Ameerah Hashim Alwan v. Northhill Manor Housing Partners, LP and Asset Living
CourtTexas Court of Appeals, 2nd District (Fort Worth)
Date FiledJuly 30, 2026
Docket02-26-00463-CV
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
In the
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
___________________________
No. 02-26-00463-CV
___________________________
AMEERAH HASHIM ALWAN, Appellant
V.
NORTHHILL MANOR HOUSING PARTNERS, LP AND ASSET LIVING,
Appellees
On Appeal from the 67th District Court
Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 067-374014-26
Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Birdwell, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Sudderth
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant Ameerah Hashim Alwan attempts to appeal a trial court order
dismissing his claims against Appellees Northhill Manor Housing Partners, LP and
Asset Living. See generally Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a. But the order states that the trial court
“shall decide at a future hearing [Alwan’s] liability . . . under [Rule] 91a.7 . . . for any
court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.” See Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a.7. And this
lingering fee issue means that the dismissal order is not final—and that we therefore
lack appellate jurisdiction.
Generally, appeals may be taken only from final judgments.1 Lehmann v. Har-
Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 196 (Tex. 2001); Pendleton, 2026 WL 1501012, at *1. When,
as here, an order disposes of claims without a conventional trial on the merits, the
order is not a final judgment unless it (1) “actually disposes of every pending claim
and party” or (2) “clearly and unequivocally states that it finally disposes of all claims
and parties, even if it does not actually do so.” Patel v. Nations Renovations, LLC, 661
S.W.3d 151, 154 (Tex. 2023); Lehmann, 39 S.W.3d at 205–06. The trial court’s
dismissal order does neither of these things.
1
Although interlocutory appeals are statutorily authorized in certain
circumstances, none of those circumstances apply here, and Alwan does not claim
that they do. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014(a); Pendleton v. X. Corp., No.
02-26-00261-CV, 2026 WL 1501012, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth May 28, 2026, no
pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op.) (noting that “no statute authorize[d] an interlocutory
appeal” of Rule 91a dismissal order).
2
On the contrary, the dismissal order “clearly and unequivocally” states that it
does not dispose of all claims—it expressly leaves the claim for attorney’s fees
pending to “[be] decide[d] at a future hearing.” See Pendleton, 2026 WL 1501012, at *1
(holding that Rule 91a dismissal order was not a final judgment because “the dismissal
order clearly le[ft] an unresolved matter: the amount of fees to be awarded”); Carroll
v. Metro Off. Equip., Inc., No. 02-22-00087-CV, 2022 WL 1682156, at *1 (Tex. App.—
Fort Worth May 26, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op.) (noting that “a request for fees under
Rule 91a is an affirmative claim for relief that, if left pending, can prevent a judgment
from being final” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
“Because the fee issue is still pending, the dismissal order is not final.”
Pendleton, 2026 WL 1501012, at *1. And although Alwan argues—in an attempt to
pacify our jurisdictional concerns, see Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3—that “the reserved
Rule 91a.7 fee determination should not be treated as an unresolved ‘claim’ for
purposes of the . . . finality analysis,” precedent says otherwise. See Pendleton, 2026 WL
1501012, at *1–2; Carroll, 2022 WL 1682156, at *1–2.
Therefore, we dismiss Alwan’s attempted appeal for want of jurisdiction. Tex.
R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f).
/s/ Bonnie Sudderth
Bonnie Sudderth
Chief Justice
Delivered: July 30, 2026
3