Opinion
NO. 14-17-00861-CV
11-28-2017
JOSEPH K WATTS, Appellant v. STEWART A. FELDMAN, INDIVIDUALLY, THE FELDMAN LAW FIRM LLP, RAPID SETTLEMENTS, LTD., ET AL, Appellees
On Appeal from the 55th District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2009-09825B
ORDER
This is an appeal from a judgment signed September 25, 2017. The notice of appeal was due October 25, 2017. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on October 27, 2017, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal.
A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when the perfecting instrument is filed within 15 days of its due date. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Appellant did not file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal. While an extension may be implied, appellant is still obligated to come forward with a reasonable explanation to support the late filing. See Miller v. Greenpark Surgery Center Assocs., Ltd., 974 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.).
The appellants in a related appeal, No. 14-17-00853-CV, did file a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal. That motion was granted on November 14, 2017.
Accordingly, we ORDER appellant to file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal by December 8, 2017. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3;10.5(b). If appellant does not comply with this order, we may dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.
PER CURIAM