I recall discovering my first unpublished case as a law student when interning for an intermediate appellate court justice. Strangely, a legend accompanied the opinion disclaiming precedential value, which seemed odd considering that the opinion was written and accessible through my legal database. Around the same time, I encountered my first memorandum opinion with its… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Briefs
Subscribe to Briefs RSS FeedAn 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
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
Results of the Twitter Brief Contest
Posted in Announcements, Briefs, TechnologyAs I wrote about here, the State Bar Appellate Section sponsored a Twitter brief contest in conjunction with the recent Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course in Austin. The winners were announced during the Section’s annual meeting. The official PowerPoint containing the winning entries and several honorable mentions is embedded below for everyone’s enjoyment. I intend… 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
Soliciting Potential “Greenbook” Revisions
Posted in Appellate Practice, BriefsThe Texas Law Review is working on on a new edition of the Texas Rules of Form, more affectionately known as the "Greenbook." The call for suggestions or comments, with the relevant contact information, is available here. Some issues are already being discussed over at the Supreme Court of Texas Blog, including citations to court… Continue Reading
Extensions of Time in the Fifth Circuit
Posted in Briefs, Fifth Circuit, MotionsLet’s be honest. Most state-court appellate practitioners find the Fifth Circuit a little byzantine. But one thing the Fifth Circuit does right is allow the clerk’s office to grant short unopposed briefing extensions—up to 30 days—over the telephone. The circuit court has even done away with the requirement that the requesting counsel send a confirmation… Continue Reading
Insight for an Aspiring Appellate Lawyer
Posted in Appellate Practice, BriefsOver at his Legal-Writing Blog, Prof. Wayne Schiess offered up what one of his students wrote after expressing the desire to become an appellate lawyer and after working in the appellate-practice group at a law firm: I learned some valuable lessons about appellate practice, and the difference between enjoying something in school and enjoying it in… Continue Reading
Clearly, a Reason to Avoid Using Intensifiers
Posted in BriefsFaced with an opposing brief that preceded 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. Nathan L. Hecht, Foreword to W. Wendell Hall, Revisiting Standards of… Continue Reading
Three Steps for Improving Your Legal Writing
Posted in BriefsWayne Schiess, the head of UT’s legal-writing program and author of Wayne Schiess’s legal-writing blog, spoke to the Austin Bar Association’s Solo & Small Firm Section last week. Following the premise that lawyers are professional writers—an observation that applies with even greater force to appellate counsel—Prof. Schiess suggested a three-step process for improving one’s legal-writing skills: Practice: … Continue Reading
Bluebook Available Online—For a Price
Posted in Appellate Practice, BriefsAs part of my year-end spending spree (which my accountant recommended to maximize business deductions—but that’s another story), I purchased the 18th Edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Now, the good folks at Harvard Law Review have announced that they are making an online version available on a subscription basis. Figures. Hat tip… Continue Reading
Third Court Taking Courtesy E-Copies
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, TechnologyAs a follow up to this post on the status of e-filing in the Texas appellate courts, the Third Court of Appeals is now accepting electronic courtesy copies. The court is also asking (but not requiring) the party responsible for requesting or filing the record and briefs to submit e-copies of such documents on a… Continue Reading
What’s Wrong With Legal Writing?
Posted in BriefsIn a thought-provoking series over at his legal-writing blog, Wayne Schiess ruminates on the reasons why modern legal writing isn’t what it should be. Among the causes he cites are a primary and secondary education system that doesn’t emphasize writing education adequately, reliance on poorly written judicial opinions and form documents, merely superficial understanding of… Continue Reading
Avoid the Kitchen-Sink Approach
Posted in Appellate Practice, BriefsI filed a brief recently in which I made the decision to discard an issue litigated at trial in favor of stronger arguments that, in my judgment, provide better prospects for obtaining appellate relief. Ray Ward, author of the (new) legal writer, compares this exercise to the "kitchen-sink" approach. According to Ray: When we try… Continue Reading
Tips for Writing an Appellate Brief
Posted in Appellate Practice, BriefsRay Ward at the (new) legal writer has posted an article he wrote entitled How to Write an Appellate Brief, in which he breaks down the briefwriting process he uses and takes the reader through it from start to finish. The article is full of practical advice and is a useful read for appellate novices and… Continue Reading
Third Court Changes Briefing Rule
Posted in Appellate Practice, BriefsEarlier this year, Jeffrey Kyle took over for Diane O’Neal as clerk of the Third Court of Appeals here in Austin. With that change came a significant revision to the Court’s local practices. Before, an appellee could file its brief anytime up until the case was formally submitted to the Court, which could occur several months… Continue Reading
Simple Self-Editing Tips
Posted in BriefsRay Ward at the (new) legal writer mentions two self-editing tips in this post, one familiar and one not. The first is to put away your draft for a while and come back to it later with (hopefully) a fresh set of eyes and an open mind. The second, which might be particularly useful if you… Continue Reading
Writing Resources Available Online
Posted in BriefsRay Ward at the (new) legal writer has this great post listing his favorite online writing resources. He includes references for dictionaries, quotations, briefwriting, and citations, among other things. I haven’t looked at all of Ray’s suggestions yet, but I expect to add many of them to the Useful Links section (in the right-hand column)… Continue Reading
Your Brief Is the Main Thing
Posted in Briefs, Oral ArgumentSteve Merican over at the Illinois Appellate Lawyer Blog recently posted some interesting comments about the role of oral argument to the appellate decision-making process. Within that post, he linked to an article he wrote entitled How to Write an Appellate Brief That Judges Want to Read and Answers Their Questions. Like most appellate advocates I… Continue Reading
Catch Passive Voice With Your Computer
Posted in Briefs, TechnologyShort on time to edit a brief? Looking for a way to help catch passive voice in your writing? If you are a Microsoft Word user, I’ve got just the trick for you. In the Grammar Settings dialog box (Tools / Options / Spelling & Grammar), select grammar and style instead of grammar only. With… Continue Reading