Opinion
08-24-00133-CV
11-07-2024
PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES USA, INC, Appellant, v. ELBERTA M. ROYALTY, LLC, Appellee.
Appeal from the 112th District Court of Upton County, Texas (TC# 22-02-U4921-ANC)
Before Alley, C.J., Palafox and Soto, JJ.
ORDER
PER CURIAM
The record in this appeal was originally due August 6, 2024. On that day, the Court received a request for a 60-day extension within which to file the reporter's record due to court reporter Elizabeth Lusk's present medical situation. The Court granted the extension, ordering the reporter's record due on October 8, 2024.
On October 8, 2024, court reporter Patricia Reid filed three volumes of the reporter's record and informed the Clerk of this Court that two pretrial transcripts, taken by Ms. Lusk, were not included in her submission. The Clerk of this Court attempted to reach Ms. Lusk to inquire about her portion of the record, and when no response was received, we issued an order granting a sua sponte extension to Ms. Lusk, providing her an additional 20 days to complete and file the reporter's record before October 28, 2024.
As of the date of this Order, Ms. Lusk has not filed the missing portions of the reporter's record in this appeal. The Clerk has made multiple attempts to contact Ms. Lusk asking her to file the missing volumes, or in the alternative, an official letter updating the Court on the status of the reporter's record. On November 4, 2024, the Clerk of this Court successfully reached Ms. Lusk by phone and was told that Ms. Lusk never received a request or payment from Appellant for the missing volumes of the reporter's record. The Clerk again requested that Ms. Lusk file a letter with the Court stating her assertion, but no such letter has been received.
The Court has reviewed the clerk's record, which contains an official request for two hearings (February 7, 2023 and October 3, 2023) and a jury trial on attorneys' fees (March 15, 2024). The request is dated May 20, 2024, and addressed to Ms. Lusk. Because the Court has not received an official response from Ms. Lusk regarding the current state of her portion of the reporter's record, the Court concludes that an abatement is necessary.
It is therefore ORDERED that this appeal is ABATED and remanded to the trial court for a hearing to determine whether: (1) Appellant still desires these portions of the Reporter's Record to be included in the record; (2) if so, has Appellant properly requested and paid the reporter's fee or has made satisfactory arrangements with the reporter to pay the fee for the missing hearings; (3) whether the missing volumes are available, and if so when Ms. Lusk will file them in this Court.
The trial court shall hold the hearing on or before December 7, 2024. Ms. Lusk shall be in attendance, and the hearing shall be recorded. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court shall make the requested findings and forward them to the district clerk for inclusion in a supplemental clerk's record. The supplemental clerk's record and the supplemental reporter's record shall be filed in this Court on or before December 17, 2024. The appellate deadlines shall be suspended during the abatement, and the appeal will be reinstated when both the supplemental clerk's record and supplemental reporter's records are received.
IT IS SO ORDERED.