Texas Appellate Law Blog : Texas Appellate Lawyer & Attorney : Smith Law Group, P.C. : Appeals, Sanctions, Summary Judgment : Austin, Texas

Thanks to the efforts of Texas Supreme Court Clerk and Austin Bar Civil Appellate Law Section Council member Blake Hawthorne, video of the recent "Evening with the Texas Supreme Court" event is now available for viewing through the Court's webcast page.

I was honored to moderate this discussion as chair of the ABA Section and a member of the State Bar Appellate Section Council (which co-sponsored the event).  Seven justices shared their thoughts on practice before the Court and related issues.

Don Cruse has posted his notes from the event at the Supreme Court of Texas Blog.

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I recently had the privilege of hearing legal technology consultant Tom Mighell make his "iPad for Litigators" presentation to the Austin Bar Association's Civil Litigation.  Texas lawyers may know Tom from his days as a litigator with Dallas firm Cowles & Thompson.  He has authored an excellent legal tech blog, Inter Alia, for several years.

I live-tweeted Tom's talk (from @dtoddsmith) using #ipad4litigators as a hashtag, but have since received a request to re-post the tweets on this blog.  Here they are, in reverse chronological order (more or less):

Thanks to @TomMighell for a very informative presentation today @theaustinbar Litigation Section meeting!

Fed Court Records is an iPhone app that provides access to PACER. Fed Bank Records app provides bankruptcy court access.

Legal research: FastCase is free. WestlawNext and LexisAdvance provide paid users great access to their databases.

Reason to upgrade from 1st-gen iPad: It won't render documents as quickly, won't always show documents correctly on screen.

Trial presentation: TrialPad allows you to control what the jury sees on-screen, zoom in, highlight/point, redact.

For presentations, recommends Apple TV ($99). Sets up network between you and iPad. Present wirelessly with iPad.

Jury selection: JuryStar and iJury are more comprehensive, but more complicated. Tougher to use without help.

Jury selection: iJuror is solid, despite "Fisher-Price" design.

Document review: iDocument Review. Send to them for upload. Can create own codes. Likes the concept, but needs development.

TranscriptPad allows review and marking up depos as .txt files. Set up color codes for issues and highlight by code.

Deposition apps: Deponent has some preloaded Qs, allows you to customize and attach exhibits.

Apps to consider for calendar creation: Court Days Pro, DocketLaw. O'Connor's has a basic deadline calculator.

Goodreader is a good way of managing files on iPad. Can email attachments from app. Connects to Dropbox, etc.

Easiest way to get documents on iPad is synchronized file service such as Dropbox, Box, Sugarsync. "It's secure enough."

@TomMighell: iPad is a magical device (per Steve Jobs), but it can't change the facts. 

I'm live tweeting @TomMighell's talk on iPad for litigators @theaustinbar. Using #ipad4litigators as a hashtag.

As discussed in an article I wrote for Texas Lawyer a while back, I've incorporated an iPad into my appellate practice for a couple of years now, and I can't imagine life without it.  The only thing that comes close to the iPad's utility is the MacBook Air I picked up a few months ago and have hardly put down since.

Among other resources, lawyers using or considering the iPad should check out Tom's blog, Jeff Richardson's iPhone JD, and Frank King's recent Texas Bar Journal article.

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On March 29, 2012, Fourteenth Court of Appeals Chief Justice Adele Hedges and Texas Supreme Court Clerk Blake Hawthorne will speak to the Austin Bar Civil Appellate Law Section on "The Texas Appeals Management and E-filing System: Making Our Appellate Courts More Efficient and Transparent." This talk goes along with an article Blake published in the most recent issue of The Appellate Advocate.

The Supreme Court's mandatory e-filing initiative has now been live for a year. Several intermediate appellate courts, including the Third Court of Appeals here in Austin, are following suit. The TAMES system will bridge the gaps between e-filing, the courts' internal case management systems, and online docketing. Don't miss what is sure to be an informative look at the future of Texas appellate practice.

This event will take place at noon at Green Pastures and has been approved for one hour of CLE credit. To guarantee your reservation, send a check for $20 payable to “Civil Appellate Section” to Matthew Ploeger, Vinson & Elkins LLP,2801 Via Fortuna, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78746 by Monday, March 26, 2012.

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In what has become a biennial event, the Appellate Sections of the State Bar of Texas and the Austin Bar Association are sponsoring a program entitled “An Evening with the Texas Supreme Court” on Thursday, April 26, 2012, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel here in Austin. CLE credit (1.5 hours, .50 ethics) has been approved.

The event will feature a panel discussion with Chief Justice Jefferson and Justices Hecht, Medina, Green, Johnson, Willett, and Lehrmann.  A cocktail reception with the justices will follow.

