Opinion
No. 11-17-00167-CV
09-29-2017
OAK CREEK HOMES, LP AND 21ST MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Appellants v. JOE AND BRENDA MOORE, Appellees
On Appeal from the 259th District Court Jones County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 022737
ORDER
In this accelerated appeal from an order in which the trial court denied a motion to compel arbitration, Appellants have filed in this court a joint motion to stay. In their motion, Appellants ask that we issue an order to stay "the jury trial setting and all other proceedings in the Trial Court." We grant the motion to stay.
Appellants state that the trial in this matter is currently set for November 13, 2017. Appellants wish to stay discovery and other pretrial matters pending the outcome of their interlocutory appeal in this court. Appellees oppose the motion to stay and have filed a response stating that discovery must be completed. We conclude, however, that Appellants are entitled to a stay of all proceedings below, including discovery. See Suarez-Valdez v. Shearson Lehman/Am. Exp., Inc., 858 F.2d 648, 649 (11th Cir. 1988) ("The district court erred in refusing to stay discovery. An agreement to arbitrate is an agreement to proceed under arbitration and not under court rules."); In re Champion Techs., Inc., 173 S.W.3d 595, 597-99 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2005, orig. proceeding) (holding that mandamus was appropriate where trial court denied motion to stay discovery and deferred a ruling on motion to compel arbitration until after discovery could be completed). "Both the Federal and Texas Arbitration Acts require courts to stay litigation of issues that are subject to arbitration." In re Merrill Lynch Tr. Co. FSB, 235 S.W.3d 185, 195 (Tex. 2007) (citing 9 U.S.C. § 3; TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. §§ 171.025, 172.174 (West 2011)). Appellants' motion to stay is granted. Accordingly, all proceedings below are stayed pending further order of this court or final disposition of the interlocutory appeal in this cause.
PER CURIAM September 29, 2017 Panel consists of: Wright, C.J.,
Willson, J., and Bailey, J.