ACCEPTED 04-14-00527-CV FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 1/13/2015 4:09:00 PM KEITH HOTTLE CLERK NO. 04-14-00527-CV __________________________________________________________________ FILED IN IN THE FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS 4th COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 01/13/2015 4:09:00 PM __________________________________________________________________ KEITH E. HOTTLE Clerk ANNA MARIA SALINAS SAENZ, ET AL., Appellants, v. THORP PETROLEUM CORP., ET AL., Appellees __________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the 229th District Court of Starr County, Texas No. DC-04-120, Hon. Ana Lisa Garza, Presiding __________________________________________________________________ APPELLEES’ UNOPPOSED JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE APPELLEES’ BRIEFS SCOTT, DOUGLASS, & JONES GILL LLP MCCONNICO, L.L.P. Lee S. Gill Mark W. Hanna State Bar No. 07921360 State Bar No. 24051764 [email protected] [email protected] 6363 Woodway, Suite 1100 Kennon L. Wooten Houston, Texas 77057 State Bar No. 24046624 (713) 652-4068 Telephone [email protected] (713) 651-0716 Facsimile Congress Avenue, Suite 1500 Austin, Texas 78701-2589 Attorney for Appellees Thorp (512) 495-6300 Telephone Petroleum Corporation, El Paso (512) 474-0731 Facsimile Production Company; El Paso E&P Company, LP; El Paso Exploration & Production Management, Inc.; Attorneys for Appellee Stanco Land Management, LLC, and Smith Production Inc. Meredith Land & Minerals Company January 13, 2015

1173696 TO THE HONORABLE FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS: Pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.5(b), Appellees Smith Production Inc. (“Smith Production”) and Thorp Petroleum Corporation, El Paso Production Company; El Paso E&P Company, LP; El Paso Exploration & Production Management, Inc.; Stanco Land Management, LLC; and Meredith Land & Minerals Company (together “Thorp et al.” and collectively with Smith Production, “Appellees”) file this Unopposed Joint Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellees’ Briefs, seeking an additional thirty (30) days to file their appellate briefs. In support of this Motion, Appellees respectfully show the Court the following: A. The Current Deadline Appellants timely filed their brief on December 17, 2014, after receiving two thirty-day extensions of their briefing deadline. As a result, Appellees’ brief is currently due on Friday, January 16, 2015. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.6(b).

B. The Length of Extension Sought Pursuant to Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 10.5(b) and 38.6(d), Appellees seek thirty (30) additional days in which to file their appellate briefs.

Specifically, Appellees seek to change their deadline from January 16, 2015 to

1173696 February 17, 2015.1 Appellees seek this extension so that justice may be done in this appeal, not for improper delay. Appellants do not oppose this extension.

C. Number of Previous Extensions Granted This is the first extension that Appellees have requested in this appeal.

D. Facts Explaining the Extension Sought Appellees seek this extension in order to be on the same briefing schedule that the Balderas defendants have sought in this appeal.2 Furthermore, Smith Production seeks an extension of time in which to file its appellate brief because its lead appellate counsel, Kennon L. Wooten, has had several scheduling demands between the date that Appellants filed their brief and Smith Production’s current appellate-brief deadline. These scheduling demands include the following: • Written discovery, document production, and summary judgment motions in Lower Colorado River Authority v. City of Kerrville, Acting by and Through Kerrville Public Utility Board, Cause No. 12-1001-B in the 198th Judicial District Court of Kerr County, Texas; • Assistance with dismissal of appeals in and nonsuit of Lower Colorado River Authority v. City of Boerne, Texas, Cause No. D-1-GN-12-502 in the 216th Judicial District Court of Kendall County, Texas, and Lower Colorado

If the requested extension is granted, the new deadline will fall on a Sunday. The following Monday—February 16, 2015—is President’s Day, a holiday on which the Court will be closed.

Rosalinda Salinas Balderas, Fausto Salinas, Elda Salinas Ponce, D-Fox, Ltd., Elodia Salinas, Linda Mandes, Veronica Casas Campbell, and Cynthia M. Villarreal, f/k/a Cindy Casas Reyna (together the “Balderas defendants”) recently requested an extension of time of thirty (30) days in which to file their appellate brief. Like the request herein, the Balderas defendants’ request was unopposed. If the Court grants the Balderas defendants’ request, the extended briefing deadline that Appellees seek herein will match the Balderas defendants’ new briefing deadline.

1173696 River Authority v. City of Seguin, Texas, Cause No. D-1-GN-13-000433 in the 53rd Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas; • Written discovery in Compensation Sciences Enterprises, Ltd. d/b/a/ CSINadler Partners, Inc. v. D. Douglas Brothers, et al., Cause No. D-1-GN- 14-004203 in the 200th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas; and • Preparation of divorce decrees and parenting plans in two pro bono family- law matters—In the Matter of the Marriage of Jeannie Rodriguez and Casey Barrera and in the Interest of R. N. R. B., Cause No. D-1-AG-10-001954, in the 200th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas, and In the Matter of the Marriage of Cara Michele Wheeler-Najomo and George Onigite Najomo, and In the Interest of Mya Ajiroghene Najomo, a Child, Cause No. D-1-FM-13-005684 in the 250th Judicial District; in Travis County, Texas.

