COURT OF APPEALS
EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL PASO, TEXAS
IN RE: VERONICA CHAVEZ VARA, § No. 08-23-00190-CV
Relator. § AN ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
§ IN MANDAMUS
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§
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator, Veronica Chavez Vara, has filed a petition for writ of mandamus against the
Honorable Guadalupe Rivera, a presiding judge assigned in trial cause number 2012DCM10912,
styled Veronica Vara v. Mark Vara, pending in the 388th District Court of El Paso, County, Texas.
By her petition, Vara seeks an order from this Court instructing Respondent to vacate the order
declaring Vara a vexatious litigant, which the trial court rendered on June 22, 2023; and she seeks
an order as well instructing the trial court to dismiss the motion to declare her a vexatious litigant
filed by the real party in interest.
To obtain relief by writ of mandamus, a relator must establish that the trial court committed
a clear abuse of discretion and that no adequate appellate remedy exists. See In re H.E.B. Grocery
Co., 492 S.W.3d 300, 302 (Tex. 2016) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam); In re Prudential Ins. Co.
of Am., 148 S.W.3d 124, 135–36 (Tex. 2004) (orig. proceeding); Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d
833, 839–40 (Tex. 1992) (orig. proceeding). The relator bears the burden of proving both
requirements. See In re H.E.B., 492 S.W.3d at 302; Walker, 827 S.W.2d at 840.
Based on the record before us, we conclude relator has not shown she is entitled to the
relief requested. Specifically, Relator has an adequate remedy by interlocutory appeal. Here, the
trial court’s order signed on June 22, 2023, prohibits Vara from filing, in propria persona, in a
court of this State, any new litigation related to the property division of the parties’ Original Decree
of Divorce unless Vara first obtains an order permitting such filing from the local administrative
judge. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 11.101. Section 11.101(a) of the Texas Civil
Practices and Remedies Code permits a trial court—on a party’s motion or the court’s own
motion—upon finding a person to be a vexatious litigant, to enter an order prohibiting that person
from filing, pro se, any new litigation without the local administrative judge’s permission. See
TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN § 11.101(a). In turn, subpart (c) of that same provision
expressly permits an appeal from a prefiling order: “[a] litigant may appeal from a prefiling order
entered under [Section 11.101(a)] designating the person a vexatious litigant.” See TEX. CIV. PRAC.
& REM. CODE ANN § 11.101(c); see also id. § 11.101(d)(permitting an appellate court clerk to file
an appeal from a prefiling order entered under § 11.101). Previously, we interpreted a prefiling
order based on § 11.101(c) as an order appealable by interlocutory appeal. Restrepo v. All. Riggers
& Constructors, Ltd., No. 08-15-00011-CV, 2015 WL 999950, at *1 (Tex. App.—El Paso Mar. 4,
2015, no pet.) (mem.op.) (“A pre-filing order is appealable.”); see also In re Wade, No. 14-18-
00486-CV, 2019 WL 3295093, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] July 23, 2019, no pet.)
(mem.op.) (“We deny the mandamus proceeding because the trial court’s order declaring him a
vexatious litigant is an appealable order.”).
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Because Vara cannot establish she has no adequate remedy by appeal, she is not able to
prove one of the two requirements for mandamus relief. See In re H.E.B., 492 S.W.3d at 302.
Accordingly, we deny her petition for writ of mandamus. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(a) (the court
must deny the petition if the court determines relator is not entitled to the relief sought).
GINA M. PALAFOX, Justice
July 26, 2023
Before Rodriguez, C.J., Palafox, and Soto, JJ.
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