in Re Farmers Texas County Mutual Insurance Company and David Holub ( 2021 )


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  •                         In the
    Court of Appeals
    Second Appellate District of Texas
    at Fort Worth
    ___________________________
    No. 02-20-00352-CV
    ___________________________
    IN RE FARMERS TEXAS COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY AND
    DAVID HOLUB, Relators
    Original Proceeding
    County Court at Law No. 2 of Tarrant County, Texas
    Trial Court No. 2019-000056-2
    Before Bassel, Womack, and Wallach, JJ.
    Memorandum Opinion by Justice Wallach
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    Relators Farmers Texas County Mutual Insurance Co. and David Holub
    (Farmers and Holub) seek mandamus relief from the trial court’s September 4,
    2020 order denying their plea to the jurisdiction or, in the alternative, motion to abate.
    On March 19, 2021, the Texas Supreme Court issued In re State Farm Mutual
    Automobile Insurance Co., Nos. 19-0791, 19-0792, 
    2021 WL 1045651
     (Tex. Mar. 19,
    2021) (orig. proceeding). The same counsel who represented the real parties in interest
    in the State Farm cases represent the real party in interest here, Felicia Hawkins, and
    procedurally, Hawkins is in the same pleadings posture as the real parties in interest
    were in the State Farm cases. Id. at *1. Relators Farmers and Holub are in a position
    similar to that of the relator in the State Farm cases. In those cases, State Farm filed
    motions for bifurcated trials that the trial courts denied. Id. at *2. In contrast, Farmers
    and Holub did not file a motion for a bifurcated trial but filed, instead, a plea to the
    jurisdiction or, in the alternative, a motion to abate that the trial court denied.
    Based on the State Farm opinion, we deny Farmers and Holub’s petition in part
    and conditionally grant their petition in part as follows:
    • We deny Farmers and Holub’s petition to the extent they sought relief from
    the trial court’s order denying their plea to the jurisdiction. See id. at *7.
    • We conditionally grant Farmers and Holub’s petition to the extent they
    sought relief from the trial court’s order denying their motion to abate all
    proceedings and discovery on Hawkins’s extracontractual case until she
    obtains a judgment against the tortfeasor establishing liability for the car
    crash, determining the amount of damages that she is legally entitled to
    2
    recover, and setting out whether the tortfeasor’s policy limits were
    insufficient. See id. at *6.
    Accordingly, we conditionally grant Farmers and Holub’s petition for writ of
    mandamus to the extent the trial court denied their motion to abate and direct the
    trial court to vacate its order denying their motion to abate and to enter an order
    granting their motion to abate consistent with the relief granted by the Texas Supreme
    Court in the State Farm opinion. To the extent Farmers and Holub sought any other
    relief, we deny their petition for writ of mandamus. We are confident that the trial
    court will comply, and the writ will issue only if it does not.
    Our November 9, 2020 stay order remains in place for 15 days after the date of
    this opinion, after which it will automatically expire, unless a motion for rehearing or a
    motion to extend time to file a motion for rehearing is filed within that deadline. See
    Tex. R. App. P. 52.9. If a motion for rehearing or a motion to extend time to file a
    motion for rehearing is filed within 15 days after the date of this opinion, the stay will
    remain in place until further order of the court.
    /s/ Mike Wallach
    Mike Wallach
    Justice
    Delivered: April 15, 2021
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 02-20-00352-CV

Filed Date: 4/15/2021

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/19/2021