Yesterday afternoon, I gave a one-hour presentation to a group of 11 intermediate appellate justices on the topic of “Principled Appellate Decisions.” The presentation was part of the Texas College for Judicial Studies, a program providing educational opportunities to judges who desire to improve their adjudication skills and acquire specific training in their jurisdictional specialization. My… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Procedure
Subscribe to Procedure RSS FeedSCOTX Fixes Word-Count Glitches
Posted in Appellate Practice, Procedure, Supreme Court Orders, Texas Supreme CourtThe Texas Supreme Court has issued an order correcting some of its recent amendments to the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. The most notable correction involves the certificate-of-compliance requirement regarding the new word count limits previously discussed here, here, and here. By adding the language underlined below, the Court has made clear that no certificate… Continue Reading
Use Care When Drafting Trial-Court Orders
Posted in Procedure, Trial CourtsA lawyer heading into a trial-court hearing should draft a favorable order and have it on hand in case the judge is inclined to rule then and there. In addition to being efficient and good for client relations, getting that kind of instant gratification feels great. That said, use care when drafting an order you want… Continue Reading
Some Appellate Judicial Wisdom in 140-Character Bites
Posted in Appellate Practice, Fifth Circuit, Oral Argument, Procedure, Texas Supreme CourtOver the past week, I have attended two CLE events featuring a panel of appellate judges. At the 29th Annual Litigation Update Institute, Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, Justice Paul Green, and Justice Debra Lehrmann enlightened attendees on current events at the Texas Supreme Court. Today, Fifth Circuit Judges Pete Benavides and Pricilla Owen and U.S…. Continue Reading
An Unopposed Briefing Extension Request Will Be Granted, Right?
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, ProcedureAppellate work is very time- and labor-intensive. Because it’s difficult to work on more than one matter at a time, appellate lawyers often rely on extensions of briefing deadlines to manage workloads. Texas appellate courts are usually very generous about granting such extensions, particularly when they are unopposed. So I’m sure appellant’s counsel was surprised… Continue Reading
Crafting a TRAP 9.4(i)(3) Certificate of Compliance
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Procedure, Texas Supreme CourtAs promised yesterday, this post will cover what a certificate of compliance under the new word-count rules might look like, now that every computer-generated document filed in a Texas appellate court on or after December 1, 2012—yes, every one, except for the record—must include such a certificate. The new rules provide the logical starting place…. Continue Reading
Word-Count Rules Going Into Effect December 1
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Procedure, Technology, Texas Supreme CourtA trial lawyer poses the following question: Do you know for sure whether the new appellate rules are going into effect December 1? Any thoughts on whether an appeal filed on November 29 (but not actually due until December 3) should maintain the old format or use the new rule? Per this Texas Supreme Court… Continue Reading
SCOTX Adopts Word-Count Rule
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Petition for Review, Procedure, TechnologyThe Texas Supreme Court has issued an order incorporating word counts into the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. The order amends Rules 9, 38, 49, 52, 53, 55, 64, 68, 70, and 71. Some highlights of the amendments include (for computer-generated briefs in civil cases): a minimum 14-point font (12-point for footnotes); a 15,000-word limit… Continue Reading
Uniform Docketing Statement Released
Posted in Appellate Practice, ProcedureI was so preoccupied with last week’s State Bar Annual Meeting that I overlooked a significant development relevant to Texas appellate practitioners: the release of a uniform docketing statement for the intermediate courts of appeals. View the official announcement here. A docketing statement is an administrative tool used to collect and provide the court of… Continue Reading
Lone Star Lawyers Converging on Houston for SBOT12
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Procedure, TechnologyI will soon be departing for Houston to attend the 2012 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting. This will be my third straight year to attend and my second year as a presenter. On Thursday, as part of the Computer and Technology Section’s “Adaptable Lawyer” track, Don Cruse and I will give a talk entitled… Continue Reading
Hedges and Hawthorne to Speak on New TAMES System
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Procedure, TechnologyOn 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… Continue Reading
Must Attorney Fees Be Superseded on Appeal?