Register by mailing a $25 check payable to “Civil Appellate Section" to Matthew Ploeger at Vinson & Elkins LLP, 2801 Via Fortuna, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78746, no later than April 20, 2012.  You may also reserve a space by emailing mploeger@velaw.com and paying $30 at the door.

This event was very well received when held in 2008 and 2010.  As the current ABA Appellate Section Chair, it will be my privilege to serve as moderator this time around.  We expect a lively and informative discussion and exchange of ideas from both sides of the bench.  If you have topics you would like to see addressed or specific questions for the justices, please email them to me at todd@appealsplus.com.

3/21/12 Update:  Justice Guzman will also be participating.

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To follow up on my last post, Texas Lawyer has run a front-page story on the Villarreal case.  Access the article here or here.

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After just over a year with my firm, Brandy Wingate has landed an oral argument at the Texas Supreme Court. The argument will take place at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow at the John B. Connally Center at the University of Texas School of Law here in Austin.

The case is Rio Grande Regional Hospital Inc. and Columbia Rio Grande Healthcare L.P. v. Diana Lopez Villarreal, et al. (No. 10-0927).  The Court's staff attorney for public information has provided the following summary:

In this case alleging health care-liability claims resulting from a patient's suicide in a hospital, the principal issues are (1) whether the appeals court applied the wrong standard to review the jury's finding that the suicide was a foreseeable result of nurses' actions and omissions; (2) whether legally sufficient evidence established that the patient's suicide was foreseeable and nurses' actions and omissions constituted its cause in fact; and (3) whether the court of appeals erred by imposing on nurses a duty to diagnose a patient's psychiatric illness. Villarreal sued the hospital after her husband, admitted for severe headaches, fatigue and fainting spells, killed himself two days later by slashing his neck with a razor a nurse provided him for shaving. On his admission, he told doctors he was not depressed. Doctors prescribed an anti-anxiety drug and an antidepressant also used to treat anxiety. A jury found the hospital 75 percent negligent for the nurses' acts and omissions and Mrs. Villarreal 25 percent at fault for failing to disclose to disclose a suicide note her husband wrote and his complaints about his "deteriorating" mental state. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment based on the jury verdict, holding in part that proximate cause could be based on "general danger" or "some type of injury" reasonably foreseen by providing Mr. Villarreal the razor. The hospital argues that the standard should have been that the suicide was injury of a "general character" that the nurses should have reasonably anticipated.

Here are links to the parties' briefs and the Thirteenth Court of Appeals' opinion.  The argument will be webcast live, courtesy of St. Mary's University School of Law.

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As immediate past chair of the Austin Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Section, my main responsibility is to organize and run a half-day CLE program the Section puts on each year.  We have put together what I think will be an outstanding program that will educate attendees on a number of subjects relevant to solos and small firms.

Topics include advertising and barratry in the age of social media, office automation and the reduced-paper office, negotiating strategies and routes to conflict resolution, and practice management in tough economic times.  Our speakers include sitting judges, bar officials, and experienced practitioners.  The full schedule and speaker list is pasted below and is also available here.

We hope you'll join us on February 23! 

2/3/12 Update:  For anyone interested, the Twitter hashtag for this event is #SSFCLE.

2/10/12 Update:  The final course brochure, with a registration form, is available here.

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The Austin Bar Association's Civil Appellate Law Section will kick off the new year with a special program featuring chief justices from several of the fourteen intermediate state courts of appeals.  The luncheon meeting, which will take place at noon on January 19, 2012 at Green Pastures, will include the following lineup:

Moderator:

Chief Justice Woodie Jones, Austin (pictured)

Panelists:

Chief Justice Terrie Livingston, Ft. Worth
Chief Justice Brian Quinn, Amarillo
Chief Justice Sherry Radack, Houston
Chief Justice Jim Worthen, Tyler

A number of chiefs from other courts are expected to attend as well.

As Section Chair, I am very excited about this event.  The program will present a unique opportunity to hear the chiefs' views on current issues facing the courts and to visit with judges from around the state in an informal setting.  Space is limited, so reserve your seat by sending Matthew Ploeger a check for $20 payable to "Civil Appellate Section" today.

If you have a topic you would like to see the panel address, please describe it in a comment to this post.  I will collect and pass on the suggestions for the panel's consideration.

1/18/12 Update:  Chief Justice Catherine Stone from San Antonio will substitute for Chief Justice Quinn.

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Ringing in the new year takes us to another milestone—the fifth anniversary of this blog's launch.  Year-end has been a natural time to re-evaluate, re-assess, and plan for the next twelve months.

Last January 1, I announced that Brandy Wingate had joined my firm, @Smith Law Group, and we are enjoying what she has added to our practice.  The firm is continuing to grow and change, so be on the lookout for some new announcements soon.  One recent addition is a new Twitter feed, @AppellaTex, geared specifically to this blog and its focus on Texas civil appellate practice.

May you all have a very happy and blessed 2012!

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