Plains Builders, Inc. v. Steel Source, Inc. ( 2011 )

NO. 07-11-00198-CV
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
AT AMARILLO
PANEL B
JUNE 9, 2011
PLAINS BUILDERS, INC., ET AL, APPELLANTS
v.
STEEL SOURCE, INC., ET AL, APPELLEES
FROM THE 251ST DISTRICT COURT OF POTTER COUNTY;
NO. 95,423-C; HONORABLE ANA ESTEVEZ, JUDGE
Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and HANCOCK, JJ.
ORDER
Appellants Plains Builders, Inc. and Travelers Casualty & Surety Company of
America have filed a motion requesting a thirty day abatement of this appeal so that
additional or amended findings of fact and conclusions of law may be requested. See
Tex. R. Civ. P. 298. A certificate of conference attached to the motion indicates
appellees Steel Source, Inc. and Steel Source, a division of Lloyd N. Moreau, L.L.C.,
agree with the requested abatement. According to the motion, appellants timely
requested findings and gave timely notice of past due findings. They did not receive a
copy of findings from the trial court, however. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 297. Subsequently,
while preparing the clerk’s record, appellants discovered the trial court had filed
findings.
We abate the appeal and remand the cause to the trial court solely for the
purpose of allowing the parties an opportunity to request additional or amended findings
of fact and conclusions of law. Cf. Tex. R. App. P. 44.4.1 Within ten days of the date of
this order, any party may request additional or amended findings of fact and conclusions
of law under Rule of Civil Procedure 298. Tex. R. Civ. P. 298. If a party requests
additional or amended findings and conclusions, the parties and the trial court shall
proceed according to Rule 298. The trial court and parties shall ensure that the clerk’s
record, when filed, includes any request for additional or amended findings and all
responsive documents signed by the trial court.
The abatement herein ordered will dissolve automatically on July 11, 2011, and
the appeal will thereupon be reinstated, without further notice. The record shall be filed
on or before August 15, 2011.
It is so ordered.
Per Curiam
1
We have no record before us and are acting solely on the parties’ agreed
motion. By our issuance of this order, we intend no finding that the trial court has
committed error. Except as expressly stated in this order, we do not direct action by the
trial court or the parties. By this order we do not direct the parties to request additional
or amended findings and conclusions, nor do we direct the trial court’s response to any
such request that may be made by the parties.
2