. Judge's signature: /s/ Terry Adams
[v] Acting individually [ ] Acting for the Court Date: October 20, 2020