Syrian-America Oil Corporation, S.A. (Hereinafter SAMOCO) v. Pecten Orient Company F/K/A Pecten Ash Sham F/K/A Pecten Syria Petroleum Company

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ACCEPTED 01-15-00424-CV FIRST COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 11/4/2015 3:39:29 PM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK NO. 01-15-00424-CV FILED IN IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 1st COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS FOR THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS 11/4/2015 3:39:29 PM AT HOUSTON CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Clerk SYRIAN-AMERICAN OIL CORPORATION, S.A., Appellant, vs. PECTEN ORIENT COMPANY f/k/a PECTEN ASH SHAM f/k/a PECTEN SYRIA PETROLEUM COMPANY, Appellee. ON APPEAL FROM THE 190TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS CAUSE NO. 2007-67830 AGREED MOTION TO ADOPT BRIEFING SCHEDULE Pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.1, Appellant/Cross- Appellee Syrian-American Oil Corporation, S.A. (SAMOCO) and Appellee/Cross- Appellant Pecten Orient Company f/k/a Pecten Ash Sham f/k/a Pecten Syria Petroleum Company (Pecten) request the Court to approve an agreed briefing schedule in this civil appeal and cross-appeal. The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure do not provide a separate briefing schedule for cases involving a cross-appeal. Rather, under Rule 38.6, each party who files a notice of appeal must file an appellant’s brief. TEX. R. APP. P. 38.6. Each party who responds to the brief would then file a response brief as an appellee. Id. And each appellant may then file a reply to the appellee’s response brief. Id. This parallel briefing scheme results in a total of six briefs. In an effort to reduce the number of briefs to be filed in this case, the parties have agreed upon and propose the following briefing schedule and word count limits, subject to the exclusions outlined in Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.4(i)(1): a. SAMOCO’s appellant’s brief shall be due no later than 30 days after the date the reporter’s record is filed with the Court and shall contain no more than 15,000 words. b. Pecten’s appellee/cross-appellant’s brief shall be due no later than 30 days after the date SAMOCO’s appellant’s brief is filed and shall contain no more than 22,000 words. c. SAMOCO’s appellant’s reply/cross-appellee’s brief shall be due no later than 30 days after the date Pecten’s appellee/cross-appellant’s brief is filed and shall contain no more than 12,000 words. d. Pecten’s cross-appellant’s reply brief shall be due 20 days after the date SAMOCO’s reply/cross-appellee’s brief is filed and shall contain no more than 5,000 words. 2 The proposed word count limits comply with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.4(i)(2)(B)’s mandate that in civil appeals, “the aggregate of all briefs filed by a party must not exceed 27,000 words if computer-generated.” The proposed timing of the various briefs is also consistent with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.6 governing the time to file appellant’s, appellee’s, and reply briefs, subject to possible extensions upon further motion by a party. The parties ask the Court to adopt this agreed briefing schedule and word count limits for purposes of efficiency and to reduce the number of briefs that the Court must review in this case. The parties have agreed to this schedule in advance of the filing of a complete reporter’s record in this case and thus before the time to file appellants’ briefs has begun to run. By this agreed motion, the parties do not intend to waive the right to file motions for extension of time under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.6(d), under appropriate circumstances. For all of these reasons, the parties respectfully request that the Court grant this motion and adopt the agreed briefing schedule set forth above. 3 Respectfully submitted, BAKER BOTTS L.L.P. By: /s/ Macey Reasoner Stokes Macey Reasoner Stokes State Bar No. 00788253 One Shell Plaza 910 Louisiana Houston, Texas 77002 713.229.1369 713.229.7869 (Facsimile) macey.stokes@bakerbotts.com Lauren Tanner Bradley State Bar No. 24066177 Ashley Carr State Bar No. 24082619 BAKER BOTTS L.L.P. 98 San Jacinto Blvd., Suite 1500 Austin, Texas 78701 512.322.2500 512.322.2501 (Facsimile) lauren.bradley@bakerbotts.com ashley.carr@bakerbotts.com ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE/CROSS- APPELLANT PECTEN ORIENT COMPANY F/K/A PECTEN ASH SHAM F/K/A PECTEN SYRIA PETROLEUM COMPANY 4 SHIPLEY SNELL MONTGOMERY LLP By: /s/ Amy Douthitt Maddux Amy Douthitt Maddux Texas Bar No. 00796483 712 Main Street, Suite 1400 Houston, Texas 77002-3201 (713) 490-3827 (713) 652-3057 (fax) amaddux@shipleysnell.com ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT/CROSS- APPELLEE SYRIAN-AMERICAN OIL CORPORATION, S.A. 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that a true and correct copy of this Agreed Motion to Adopt Briefing Schedule was served on all counsel of record as indicated below on the 4th day of November, 2015. Counsel for Appellant Syrian-American Oil Corporation, S.A.: John W. Stevenson Jr. William Robert Hand Stevenson & Murray 24 Greenway Plaza, Suite 750 Houston, Texas 77046 (by electronic mail) Amy Maddux Shipley Snell Montgomery LLP 712 Main Street, Suite 1400 Houston, Texas 77002-3201 (by electronic mail) Robert Godlewski Law Offices of Robert S. Godlewski 3950 Braxton Drive, Suite 100 Houston, Texas 77063 (by electronic mail) D. Craig Olivier Olivier & Mundy, L.L.P. 1414 West Clay Houston, Texas 77019 (by electronic mail) /s/ Macey Reasoner Stokes Macey Reasoner Stokes 6