Charles O. "Chuck" Grigson, Gerald Hooks, and Leslie Hooks v. State ( 2015 )

ACCEPTED
03-15-00436-CV
6212457
THIRD COURT OF APPEALS
AUSTIN, TEXAS
7/24/2015 11:58:32 AM
No. 03-15-00436-CV JEFFREY D. KYLE
CLERK
In the Third Court of Appeals
Austin, Texas
FILED IN
3rd COURT OF APPEALS
CHARLES O. “CHUCK” GRIGSON; AUSTIN, TEXAS
GERALD HOOKS AND LESLIE HOOKS,7/24/2015 11:58:32 AM
JEFFREY D. KYLE
Appellants, Clerk
v.
THE STATE OF TEXAS; THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF
INSURANCE; THE TEXAS COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE;
and FARMERS GROUP, INC., FARMERS TEXAS COUNTY MUTUAL
INSURANCE COMPANY, TEXAS FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY,
FIRE INSURANCE EXCHANGE, ET AL.,
Appellees.
On Appeal from the 261st Judicial District Court, Travis County, Texas
Cause No. D-1-GV-02-002501
APPELLEES’ JOINT MOTION TO DISMISS GERALD AND LESLIE
HOOKSES’ APPEAL FOR LACK OF APPELLATE JURISDICTION
AND REQUEST FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF MOTION
Marcy Hogan Greer Joshua R. Godbey
State Bar No. 08417650 State Bar No. 24049996
mgreer@adjtlaw.com joshua.godbey@texasattorneygeneral.gov
ALEXANDER DUBOSE JEFFERSON & Ryan S. Mindell
TOWNSEND LLP State Bar No. 24089707
515 Congress Ave., Suite 2350 ryan.mindell@texasattorneygeneral.gov
Austin, Texas 78701 Jennifer S. Jackson
Telephone: 512-482-9300 State Bar No. 24060004
Telecopier: 512-482-9303 jennifer.jackson@texasattorneygeneral.gov
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
M. Scott Incerto P.O. Box 12548
State Bar No. 10388950 Austin, Texas 78711-2548
scott.incerto@nortonrosefulbright.com Telephone: (512) 475-4209
NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP Fax: (512) 477-2348)
98 San Jacinto Blvd., Suite 1100
Austin, Texas 78701 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES, THE
Telephone: 512-474-5201 STATE OF TEXAS, THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT
Telecopier: 512-536-4598 OF INSURANCE, AND THE TEXAS
COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES
THE FARMERS PARTIES
TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:
Appellees, the State of Texas, the Texas Department of Insurance and the
Texas Commissioner of Insurance (jointly, “the State”) and the Farmers Parties 1
(together with the State, the “Settling Parties”) file this Joint Motion to Dismiss
Gerald and Leslie Hookses’ Appeal for Lack of Appellate Jurisdiction and Request
for Expedited Consideration of Motion to show the Court as follows:
ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES
On July 20, 2015—after the Settling Parties had already filed their Joint
Motion to Dismiss Appellant Charles O. “Chuck” Grigson’s (“Grigson’s”)
appeal—a second set of intervenors, Gerald and Leslie Hooks (“Hookses”), filed a
Notice of Interlocutory Appeal from the district court’s July 6, 2015, Order of
Preliminary Approval. The Hookses’ Notice is identical to the Notice filed by
Grigson on July 15, 2015.2 The Hookses’ appeal is likewise deficient and
1
Farmers Group, Inc., Fire Underwriters Association, Farmers Underwriters Association,
Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Texas Farmers Insurance Company,
Mid-Century Insurance Company of Texas, Mid-Century Insurance Company, Farmers Texas
County Mutual Insurance Company, Truck Insurance Exchange, and Truck Underwriters
Association
2
Like Grigson’s counsel, the Hookses are also not strangers to the long history of this case,
which prevents them (and any others) from pursuing this frivolous interlocutory appeal. The
Hookses intervened in this case on May 16, 2003, on the eve of the first preliminary approval
hearing; appealed the district court’s original 2003 Order certifying the settlement classes; and
exhausted that appeal years later after losing on all their objections before the Texas Supreme
Court and this Court. See Farmers Grp., Inc. v. Lubin, 222 S.W.3d 417, 420, 427-28 (Tex.
2007); Lubin v. Farmers Grp., Inc., No. 03-03-00374-CV, 2009 WL 3682602, at *26-32 (Tex.
App.—Austin Nov. 6, 2009, no pet.) (rejecting all objections raised by the Hookses and noting
improper and should be dismissed on an expedited basis for the same reasons
demonstrated in the Settling Parties’ Joint Motion to Dismiss Appeal for Lack of
Appellate Jurisdiction and Request for Expedited Consideration of Motion, which
was filed on July 20, 2015, and the arguments of which are incorporated here by
reference.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, the Settling Parties request that the Court: (i) expedite
consideration of this request; (ii) grant the Appellees’ Joint Motion to Dismiss
Gerald and Leslie Hookses’ Appeal for Lack of Appellate Jurisdiction; (iii) dismiss
this appeal; and (iv) grant such other and further relief to which the Appellees are
entitled.
their “delay[] [in] becoming involved in this case until right before the certification hearing”).
