Brandon Williams v. Megan Nabila Mitchell

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, dismissed Brandon Williams’s attempted appeal for want of jurisdiction because his notice of appeal from the August 2024 protective-order judgment was filed in January 2026. The court held that the protective order was the final judgment and that Williams missed both the applicable notice-of-appeal deadline and the window for seeking an extension.

Holdings

1. Because the protective order disposed of the only claim in the suit, the protective order signed on August 16, 2024 was the final judgment.
2. A timely notice of appeal is a jurisdictional requirement, and Williams's notice filed well after the applicable deadline did not invoke the court's jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the August 16, 2024 protective order was the final judgment from which the appellate deadline began to run.
2. Whether Williams's January 7, 2026 notice of appeal and January 6, 2026 extension motion were timely enough to invoke the court's appellate jurisdiction.

Disposition

dismissed