Lonnetta Benson-Cooks, Individually and as Representative of the Estate of Mary Wilson v. Transitional Hospitals Corporation of Texas, Inc. D/B/A Kindred Hospital - Tarrant County Fort Worth Southwest And Kindred Healthcare Operating, Inc.

In the
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
___________________________
No. 02-19-00035-CV
___________________________
LONNETTA BENSON-COOKS, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE ESTATE OF MARY WILSON, DECEASED, Appellant
V.
TRANSITIONAL HOSPITALS CORPORATION OF TEXAS, INC. D/B/A
KINDRED HOSPITAL - TARRANT COUNTY FORT WORTH SOUTHWEST;
AND KINDRED HEALTHCARE OPERATING, INC., Appellees
On Appeal from the 342nd District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 342-296118-17
Before Kerr, J.; Sudderth, C.J.; and Gabriel, J.
Per Curiam Memorandum Opinion
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
After they had filed their briefs but before this case was submitted, the parties
notified us that they had settled. We have considered the “Parties’ Joint Motion to
Dismiss the Appeal,” in which the parties confirm that they “have reached an
agreement to compromise and settle their differences” in this case and ask us “to
render judgment effectuating the parties’ agreement and render a dismissal of the suit
with prejudice to refiling the same.”1 See Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(a)(2)(A). The parties
also ask us to tax appellate costs against the party that incurred them.
We grant the motion. Effectuating the parties’ agreement, we vacate the trial
court’s judgment and dismiss the case with prejudice. See Tex. R. App. P.
42.1(a)(2)(A), 43.2(e); see also Braums, Inc. v. Sifuentes, No. 02-16-00001-CV, 2016 WL
742023, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Feb. 25, 2016, no pet.) (mem. op.) (“While we
cannot both vacate the trial court’s judgment and dismiss the appeal, the appellate
rules allow us to render judgment vacating the trial court’s judgment and dismissing
the case, whether that rendition occurs after we consider the merits of the appeal or in
effectuating the parties’ settlement agreement.” (footnotes omitted)). Each party must
bear its own appellate costs. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(d), 43.4.
Per Curiam
Delivered: January 23, 2020
1
Despite the motion’s title, the parties do not ask us to dismiss the appeal.
2