In The Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo No. 07-21-00072-CV

IN RE STEVEN LAY, RELATOR ORIGINAL PROCEEDING May 3, 2021 ORDER ON MOTION FOR EMERGENCY STAY Before PIRTLE and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.

Relator, S.L., has filed a petition for writ of mandamus with this Court seeking an order directing respondent, the Honorable Matt Martindale, to reinstate a suit affecting parent-child relationship that respondent dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Additionally, S.L. has filed a motion for emergency stay requesting this Court to stay further proceedings related to the suit affecting parent-child relationship in either trial court cause number 77301L2, or 79232L2, pending disposition of his mandamus petition.

An appellate court, pursuant to Rule 52.10(b) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, may grant any “just relief” pending the disposition of an original petition without notice. TEX. R. APP. P. 52.10(b). Just relief may include staying the enforcement of an order for purposes of protecting the jurisdiction of the appellate court by maintaining the status quo of the underlying proceeding while the court considers the merits of the original proceeding. In re Kelleher, 999 S.W.2d 51, 52 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 1999, orig. proceeding); In re Reed, 901 S.W.2d 604, 609 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1995, orig. proceeding).

S.L.’s petition for writ of mandamus and motion for emergency stay were both filed with this Court on April 23. To afford this Court sufficient time to review the merits of S.L.’s petition for writ of mandamus and any response filed by real-parties-in-interest,1 his motion for emergency stay is granted. All trial court proceedings in trial court cause numbers 77301L2, and 79232L2, are stayed pending disposition of S.L.’s petition.

Per Curiam

1 On April 27, 2021, this Court requested real-parties-in-interest file a response to relator’s petition for writ of mandamus.