Caleb Moore v. Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company ( 2024 )

In the
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
___________________________
No. 02-24-00117-CV
___________________________
CALEB MOORE, Appellant
V.
ALLSTATE COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee
On Appeal from the 352nd District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 352-291883-17
Before Kerr, Birdwell, and Bassel, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Kerr
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On December 7, 2023, the trial court signed an order denying an application
for additional attorney’s fees filed by Appellant Caleb Moore, the court-appointed
receiver in this case. 1 Because Moore timely moved for reconsideration and for a new
trial, his notice of appeal was due March 6, 2024. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a)(1), (a)(2).
But Moore did not file his notice of appeal until March 12, 2024, making it untimely.
See id.
On March 14, 2024, we notified the parties by letter of our concern that we
lacked jurisdiction over this appeal because the notice of appeal was untimely filed.
We warned that we could dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction unless Moore or
any party wanting to continue the appeal filed a response by March 25, 2024, showing
a reasonable explanation for the late filing of the notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P.
10.5(b), 26.3(b), 42.3(a), 43.2(f). We have received no response.
The time for filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and without
a timely filed notice of appeal or a timely filed extension request, we must dismiss the
appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 2, 25.1(b), 26.1, 26.3; Jones v. City of Houston, 976 S.W.2d
676, 677 (Tex. 1998); Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). A motion
for extension of time is necessarily implied when, as here, an appellant acting in good
This is the third appeal arising from the underlying dispute. See Allstate Cnty.
1
Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hill, No. 02-22-00261-CV, 2023 WL 3113951 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth
Apr. 27, 2023, no pet.) (mem. op.); Allstate Cnty. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hill, No. 02-20-00174-
CV, 2021 WL 2978746 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth July 15, 2021, no pet.) (mem. op.).
2
faith files a notice of appeal beyond the time allowed by Rule 26.1 but within the 15-
day period in which the appellant would be entitled to move to extend the filing
deadline under Rule 26.3. See Jones, 976 S.W.2d at 677; Verburgt, 959 S.W.2d at 617; see
also Tex. R. App. P. 26.1, 26.3. But even when an extension motion is implied, the
appellant still must reasonably explain the need for an extension. See Jones, 976 S.W.2d
at 677; Verburgt, 959 S.W.2d at 617.
Because Moore’s notice of appeal was untimely filed and because Moore did
not provide a reasonable explanation for needing an extension, we dismiss this appeal
for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f); Veritek LLC v. TBI Constr.
Servs. LLC, No. 02-20-00287-CV, 2021 WL 62129, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Jan.
7, 2021, no pet.) (mem. op.).
/s/ Elizabeth Kerr
Elizabeth Kerr
Justice
Delivered: April 11, 2024
3