Texas Appellate Law Blog: Appellate Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Appellate Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Appellate Law

Texas Appellate Law Blog

Civil appellate practice tips, resources, and news on matters before the Texas appellate courts.
By D. Todd Smith

Post Frequency: 3.6/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2011 at 10:25:22

Texas Supreme Court Orders 7/18/07

Posted on July 18, 2008
In keeping with the start of summer recess, today's Texas Supreme Court orders were something of a non-event to anyone other than folks with a direct interest in the listed cases. I, for one, will enjoy the quiet while it lasts.

20 Questions About Texas Appellate Practice

Posted on July 16, 2008
Now that the Texas Supreme Court has broken for the summer (sort of), I'd like to start a series I'm calling "20 Questions About Texas Appellate Practice." My intent is to answer the questions someone unfamiliar with Texas appellate law might ask when faced with the prospect of taking or defending an appeal in the Lone Star State...

Two Years and Counting

Posted on July 14, 2008
This past Saturday marked the second anniversary of my law firm. My sentiments today are much the same as when I wrote this post marking the first year:One year ago today, I departed big firm life to start my own appellate boutique—if you can call one lawyer a boutique! The result has exceeded my expectations in almost every way...

Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 7/11/08

Posted on July 11, 2008
The Texas Supreme Court issued four decisions with this week's regular orders.In City of Waco v. Lopez (No. 06?0089), a retaliatory discharge action in which the City filed a plea to the jurisdiction, the Court held that the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act provided the exclusive state statutory remedy...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

A Belated Welcome to the Tyler Appeals Blog!

Posted on July 09, 2008
Several months ago, Tyler appellate lawyer Jeff Rambin contacted me for input on a blog he was putting together focusing on appellate matters in East Texas. Like me, Jeff signed up with LexBlog, whose designers did just as good a job with his blog as they did with mine...

Clearly, a Reason to Avoid Using Intensifiers

Posted on July 07, 2008
Faced with an opposing brief that preceding a conclusion with the word "clearly," my first supervising partner sometimes responded with this quote from Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht:I have learned in more than a decade of judging that what is claimed to be clear seldom is...

22nd Annual Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course

Posted on July 06, 2008
The State Bar Appellate Section and Texas Bar CLE are co-sponsoring the 22nd Annual Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course, which is set for September 4-5, 2008 at the Four Seasons Hotel here in Austin. The popular Appellate Boot Camp will take place on September 3 and the Section's annual meeting is scheduled for September 6, to be followed by a cocktail reception with the judiciary...

Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 6/27/08

Posted on June 27, 2008
The Texas Supreme Court issued four decisions—two of which were among the older cases on its docket—with this week's regular orders.In Pleasant Glade Assembly of God v. Schubert (No. 05-0916), the Court held that a church was not estopped from asserting its constitutional rights, reversed a money judgment against the church, and rendered judgment of dismissal because the case represented an ecclesiastical dispute over religious conduct...

Justice James A. Baker, 1931-2008

Posted on June 24, 2008
While I was out on vacation, I received the sad news that former Texas Supreme Court Justice James Baker had passed away. Aside from numerous media reports summarizing his many accomplishments, the Court has issued this tribute, which captures the essence of the man...

Programming Note

Posted on June 21, 2008
I'm away on vacation and am spending time with my family rather than blogging. For summaries of yesterday's Texas Supreme Court decisions, see Osler McCarthy's summaries or visit my blogging colleague Don Cruse's Supreme Court of Texas Blog. I'll be back online next week.

Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 6/13/08

Posted on June 13, 2008
The Texas Supreme Court issued four new decisions and one substituted opinion with today's regular orders.In General Electric Co. v. Moritz (No. 0871), the Court reaffirmed that a landowner owes an independent contractor’s employees no duty to warn of obvious hazards they already know about, rejecting the plaintiff's argument that his knowledge of the hazard was simply a factor for the jury to consider in assessing comparative negligence...

Flat Fees = Good

Posted on June 09, 2008
Anyone want to hire me for a flat fee of $200,000 for a single case? Didn't think so. But then again, I'm not the former Solicitor General of the United States.

Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 6/6/08

Posted on June 06, 2008
The Texas Supreme Court issued three opinions with today's regular Friday orders.In In re Roberts (No. 05?0362) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam), the Court concluded that allowing plaintiffs a 30-day grace period to amend expert reports in a health-care liability case "does not substantially prolong litigation or allow for extensive discovery" and therefore does not cause the kind of delay for which mandamus is available under its recent decision in In re McAllen Medical Center...

Lincoln the Lawyer

Posted on May 31, 2008
I attended the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society's annual John Hemphill Dinner last night. I believe all the justices were there, and the big ballroom at the Four Seasons here in Austin was packed as always.Professor Mark Steiner from South Texas College of Law was the keynote speaker, and he talked about his new book An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln...

