Charles O. "Chuck" Grigson v. State, No. 03-15-00436-CV (July 24, 2015). · Go Syfert
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Charles O. "Chuck" Grigson, Gerald Hooks, and Leslie Hooks
v.
State
03-15-00436-CV.
Texas Court of Appeals, 3rd District (Austin).
Jul 24, 2015.
Published opinion
Published

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 [email protected] [email protected] ALEXANDER DUBOSE JEFFERSON & Ryan S. Mindell TOWNSEND LLP State Bar No. 24089707 515 Congress Ave., Suite 2350 [email protected] Austin, Texas 78701 Jennifer S. Jackson Telephone: 512-482-9300 State Bar No. 24060004 Telecopier: 512-482-9303 [email protected] OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL M. Scott Incerto P.O. Box 12548 State Bar No. 10388950 Austin, Texas 78711-2548 [email protected] 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 Date: July 24, 2015 Respectfully submitted, /s/ M. Scott Incerto Marcy Hogan Greer State Bar No. 08417650 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] Geraldine W. Young State Bar No. 24084134 [email protected] 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 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 [email protected] RYAN S. MINDELL Assistant Attorney General State Bar No. 24089707 Telephone: (512) 936-1721 [email protected] JENNIFER S. JACKSON Assistant Attorney General State Bar No. 24060004 Telephone: (512) 463-9917 [email protected] 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 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

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.
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 [email protected] [email protected] 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 [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Appellant Charles O. “Chuck” Grigson /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