In Re Southern Insurance Company--Appeal from 434th Judicial District Court of Fort Bend County

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Petition for Writ of Mandamus Denied and Memorandum Opinion filed August 23, 2011. In The Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________ NO. 14-11-00604-CV ____________ IN RE SOUTHERN INSURANCE COMPANY, Relator ORIGINAL PROCEEDING WRIT OF MANDAMUS 434th District Court Fort Bend County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 10-DCV-186511 MEMORANDUM OPINION On July 14, 2011, relator filed a petition for writ of mandamus in this court. See Tex. Gov t Code § 22.221; see also Tex. R. App. P. 52. Relator complains that respondent, the Honorable James Shoemake, presiding judge of the 434th District Court of Fort Bend County, abused his discretion in failing to grant relator s Motion to Compel Appraisal and Abate. Real parties in interest, Jorge and Blanco Barrios, filed a response. Mandamus will not lie absent a ruling by the trial court that is being challenged. See Axelson, Inc. v. McIlhany, 798 S.W.2d 550, 556 (Tex. 1990) (for mandamus to lie, the respondent must have explicitly denied motions intended to compel the deposition . . . . ); and In re Baldridge, No. 14-06-00647-CV, 2006 WL 2167239 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2006, orig. proceeding) (denying mandamus because relators failed to provide court of appeals a written order, citing Tex. R. App. P. 52.3(j)(A) and In re Bledsoe, 41 S.W.3d 807, 811 (Tex.App. Fort Worth 2001, orig. proceeding) (concluding that mandamus relief may be based on oral ruling only if the ruling is a clear, specific, and enforceable order that is adequately shown by the record )). The record contains neither a written order nor an oral ruling denying relator s Motion to Compel Appraisal and Abate. Relator cites In re Shredder Co., L.L.C., 225 S.W.3d 676, 679 (Tex. App. El Paso 2006, no pet.), for its holding the trial court abused its discretion by delaying ruling on a motion to compel arbitration. The Shredder court, however, conditionally granted writ to issue only if the trial court fails to rule on the motion to compel arbitration. Id. at 680 (emphasis added). The court expressly offered no opinion on the merits of the motion. Id. Relator does not ask us to compel the trial court to rule. Relator has failed to establish it is entitled to mandamus relief. Accordingly, we deny relator s petition for writ of mandamus. PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Anderson, Brown, and Christopher. 2

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