ACCEPTED
05-15-01114-CV
05-15-01114-CV FIFTH COURT OF APPEALS
DALLAS, TEXAS
9/15/2015 3:05:55 PM
LISA MATZ
CLERK
No.__________________________
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FILED IN
5th COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT DALLAS, TEXAS
DALLAS, TEXAS 9/15/2015 3:05:55 PM
____________________________________________LISA MATZ
Clerk
IN RE TRAVELERS PROPERTY CASUALTY
COMPANY OF AMERICA, GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE
COMPANY AND MICA CORPORATION
RELATORS
____________________________________________
FROM THE 95th DISTRICT COURT, DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS,
CAUSE NO. DC-15-04399, HON. KEN MOLBERG, PRESIDING
____________________________________________
RELATORS’ EMERGENCY MOTION FOR TEMPORARY ORDER
STAYING ALL PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT PENDING
RESOLUTION OF THEIR PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
____________________________________________
RYAN LOGAN VALDEZ KEVIN SEWELL
Texas Bar No. 24037627 Texas Bar No. 00789619
rvaldez@canteyhanger.com sewell@mdjwlaw.com
J. FRANK KINSEL, JR. MICHAEL J. WATSON
Texas Bar No. 11488700 Texas Bar No. 24008246
jkinsel@canteyhanger.com watson@mdjwlaw.com
BRIAN BRISCO MARTIN, DISIERE, JEFFERSON &
Texas Bar No. 24073957 WISDOM, LLP
bbrisco@canteyhanger.com Tollway Plaza One
CANTEY HANGER LLP 16000 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite
600 West 6th Street, Suite 300 Dallas, Texas 75248
Fort Worth, TX 76102 Telephone: (817) 877-2847
Telephone: (817) 877-2800 Facsimile: (817) 333-2947
Facsimile: (817) 877-2807 Attorneys for Relator Great
Attorneys for Relator Travelers American Insurance Company
Property Casualty Company of
America
JEFFREY JACK WOLF
Texas Bar No. 21849012
jwolf@wolflawpc.com
Jack D. Ormond
Texas Bar No. 24037217
jormond@wolflawpc.com
THE WOLF LAW FIRM, P.C.
1360 North White Chapel Blvd.
Southlake, Texas 76092
Telephone: (817) 552-9653
Facsimile: (817) 552-0300
Attorneys for Relator MICA
Corporation
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TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:
Come now Relators, Travelers Property Casualty Company of America,
Great American Insurance Company and MICA Corporation (collectively
“Relators”) and, pursuant to TEX. R. APP. PROC. 52.10, file their Emergency
Motion for Temporary Order Staying All Proceedings in the Trial Court Pending
Resolution of Their Petition for Writ of Mandamus and would respectfully show as
follows:
On August 16, 2015, the trial court signed an order denying Relators’
Motion to Transfer Venue. Relators’ Motion demonstrated that venue was
mandatory in Fannin County under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. sec. 15.019.
Relators have filed contemporaneously with this emergency motion a Petition for
Writ of Mandamus seeking review of the trial court’s denial of their Motion to
Transfer Venue.
As a result of the pendency of the petition for writ of mandamus, this Court
is authorized to grant temporary relief and stay the underlying litigation during the
pendency of the appellate proceedings:
The relator may file a motion to say any underlying proceedings or for
any other temporary relief pending the court’s action on the petition.
TEX. R. APP. P. 52.10(a).
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The court—on motion of any party or on its own initiative—may
without notice grant any just relief pending the court’s action on the
petition.
TEX. R. APP. P. 52.10(b) (emphasis added).
Venue has always been regarded as an important right in this State. Ruiz v.
Conoco, Inc., 868 S.W.2d 752, 758 (Tex. 1993). “The question of venue is a very
material right.” Fulmore v. Benson, 257 S.W. 697, 701 (Tex. Civ. App.—Austin
1923), rev’d on other grounds, 269 S.W. 71 (Tex. Comm. App. 1929, judg’t
adopted). Indeed, venue is “of vital importance.” City State Bank v. Gribble, 256
S.W.2d 872, 874 (Tex. Civ. App.—Amarillo 1952, no writ).
In fact, venue is so important that if the court makes an improper venue
determination, then “it shall in no event be harmless error and shall be reversible
error.” TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. sec. 15.064(b) (Vernon 1986). Proper
and early resolution of mandatory venue provisions, such as the one applicable in
this matter, are of such importance that mandamus proceedings are specifically
authorized to enforce those provisions. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. sec.
15.0642.