Texas Supreme Court Orders 5/30/08

Posted on May 31, 2008
The Texas Supreme Court issued two opinions with this week's regular orders.In Guitar Holding Co., L.P. v. Hudspeth County Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (No. 06-0904), the Court concluded that the district exceeded its rule-making authority, reversed the court of appeals' judgment, and rendered judgment declaring the permitting scheme at issue invalid...

Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 5/30/08

Supreme Court Lets FLDS Decision Stand

Posted on May 29, 2008
I'm a little late to this party—I just happened to be at a conference today and another function this evening with some of the lawyers involved—but the Texas Supreme Court denied the State's mandamus petitions in the FLDS cases this afternoon...

$26 Million Vioxx Judgment Reversed

Posted on May 29, 2008
$4.85 billion In Merck & Co. v. Ernst (No. 14-06-00835-CV), the Fourteenth Court of Appeals has reversed Mark Lanier's $26.1 million judgment in a highly publicized Vioxx case and has rendered judgment that the plaintiff take nothing...

Blawg Review #161, Memorial Day Edition

Posted on May 28, 2008
I've been working on a brief and until this evening hadn't seen the special Memorial Day edition of Blawg Review over at Patent Baristas. The lead-in photo alone is worth the visit. Thanks to editor Stephen Albainy-Jenei for including my oft-updated post entitled "FLDS Children Going Home?" I don't feel worthy...

Recap of Fifth Circuit En Banc Arguments

Posted on May 27, 2008
Over at the relatively new Bartlett Blog, Tad Bartlett provides a blow-by-blow of the recent Fifth Circuit en banc arguments, including the In re Volkswagen venue case that’s generating a lot of discussion these days because it threatens the Marshall “rocket docket...

Ranking the States' High Courts

Posted on May 22, 2008
On the heels of a hotly debated study declaring that California has the top state high court (see discussion here, here, and here), another paper has reached the same conclusion. At least this time the authors are from other states.Neither the Texas Supreme Court nor the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals fared particularly well...

FLDS Children Going Home

Posted on May 22, 2008
In In re Steed (No. 03-08-00235-CV) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam), the Third Court of Appeals has conditionally granted the petition for writ of mandamus and vacated the district court's order placing more than 400 FLDS children in state custody...

So Much for Delay on the Lead Rate Case

Posted on May 22, 2008
The Third Court of Appeals has released its opinion in the lead State Farm rate case, Geeslin v. State Farm Lloyds (No. 03-05-00067-CV). So much for any concerns that the recent panel-switch would delay the decision—although the Court did not decide all the cases together, as Chief Justice Law indicated it might...

FLDS Presents Appellate Pro Bono Opportunities

Posted on May 21, 2008
The pro bono committees of the Austin Bar Civil Appellate Section and the State Bar Appellate Section are distributing the following message regarding the FLDS matter in El Dorado:Appellate Pro BonoVolunteers Needed*********El Dorado ChildrenLawyers from across the state have volunteered to represent children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in El Dorado...

More on Judges and Blogs

Posted on May 20, 2008
At some level, every blog is built on shameless self-promotion. To that end, I'm happy to point out some attention generated by my recent post entitled Newsflash: Appellate Judges Read Blogs: The piece was picked up by the online version of the Wall Street Journal and mentioned over at the Sophistic Miltonian Serbonian Blog...

Should I Run an Ad Like This?

Posted on May 16, 2008
For some Friday afternoon fun, watch this video, courtesy of the Sophistic Miltonian Serbonian Blog: If you don't know, Tom Goldstein was a small-firm lawyer before he joined Akin Gump.(Yes, this was my first attempt at imbedding video on this blog...

This Week's Supreme Court Orders & Opinions

Posted on May 16, 2008
The Texas Supreme Court decided six cases and issued one substituted opinion with this week's orders. Briefly, the new decisions are: First American Title Insurance Co. v. Combs (No. 05-0541), affirming the Comptroller's interpretation of a retaliatory tax statute affecting foreign insurers...

Newsflash: Appellate Judges Read Blogs

Posted on May 15, 2008
While attending a bar function today, a local appellate justice I have met a few times before recognized me, introduced me to his companions as the author of an appellate blog, and confessed (?) to being one of my regular readers. I have had similar conversations with other members of the appellate bench in recent months...

The Fifth Circuit's Practioner's Guide

Posted on May 14, 2008
One of my goals in creating this blog was to have it serve as a sort of "home page" for lawyers involved in Texas appeals by providing links to resources those folks are likely to need at some point in the appellate process...

The Fifth Circuit's Practitioner's Guide

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Texas Governor Takes Surprising Stand In Favor Of Immigrants
Texas Governor Rick Perry, normally an ultra-conservative, surpris...

District Judge Upholds Texas' Moment of Silence Law
In 2003, the Texas legislature amended a "moment of silence" law s...

Irving, Texas Losing Students Due To Immigration Crackdown?
The Dallas Morning News had an interesting story Sunday about the ...

Two New USCIS Training Centers To Open In North Texas
The Dallas Morning News reports today that two regional training c...

Comprehensive Explanation of Irving, Texas Immigration Situation
The Dallas Morning News has a very good series of articles today a...