  We consider an initial-boundary-value problem for a thermoelastic Kirchhoff &
Love plate, thermally insulated and simply supported on the boundary,
incorporating rotational inertia and a quasilinear hypoelastic response, while
the heat effects are modeled using the hyperbolic Maxwell-Cattaneo-Vernotte law
giving rise to a 'second sound' effect. We study the local well-posedness of
the resulting quasilinear mixed-order hyperbolic system in a suitable solution
class of smooth functions mapping into Sobolev $H^{k}$-spaces. Exploiting the
sole source of energy dissipation entering the system through the hyperbolic
heat flux moment, provided the initial data are small in a lower topology
(basic energy level corresponding to weak solutions), we prove a nonlinear
stabilizability estimate furnishing global existence & uniqueness and
exponential decay of classical solutions.
