Order entered August 21, 2013
In The
Court of Appeals
Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
No. 05-13-00925-CV
THAD F. BAKER A/K/A FRED BAKER, ET AL, Appellants
V.
W. R. EDWARDS, JR., Appellee
On Appeal from the 116th Judicial District Court
Dallas County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. DC-10-00003-F
ORDER
On August 1, 2013, after a review of the clerk’s record revealed appellee-debtor had filed
a notice of bankruptcy, we informed the parties that the appeal would be abated pursuant to
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 8.2 unless the parties filed a motion to reinstate showing the
appeal is permitted by federal law or the bankruptcy court. See TEX. RS. APP. P. 8.2, 8.3. The
parties complied, asserting that the automatic stay of judicial proceedings provided in section
362 of the Bankruptcy Code does not apply to this appeal because the case was initiated by
appellee-debtor, and no claims were brought against him. See 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) (West Supp.
2013); McMillan v. MBank Fort Worth, N.A., 4 F.3d 362, 366 (5th Cir. 1993); In re McDaniel,
149 S.W.3d 860, 862 (Tex. App.—Waco 2004, order).
Because the automatic stay is only applicable to claims against the debtor, we GRANT
appellee’s August 5, 2013 motion regarding involuntary bankruptcy and appellants’ August 6,
2013 motion to reinstate appeal suspended by bankruptcy. See Montgomery Ward & Co. v.
Denton Cnty. Appraisal Dist., 13 S.W.3d 828, 829 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2000, pet. denied).
We ORDER appellants to file their brief on the merits no later than September 23, 2013.
/Elizabeth Lang-Miers/
ELIZABETH LANG-MIERS
JUSTICE