Melissa Gates v. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Commissioner Henry Whitman, Jr.

ACCEPTED 03-15-00631-CV 8328703 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 12/21/2015 3:31:31 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE CLERK No. 03-15-00631-CV _______________________________ FILED IN IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS FOR THE 12/21/2015 3:31:31 PM THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXASJEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk _______________________________ MELISSA GATES Appellants, VS. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND COMMISSIONER JOHN SPECIA, Appellees. _______________________________ APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF _______________________________ TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS: Appellees’ Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Commissioner John Specia (“Appellees”) ask the Court to extend the time to file their Appellees’ Brief. A. INTRODUCTION 1. Appellees are Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Commissioner John Specia (collectively, “Appellees”). 2. No rule limits the time to file this motion to extend. TEX. R. APP. P. 38.6(d) (“A motion to extend the time to file a brief may be filed before or after the date the brief is due.”). APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF PAGE 1 3. Appellant is unopposed to this motion. B. ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES 4. The Court may extend the time for filing a brief under the authority of Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.6(d). 5. The deadline to file the Appellees’ Brief is December 30, 2015. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.6(b). 6. Appellees request an additional 30 days to file their brief, extending the time until January 29, 2016. This is the first request for an extension by Appellees to file their brief. 7. Appellees require additional time to file their brief because of holiday office closures and other filing deadlines in Wilkerson v. Univ. of N. Tex. Et al., Civil No.: 4:15-cv-00540, in the EDTX-Sherman Division; and Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Family Planning and Preventative Health Services, Inc., et al. vs. Chris Traylor, et al., Civil No: 1:15-cv-01058, in the WDTX-Austin Division. For these reasons, Appellees request that the Court extend the deadline 30 days for Appellees to file their brief. 8. No prior extension has been granted to extend the time to file the Appellees’ Brief. C. PRAYER For these reasons, Appellees’ Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Commissioner John Specia, request that this Court grant an extension of time and set January 29, 2015, as the due date for Appellees’ Brief. APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF PAGE 2 Respectfully submitted, KEN PAXTON Attorney General of Texas CHARLES E. ROY First Assistant Attorney General JAMES E. DAVIS Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation ANGELA V. COLMENERO Chief, General Litigation Division /s/ Marc Rietvelt MARC RIETVELT State Bar No. 24043892 Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711-2548 (512) 463-2120 (512) 320-0667 FAX marc.rietvelt@texasattorneygeneral.gov ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANTS APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF PAGE 3 CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE I hereby certify that on December 14, 2015, I conferred with counsel for Appellant concerning the merits of this motion. Counsel for Appellant informed me that he was unopposed to Appellees’ request for an extension of time to file their Appellees’ Brief /s/ Marc Rietvelt Marc Rietvelt Assistant Attorney General CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was filed electronically and that notice of this filing will be sent to the following persons through File & Serve Xpress’ electronic filing system and email on December 21, 2015: Thomas C. Sanders Attorney at Law P. O. Box 1860 Sugar Land, Texas 77487 281/242-9700 Telephone 281/242-8340 Facsimile tcsanders76@yahoo.com Robert G. Gibson, Jr. Attorney at Law P. O. Box 387 Rosenberg, Texas 77471 713/953-0500 Telephone 713/953-0750 Facsimile rgglaw@juno.com /s/ Marc Rietvelt Marc Rietvelt Assistant Attorney General APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEF PAGE 4