The right of a defendant to be sued in a particular county necessarily
includes not only the right to have trial conducted there, but also to have all pre-
and post-trial issues ruled on in the statutorily prescribed county. Like special
appearances, proper venue is of such paramount importance that discovery on
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other issues may be entirely precluded while venue issues are resolved. In re
Alford Chevrolet-Geo, 997 S.W.2d 173, 181 (Tex. 1999) (“courts may limit
discovery pending resolution of threshold issues like venue”); Miller v. State &
County Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 1 S.W.3d 709, 716-17 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1999,
no pet.) (holding that trial court’s abatement precluding all discovery while it
determined venue issues was not an abuse of discretion).
The question of whether the District Court of Dallas County court is the
proper court to adjudicate all the issues in this matter has not yet been resolved by
this Court. However, the Real Party in Interest, John Goin, has moved forward
with discovery sending 76 or more requests for production to each of the Relators
and unilaterally noticing the deposition of Hector Noris, an employee of Relator
MICA. MICA has filed a Motion to Quash the Deposition of Hector Noris on
several bases. The pre-trial issues related to this or any discovery, as well as the
other pre-trial and trial issues associated with this matter, should be decided by a
trial court in the proper county, which Relators would show is a district court in
Fannin County under a mandatory venue provision.
The trial court proceedings should be stayed so that the parties will be
required to submit to the expense and inconvenience of discovery pending
resolution of this mandamus. Lacefield v. Electronic Fin. Group, 21 S.W.3d 799,
800 (Tex. App.—Waco 2000, no pet.) (discovery stayed during pendency of
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interlocutory appeal from order denying special appearance because appellant
should not be required to submit to “the expense and inconvenience of discovery
pending resolution of his appeal”).
A stay of all proceedings below is just relief and is necessary to protect
Relators’ rights. TEX. R. APP. P. 52.10, 29.3. Relators request this Court to stay all
proceedings, including, but not limited to, discovery, the resolution of discovery
issues, and trial, during the pendency of and until the conclusion of this mandamus
proceeding.
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Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Ryan Logan Valdez /s/ Kevin Sewell
RYAN LOGAN VALDEZ KEVIN SEWELL
Texas Bar No. 24037627 Texas Bar No. 00789619
rvaldez@canteyhanger.com sewell@mdjwlaw.com
J. FRANK KINSEL, JR. MICHAEL J. WATSON
Texas Bar No. 11488700 Texas Bar No. 24008246
jkinsel@canteyhanger.com watson@mdjwlaw.com
BRIAN BRISCO MARTIN, DISIERE, JEFFERSON &
Texas Bar No. 24073957 WISDOM, LLP
bbrisco@canteyhanger.com Tollway Plaza One
CANTEY HANGER LLP 16000 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite 800
600 West 6th Street, Suite 300 Dallas, Texas 75248
Fort Worth, TX 76102 Telephone: (817) 877-2847
Telephone: (817) 877-2800 Facsimile: (817) 333-2947
Facsimile: (817) 877-2807 Attorneys for Relator Great American
Attorneys for Relator Travelers Insurance Company
Property Casualty Company of
America
/s/ Jack D. Ormond
JEFFREY JACK WOLF
Texas Bar No. 21849012
jwolf@wolflawpc.com
Jack D. Ormond
Texas Bar No. 24037217
jormond@wolflawpc.com
THE WOLF LAW FIRM, P.C.
1360 North White Chapel Blvd.
Southlake, Texas 76092
Telephone: (817) 552-9653
Facsimile: (817) 552-0300
Attorneys for Relator MICA
Corporation
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CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE WITH TEX. R. APP. P.
52.10(a)/CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE
This is to certify that Relators have notified all parties by telephone or
facsimile that this motion for temporary relief has been or will be filed and that this
motion is opposed.
/s/ Michael Watson
Michael Watson
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
This document complies with the typeface requirements of Tex. R. App. P.
9.4(e) because it has been prepared in a conventional typeface no smaller than 14-
point for text and 12-point for footnotes. This document also complies with the
word-count limitations of Tex. R. App. P. 9.4(i), if applicable, because it contains
1313 words, excluding any parts exempted by Tex. R. App. P. 9.4(i)(1).
/s/ Michael Watson
Michael Watson
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that on this 15th day of September 2015, a true and correct
copy of the foregoing document was served via facsimile to the following counsel:
Linda Dedman
Scott Ball
DEDMAN LAW, PLLC
Meadow Park Tower
10440 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1010
Dallas, Texas 75231
ldedman@coveragelawdallas.com
sball@coveragelawdallas.com
Peter Malouf
The Law Office of Peter G. Malouf
P.O. Box 12745
Dallas, Texas 75225
/s/ Michael Watson
Michael Watson
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