Appellate Court Internal Operating Procedures
Appellate courts are often criticized as being stuck in the "ivory tower," largely because their work is done out of the public eye and is therefore shrouded in mystery. Among other recent efforts to make the appellate process more transparent, nearly all of the intermediate Texas appellate courts have posted their internal operating procedures on their respective web sites. For example, the Third Court of Appeals' current IOPs appear here.
The IOP postings started with a survey conducted by the State Bar Appellate Section's Bench-Bar Liaison Committee, the results of which were published in The Appellate Advocate in February 2005 and updated in March 2007. The purpose of the survey was to identify key information needed to practice effectively before each court. The Section ultimately persuaded the courts to "take ownership" of the survey and post the information on their respective sites.
The IOPs are a useful and informative tool. With this information readily available, consulting the IOPs before filing documents in a particular appellate court is just good practice.
The Twelfth Court of Appeals in Tyler is the only intermediate appellate court that hasn't posted its IOPs on its web site. Doing so would not only benefit practitioners and litigants, but would surely cut down on administrative headaches caused by errors that could have been avoided had the IOPs been available. Here's hoping the Twelfth Court comes around and joins the transparency movement soon.
