Opinion
05-22-00195-CV
05-27-2022
RUTH TORRES, Appellant v. PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE, INC., DALLAS FORT WORTH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BOARD, MARK GALVAN, AND MARIE DIAZ, Appellees
On Appeal from the 134th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. DC-16-08711
Before Chief Justice Burns, Justice Molberg, and Justice Smith
MEMORANDUM OPINION
ROBERT D. BURNS, III CHIEF JUSTICE
By notice of appeal filed February 18, 2022, appellant seeks mandamus and injunctive relief from the trial court's failure to rule on a motion heard in April 2021. Mandamus relief may be granted to compel a trial court to perform the ministerial act of ruling on a properly filed, pending motion. See In re Shredder Co., L.L.C., 225 S.W.3d 676, 679 (Tex. App.-El Paso 2006, orig. proceeding). However, a mandamus proceeding is commenced by filing a petition in accordance with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 52, not by filing a notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.1. Our jurisdiction to adjudicate appeals is separate from our jurisdiction to grant mandamus and injunctive relief. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 22.220 (civil jurisdiction), 22.221 (writ power). A necessary prerequisite to invoking our appellate jurisdiction is a final judgment that disposes of all parties and claims or an interlocutory order authorized by statute or rule to be appealed, a prerequisite not satisfied here. See Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001).
In response to a directive that she show cause why the appeal should not be dismissed for want of jurisdiction, appellant filed a motion to reclassify the appeal as an original proceeding, acknowledging no final judgment has been signed, and a letter brief addressing our mandamus jurisdiction. We denied appellant's motion, however, on April 4, 2022, and subsequently denied a motion to reconsider.
Appellees Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board and Mark Galvan also filed letter briefs.
Accordingly, having already declined to reclassify the appeal as an original proceeding and with no appealable order or judgment before us, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a).
JUDGMENT
In accordance with this Court's opinion of this date, we DISMISS the appeal.