In addition, Thorp et al. seek an extension of time in which to file their appellate brief because their counsel, Lee Gill, has had several scheduling demands between the date that Appellants filed their brief and Thorp et al.’s current appellate-brief deadline. These scheduling demands include the following: • Written discovery, document production, and summary judgment motions in Jane Guinn Revocable Trust et al vs. Warbonnet Exploration Co. et al, Cause No. 30776, 149th District Court, Brazoria County, Texas; and • Written discovery, document production, and summary judgment motions in Underground Services Marham, LLC v. Robert Myers et al, Cause No. 13-E- 0218, 130th District Court, Matagorda County, Texas.

The scheduling demands listed above have made it impossible for Appellees to complete their briefs by their current deadline. This case has not been set for submission, so this extension will not delay the ultimate resolution of this appeal.

WHEREFORE, Appellees request respectfully that this Court grant this unopposed Motion and extend their appellate-brief deadline to February 17, 2015.

1173696 Respectfully submitted, SCOTT, DOUGLASS, & MCCONNICO, L.L.P. Congress Avenue, Suite 1500 Austin, Texas 78701-2589 (512) 495-6300 (512) 474-0731 Fax By: /s/ Kennon L. Wooten Mark W. Hanna State Bar No. 24051764 [email protected] Kennon L. Wooten State Bar No. 24046624 [email protected] ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE SMITH PRODUCTION INC. JONES GILL LLP 6363 Woodway, Suite 1100 Houston, Texas 77057 (713) 652-4068 (713) 651-0716 Fax By: /s/ Lee S. Gill Lee S. Gill State Bar No. 07921360 [email protected] ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES THORP PETROLEUM CORPORATION, EL PASO PRODUCTION COMPANY; EL PASO E&P COMPANY, LP; EL PASO EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, INC.; STANCO LAND MANAGEMENT, LLC, AND MEREDITH LAND & MINERALS COMPANY 1173696 CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE I certify that, on January 9, 2015, Appellants’ counsel David George informed Lee Gill and me via email that Appellants do not oppose the relief sought through this motion.

/s/ Kennon L. Wooten Kennon L. Wooten

1173696 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been served on all counsel of record on January, 13, 2015, as indicated below: Via electronic service Roger S. Braugh, Jr. SICO, WHITE, HOELSCHER, HARRIS & BRAUGH, LLP Frost Bank Blaza N. Carancahua Corpus Christi, TX 78470 [email protected] David George CONNELLY BAKER WOTRING, LLP JPMorgan Chase Tower Travis Street Houston, TX 77002 [email protected] and John T. Flood Flood & Flood N. Carancahua, Suite 900 Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 [email protected] Attorneys for Appellants Anna Maria Salinas Saenz, et al.

Via Facsimile: 956-687-6125 Rolando Cantu LAW FIRM OF ROLANDO CANTU, P.C.

4428 S. McColl Edinburg, TX 78539 Attorney for Alicia Salinas

1173696 Via electronic service Jose Luis Flores ATTORNEY AT LAW 1111 W. Nolana McAllen, TX 78504 [email protected] Attorney for Eleodora Salinas Del Real, Dalia Salinas and Jose Manuel Flores Via electronic service J. Joseph Vale O.C. Hamilton, Jr. ATLAS & HALL, L.L.P. P.O. Drawer 3725 McAllen, TX 78502 [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Luisa M. Ruiz, Norberto Salinas, Fausto Salinas, Rosalinda Salinas Balderas, Linda Mandes, Ricardo L. Salinas, Veronica Casas Campbell, Elda Salinas Ponce, Cindy Casas Reyna, Thelma Salinas, Elodia Salinas, D-FOX, Ltd., and Cynthia M. Villarreal, f/k/a Cindy Casas Reyna Via electronic service Juan J. Hinojosa LAW OFFICES OF JUAN J. HINOJOSA W. Nolana Loop, Suite 410 McAllen, TX 78504 [email protected] Attorney for Arturo Salinas Via electronic service C. Frank Wood Sanchez, Whittington, Zabarte & Wood, L.L.C. 3505 Boca Chica Blvd., Suite 100 Brownsville, TX 78521 [email protected] Attorney for Ruben Garcia, et al.

1173696 Via electronic service Daniel Robles ATTORNEY AT LAW Westoria Building, 1st Floor S. “F” Street Harlingen, Texas 78550 [email protected] Attorney for Oscar Garcia, Jr. Via electronic service Ricardo L. Salinas SALINAS/FLORES 2011 N. Conway Mission, Texas 78572 [email protected] Attorney for Ricardo Salinas Via electronic service Rene A. Flores THE LAW OFFICE OF RENE A. FLORES 2724 W. Canton Road Edinburg, Texas 78539 [email protected] Attorney for Alida Salinas Hernandez, Arnaldo Salinas, Alma Salinas Munoz, Adelaida Salinas, Aida Salinas Flores, Guadalupe Salinas, Maria Ester Salinas Cantu, and Maria del Carmen Zamora

/s/ Kennon L. Wooten Kennon L. Wooten

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