Appellate Law

Request Did Not Extend Time for Appealing Summary Judgment

By D. Todd Smith

In Finney v. Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Inc. (No. 03-07-00329-CV), the Third Court of Appeals reminds us that a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law does not extend the deadline for filing a notice of appeal from a summary judgment.  Other than for accelerated appeals, such requests push the deadline from 30 days to 90 days after the judgment is signed if “findings and conclusions either are required by the Rules of Civil Procedure or, if not required, could properly be considered by the appellate court.”  TRAP 26.1(a)(4).

Because findings and conclusions are neither required nor properly considered on appeal in the summary judgment context, and because the appellant in Finney did not file his notice of appeal within 30 days after the judgment was signed, the notice was not timely.  The court therefore dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Full post as published by Texas Appellate Law Blog on March 04, 2008 (boomark / email).