in Re James Joseph Rooney ( 2012 )

Opinion issued December 19, 2012
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
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NO. 01-12-01135-CV
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IN RE JAMES JOSEPH ROONEY, Relator
Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator, James Joseph Rooney, has filed a petition for writ of mandamus in
this Court. The related action pending in the trial court is a suit to modify the
parent-child relationship.1 In his mandamus petition, Rooney challenges the
December 14, 2012 temporary order, purportedly “approved by a visiting associate
1
The underlying case is In re K.K.R., No. 2012-43652 (308th Dist. Ct., Harris
Cnty., Tex.), the Honorable James Lombardino, presiding.
judge,” compelling him to pay $50,000 in interim attorney’s fees to the real party
in interest, Kora Jean Leach, and her attorneys.
Rooney identified the Honorable James Lombardino as the respondent. The
copy of the December 14, 2012 temporary order included in the mandamus record
was not signed by Judge Lombardino or any other judge. However, Rooney
attached the affidavit of his trial counsel to the copy of the complained-of order
submitted with his petition. This affidavit provides that the order was “approved
by a visiting associate judge in the 308th District Court” and that a “certified copy
of the Order is unavailable . . . because it has not been signed by the presiding
judge at this time.”
Thus, it does not appear that Judge Lombardino, the respondent, signed the
order in question, and we do not have mandamus jurisdiction over an associate
judge. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 22.221(b) (Vernon 2004) (providing for
mandamus jurisdiction over judge of district court or county court); In re Giesen,
No. 01-12-00941-CV, 2012 WL 6082551, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.]
Dec. 6, 2012, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (holding that we do not have
mandamus jurisdiction over associate judge).
2
Accordingly, we dismiss Rooney’s petition for writ of mandamus for lack of
jurisdiction. Any remaining motions are likewise dismissed as moot.
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Massengale, and Brown.
3