Posted in Appellate Practice, Procedure, SupersedeasA split is developing among the intermediate Texas appellate courts on an issue important to civil trial lawyers and their clients: whether attorney fees must be included in the amount of security a judgment debtor must post to prevent execution on the judgment pending appeal. Under former Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 24.2(a)(1), an appellant… Continue Reading
The Adaptable (Appellate) Lawyer
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Motions, Procedure, TechnologyI recently attended the 2011 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio. As mentioned here before, the Bar asked me to come back as a presenter this year. It was quite an honor. My subject was e-filing in state and federal appellate courts. In conjunction with my talk, I published a short article in… Continue Reading
Appellate Rules & Deadlines? There’s an App for That
Posted in Appellate Practice, Procedure, TechnologyDallas family-law specialist Jimmy Verner has provided a new incentive for Blackberry users to switch to an iPhone with VernerLegal‘s release of two applications directly relevant to Texas appellate lawyers: Texas Litigation Deadlines (home screen pictured) and Texas Appellate Procedure Rules. Both are available for purchase via iTunes. The rules application reproduces the text of… Continue Reading
Trial Courts Must Explain Reason for Granting New Trial
Posted in Procedure, Supreme Court OrdersHistorically, Texas trial judges have been afforded very broad discretion in granting new trials. Readers who took a Texas civil procedure course in law school may recall being taught that an order granting a new trial may be reviewed under only two circumstances: (1) when the order is void (such as when the trial court… Continue Reading
Interlocutory Appeal After Final Judgment?
Posted in Perfecting Appeal, ProcedureAlthough appeal is generally not available absent a final judgment, Texas law allows parties to bring accelerated interlocutory appeals in several circumstances. In most cases, the trial is stayed by statute until the interlocutory appeal is resolved, But sometimes the trial court renders a final judgment before then. What does one do in that situation? File an amended notice of appeal? No,… Continue Reading
Extensions of Time in the Third Court
Posted in Motions, ProcedureDealing with the ever-present problem of conflicting deadlines, I recently filed a motion for extension of time to file a reply brief in the Third Court of Appeals here in Austin. My opponent kindly agreed to a 30-day extension, which I determined would be more than sufficient to get the brief done and manage my other cases. Several days… Continue Reading
What Is the Deadline for “Ungranting” a New Trial?
Posted in ProcedureThe headline to this post sounds like a question one might see on the appellate board-certification exam, which is coming up in a few weeks. So, in that spirit, let’s do some multiple choice. Without peeking, try and select the correct answer from this list: a. 105 days after the new trial order is signed; b. 75 days after the… Continue Reading
Revised TRAP Amendments Effective Today
Posted in Appellate Practice, ProcedureFollowing up on this post, the Texas Supreme Court has quietly issued orders formally amending the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and making technical corrections to the amendments. The amendments went into effect today. A redline comparison of the proposed changes and the final version is available here. The most significant change from the proposed amendments announced in March appears to be a newly… Continue Reading
New Panel in State Farm Rate Case
Posted in ProcedureFrom an article in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle: Five years after Texas insurance regulators ordered State Farm to cut homeowners’ rates by 12 percent, the insurance company’s legal battle to avoid the reduction continues to languish. The latest delay came this week, when nearly three years after the case was submitted to a three-judge panel of the… Continue Reading
FDLS Appeal(s) Will Come to Austin
Posted in Jurisdiction, News & Politics, ProcedureThe West Texas town of Eldorado is more than 200 miles from Austin. So imagine my surprise when I realized that any appeals coming out of the drama surrounding the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints "Yearning for Zion" Ranch (which the ABA Journal describes as "what surely will be among the largest child custody cases in U.S…. Continue Reading
Forthcoming Appellate Rule Changes
Posted in Appellate Practice, ProcedureThe Texas Supreme Court recently announced changes to several Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and the adoption of Texas Rule of Judicial Administration 15 . The rules highlighted below will have the broadest effect in civil cases. My comments appear in italics. TRAP 9.3 reduces the number of copies of certain documents a party must file with the Supreme Court… Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Orders & Opinions 4/4/08
Posted in Opinions & Judgments, Procedure, Rehearing, Supreme Court OrdersAfter last week’s barrage (from which I’m not the only one still recovering), the Texas Supreme Court issued just two decisions with this week’s orders. In Ansell Healthcare Products, Inc. v. Owens & Minor, Inc. (06-0386) (per curiam), the Court followed last week’s decision involving the same parties and issues, Owens & Minor, Inc. v. Ansell Healthcare Products,… Continue Reading
Request Did Not Extend Time for Appealing Summary Judgment
Posted in Jurisdiction, Perfecting Appeal, ProcedureIn Finney v. Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Inc. (No. 03-07-00329-CV), the Third Court of Appeals reminds us that a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law does not extend the deadline for filing a notice of appeal from a summary judgment. Other than for accelerated appeals, such requests push the deadline from 30… Continue Reading