Opinion
13-24-00368-CV
08-30-2024
HECTOR MORIN AND MORIN ENTERPRISES, Appellants, v. JEAN CLAUDE FERRELL, Appellee.
ON APPEAL FROM THE 197TH DISTRICT COURT OF WILLACY COUNTY, TEXAS.
Before Benavides, Longoria, and Silva, Justices.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
NORA L. LONGORIA, Justice.
This cause is before the Court on its own motion. On July 25, 2024, appellants filed a notice attempting to appeal the trial court's judgment, signed on March 20, 2024. On July 25, 2024, the Clerk of the Court notified appellants that it appeared the appeal had not been timely perfected. Appellants were further admonished that if the defect was not cured within ten days from the date of the notice, the appeal would be dismissed. Furthermore, appellant Morin Enterprises was advised that only a licensed attorney may appear and represent a corporation in litigation, and the Clerk of the Court requested Morin Enterprises to file a notice of appearance of its counsel before August 9, 2024.
Appellants failed to respond to the clerk's notice or otherwise demonstrate that the appeal was timely perfected. We are to construe the rules of appellate procedure reasonably and liberally so that the right to appeal is not lost by imposing requirements not absolutely necessary to effectuate the purpose of a rule. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 616-17 (Tex. 1997). Nevertheless, we are prohibited from enlarging the scope of our jurisdiction by enlarging the time for perfecting an appeal in a civil case in a manner not provided for by rule. See Tex. R. App. P. 2; In re T.W., 89 S.W.3d 641, 642 (Tex. App.-Amarillo 2002, no pet.).
Appellants' notice of appeal was untimely; therefore, we lack jurisdiction over the appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.