On November 08, 2016 a
Motion,Ex Parte
was filed
involving a dispute between
Claiborne, Angela,
and
Amg Woodfair Llc,
Aptvc Llc,
Claiborne, Akeisha,
Claiborne, Alicia,
Gatesco Inc,
Villa De Cancun Apartments,
Woodfair Properties Llc,
for PERSONAL INJ (NON-AUTO)
in the District Court of Harris County.
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Angela Claiborne IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF
Plaintiff
Vv. HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS
APTVC, LLC
Defendant 190 JUDICIAL DISTRICT
MOTION EQUALIZE PEREMPTORY STRIKES
Plaintiff respectfully asks the Court to equalize peremptory strikes between the Plaintiff
This is a multi-party case involving one Plaintiff and two Defendants. If each party were
given the same number of peremptory strikes, Defendants would be able to stack the jury. The
purpose of equalizing strikes is to ensure that no “side” has an unfair advantage because of its
peremptory strikes. T , 592 S.W.2d 914, 919
(Tex. 1979). Whether there is antagonism between litigants on the same side of a lawsuit is a
Plaintiff seeks to hold all Defendants liable for her mother’s (“Decedent’’) injuries and
damages, placing the Defendants on identical footing in relation to defending against her
evidence. Defendants are all aligned in their primary defensive position that none of them is
liable for Plaintiff's injuries, as well as on the issue of Plaintiff's injuries and damages. They
share a singular corporate representative and other than having separate counsel are acting
collectively in defense of these claims in all respects. Consequently, all Defendants’ are aligned
2005.00001/588198.v2
The purpose of Rule 233 is to guarantee that neither side has an advantage over the other,
so the Court must allocate peremptory strikes in a manner that does not allow the Defendants to
“gang up” on the Plaintiff and stack the jury. If each Defendant is allowed independent strikes,
the disparity will be enormous. That would be error. As the Supreme Court held in
The trial court had a duty to equalize the strikes...so that no party retained an unequal
Given the number of Defendants, Plaintiff suggests that each side receive 8 strikes and
Defendants be allowed to confer with each other and coordinate their strikes. In this manner,
strikes will be equalized between the sides and Defendants will not risk duplicating their strikes.
This solution accomplishes the goals of Rule 233 and will be fa
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, Plaintiff asks the Court to equalize peremptory strikes by allowing
ollectively.
Respectfully submitted,
ARNOLD & ITKIN LLP
/s/ Noah M. Wexler
Noah M. Wexler
Texas State Bar N
6009 Memorial Drive
Houst
Tele
jitkin@arnolditkin.com
citkin@arnolditkin.com
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF
2005.00001/588198.v2
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that on this 8 day of February 2021, a true and correct copy of the
above and foregoing was served upon the all counsel of record in compliance with the Rules of
/s/ Noah M. Wexler
2005.00001/588198.v2
Document Filed Date
February 08, 2021
Case Filing Date
November 08, 2016
Category
PERSONAL INJ (NON-AUTO)
Status
In Trial Recessed To Future Date
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Angela Claiborne IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF Plaintiff Vv. HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS APTVC, LLC Defendant 190 JUDICIAL DISTRICT MOTION EQUALIZE PEREMPTORY STRIKES Plaintiff respectfully asks the Court to equalize peremptory strikes between the Plaintiff This is a multi-party case involving one Plaintiff and two Defendants. If each party were given the same number of peremptory strikes, Defendants would be able to stack the jury. The purpose of equalizing strikes is to ensure that no “side” has an unfair advantage because of its peremptory strikes. T , 592 S.W.2d 914, 919 (Tex. 1979). Whether there is antagonism between litigants on the same side of a lawsuit is a Plaintiff seeks to hold all Defendants liable for her mother’s (“Decedent’’) injuries and damages, placing the Defendants on identical footing in relation to defending against her evidence. Defendants are all aligned in their primary defensive position that none of them is liable for Plaintiff's injuries, as well as on the issue of Plaintiff's injuries and damages. They share a singular corporate representative and other than having separate counsel are acting collectively in defense of these claims in all respects. Consequently, all Defendants’ are aligned 2005.00001/588198.v2 The purpose of Rule 233 is to guarantee that neither side has an advantage over the other, so the Court must allocate peremptory strikes in a manner that does not allow the Defendants to “gang up” on the Plaintiff and stack the jury. If each Defendant is allowed independent strikes, the disparity will be enormous. That would be error. As the Supreme Court held in The trial court had a duty to equalize the strikes...so that no party retained an unequal Given the number of Defendants, Plaintiff suggests that each side receive 8 strikes and Defendants be allowed to confer with each other and coordinate their strikes. In this manner, strikes will be equalized between the sides and Defendants will not risk duplicating their strikes. This solution accomplishes the goals of Rule 233 and will be fa CONCLUSION For these reasons, Plaintiff asks the Court to equalize peremptory strikes by allowing ollectively. Respectfully submitted, ARNOLD & ITKIN LLP /s/ Noah M. Wexler Noah M. Wexler Texas State Bar N 6009 Memorial Drive Houst Tele jitkin@arnolditkin.com citkin@arnolditkin.com ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF 2005.00001/588198.v2 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE This is to certify that on this 8 day of February 2021, a true and correct copy of the above and foregoing was served upon the all counsel of record in compliance with the Rules of /s/ Noah M. Wexler 2005.00001/588198.v2