They are, as much as anyone, well aware that the district court certified the classes at issue back
in 2003, given their participation in the proceedings that challenged that certification decision at
the time.
These and other facts stated in this Motion are in the record, within the Court’s knowledge in its
official capacity, or in the personal knowledge of the undersigned, and so, no affidavit in support
is needed. TEX. R. APP. P. 10.2.
2
Date: July 24, 2015 Respectfully submitted,
/s/ M. Scott Incerto
Marcy Hogan Greer
State Bar No. 08417650
mgreer@adjtlaw.com
ALEXANDER DUBOSE JEFFERSON & TOWNSEND LLP
515 Congress Avenue, Suite 2350
Austin, Texas 78701-3562
Telephone: (512) 482-9300
Facsimile: (512) 482-9303
M. Scott Incerto
State Bar No. 10388950
scott.incerto@nortonrosefulbright.com
NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP
98 San Jacinto Blvd., Suite 1100
Austin, Texas 78701
Telephone: 512-474-5201
Telecopier: 512-536-4598
Darryl W. Anderson
State Bar No. 24008694
darryl.anderason@nortonrosefulbright.com
Geraldine W. Young
State Bar No. 24084134
geraldine.young@nortonrosefulbright.com
NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP
1301 McKinney, Suite 5100
Houston, Texas 77010 3095
Telephone: 713 651 5151
Telecopier: 713 651 5246
ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES FIRE
UNDERWRITERS ASSOCIATION, FARMERS GROUP,
INC., FARMERS UNDERWRITERS ASSOCIATION,
FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE, FIRE INSURANCE
EXCHANGE, TEXAS FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY,
MID-CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY OF TEXAS,
MID-CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY, FARMERS
TEXAS COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY,
TRUCK INSURANCE EXCHANGE, AND TRUCK
UNDERWRITERS ASSOCIATION
3
Respectfully submitted,
KEN PAXTON
Attorney General of Texas
CHARLES E. ROY
First Assistant Attorney General
JAMES E. DAVIS
Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation
ROBERT O’KEEFE
Division Chief
Financial Litigation, Tax, and Charitable Trusts Division
/s/ Joshua R. Godbey
JOSHUA R. GODBEY
Assistant Attorney General
LEAD ATTORNEY
State Bar No. 24049996
Telephone: (512) 475-4209
joshua.godbey@texasattorneygeneral.gov
RYAN S. MINDELL
Assistant Attorney General
State Bar No. 24089707
Telephone: (512) 936-1721
ryan.mindell@texasattorneygeneral.gov
JENNIFER S. JACKSON
Assistant Attorney General
State Bar No. 24060004
Telephone: (512) 463-9917
jennifer.jackson@texasattorneygeneral.gov
Financial Litigation, Tax, and Charitable Trusts Division
P.O. Box 12548
Austin, Texas 78711-2548
Fax: (512) 477-2348)
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES, THE STATE
OF TEXAS, THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE,
AND THE TEXAS COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE
4
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
On July 24, 2015, I electronically filed the Appellees’ Joint Motion to
Dismiss Gerald and Leslie Hookses’ Appeal for Lack of Appellate Jurisdiction and
Request for Expedited Consideration of Motion with the Clerk of the Court using
the eFile.TXCourts.gov electronic filing system which will send notification of
such filing to the following (unless otherwise noted below).
Joseph C. Blanks Michael J. Woods
P.O. Box 999 8620 N. New Braunfels, Ste. 522
Doucette, TX 75942 San Antonio, TX 78217
blanxlex@gmail.com MichaelJWoods@sbcglobal.net
Counsel for Appellants Gerald and Pro Se Intervenor/Objector
Leslie Hooks
Joe K. Longley
Philip K. Maxwell
1609 Shoal Creek Blvd. # 100
Austin, TX 78701
Joe@JoeLongley.com
phil@philmaxwell.com
Counsel for Appellant Charles O.
“Chuck” Grigson
/s/ M. Scott Incerto
M. Scott Incerto
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CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE
I certify that, on July 20, 2015, I conferred with Joseph C. Blanks, counsel
for Gerald and Leslie Hooks, about the merits of the foregoing motion, pursuant to
Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.1(a)(5), and he stated that the Hookses are
opposed to the motion.
/s/ M. Scott Incerto
M. Scott Incerto
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE WITH TEX. R. APP. P. 9.4(i)
I certify that the foregoing document contains 737 words and complies with
the word limit set forth in Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.4(i).
/s/ M. Scott Incerto
M. Scott Incerto
6