Texas Appellate Law Blog : Texas Appellate Lawyer & Attorney : D. Todd Smith Law Firm : Appeals, Sanctions, Summary Judgment : Austin, Texas

I'm heading up to my hometown of Fort Worth to attend the 2010 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting Thursday and Friday.  The Bar has put together an excellent program that should be well worth attending, regardless of one's practice area.

I am particularly excited about what is being billed as the "Legal Innovation Track:  The Adaptable Lawyer," which (according to the promotional materials) will address how lawyers can "adapt and flourish in the face of changes in technology and the business of law."  LexBlog's Kevin O'Keefe and author Richard Susskind (The End of Lawyers?) are two of the featured speakers, with Susskind giving the keynote address.

The State Bar Computer and Technology Section and LexBlog are co-sponsoring a "Tweet and Greet" Thursday afternoon, which I will be attending.  I also hope to do some live-tweeting from the seminar.  For those who are interested in following the conference on Twitter, the hashtag is #sbot10.

As my regular readers know, I am interested in how technology and social media impact legal marketing and practice.  The emphasis on those areas in the conference program may have been why the Bar invited me to attend as its guest.  I consider it an honor.

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The lineup is set for the free CLE seminar the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section is sponsoring on the role of appellate counsel in civil litigation.  An e-brochure with details is available here.

This seminar is specifically geared to in-house lawyers and will cover some very timely topics (for example, appellate attorney's fee structures).   We have lined up an outstanding group of panelists, including several sitting judges.

Please consider distributing the e-brochure to your in-house contacts and encouraging them to come.  Better yet, if you're an appellate lawyer, plan on attending yourself and bringing a client or two with you.  The more educated in-house counsel are about what we do and how we can add value, the better for all our practices.

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The State Bar of Texas Appellate Law Section is sponsoring a CLE seminar to be held in Austin geared toward in-house lawyers and the role of appellate counsel.  The event is scheduled for the afternoon of June 24, 2010 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center and will be followed by a cocktail reception.  Admission will be free to all in-house counsel and a limited number of outside lawyers.

Panels composed of appellate lawyers, in-house attorneys, and judges will address the following topics:

• Introducing clients to the appellate process
• Do I really need appellate counsel, and how do I select the right one?
• Role of appellate counsel in case management and trial
• Technology issues and their impact on appellate practice and briefing
• Fee arrangements for appellate counsel
• Open forum on trial and appellate issues

The program will run from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and should be worth three hours of CLE credit.  Invitees will receive additional details and speaker/panelist information when finalized.

As co-chair of this event (along with Kimberly Phillips from Shell Oil Company), I invite you to contact me if you, a client, or a colleague would like to be included on the invitation list.  Limited co-sponsorship opportunities are available.

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The Austin Bar Association's Civil Appellate Law Section will meet at noon on January 21, 2010 at Green Pastures.  Chief Justice Woodie Jones (pictured) will speak on "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Third Court But Were Afraid to Ask."

This should be an interesting and informative talk, as the Chief just completed his first year in office.  Among other matters, he will likely report on the Court's efforts to reduce its case backlog.  Registration information is available here.

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That was the title of a CLE presentation I gave last Friday to members of the Austin Bar Association as part of its Fourth Friday CLE series.  In addition to some basic mandamus principles, I covered recent rule changes affecting mandamus practice and how recent Texas Supreme Court decisions have treated the requirement that relator have no adequate remedy at law.

I'm including links to the paper I handed out (authored entirely by fellow Austin appellate lawyer Kurt Kuhn) and the PowerPoint presentation I used (which contains both my work product and Kurt's). I hope those who attended found the presentation interesing and informative.

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That was the title of a CLE presentation I gave today to the San Antonio Bar Association's Appellate Practice Section.  In addition to "traditional" techniques—such as doing “law” work in trial courts; handling pro bono appeals; writing articles and giving speeches; bar association work; and networking with trial lawyers, industry professionals, and other appellate lawyers—my main focus was blogging.  I also briefly discussed a broader internet marketing strategy involving Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, TexasBarCircle, and Avvo, among other possibilities.

I enjoyed giving this talk and would consider "taking it on the road" if the opportunity arises.  The concepts aren't limited to appellate practice.  That's just where I've applied them.

To the SABA Appellate Practice Section, thanks again for inviting me!

10/28/08 Update:  I am posting my PowerPoint presentation here.  Thanks to Kevin O'Keefe for allowing me to borrow substantially from his work product on blogging and social media.

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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.

I have attended this seminar for many years and strongly recommend it to any lawyer who handles appeals with any regularity or who is interested in doing so.  A brochure with registration information is available here.

Aside from its timely topics, informative speakers, and excellent written materials, the best part of this program may be what has become an annual Appellate Song Lyrics Contest, in which contestants are asked to alter the lyrics of a well known song to give it an "appellate" touch.  You will find the contest rules here and in the Summer issue of The Appellate Advocate, which should be hitting Section members' mailboxes in the next couple of weeks. The contest submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August, 15.

To give you an idea how creative (and fun!) appellate lawyers can be, here is last year's winning entry, set to the tune of Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover":

50 Ways To Waive Your Error

The problem's all in your record she said to me.
The answer is easy if you brief it legally.
I'd like to help you but your objection's absentee.
There must be fifty ways to waive your error.

She said it's really not my habit to advise.
Furthermore, I hope my counsel won't lead to your demise.
But I'll repeat myself so the court's words won't surprise.
There must be fifty ways to waive your error.
Fifty ways to waive your error

CHORUS 1:
You just fail to object, Hecht
Leave it outta the brief, Chief
You don't need to be seen, Green
Just get it denied PC
Don't make a bill, Phil
just take a big chill pill
don't timely appeal, O'Neill
and get it denied PC

She said it grieves me so to see you in such straits.
I wish there was something I could do to lower your rates.
I said I appreciate that, as again she explicates.
About the fifty ways...

She said why don't we both just work on it all night.
And I believe by the morning you'll begin to see the light.
The error's jurisdictional, my liability is slight.
There must be... fifty ways to waive your error
Fifty ways to waive your error

CHORUS 2:
You just fail to object, Hecht
Leave it outta the brief, Chief
don't bother to call, Paul
Just get denied PC
Just say you forgot, Scott
The issue's long gone, Don
it's already stale, Dale
And it's been denied... PC

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UT Law School will be holding its annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals on May 29-30, 2008 at the Four Seasons Hotel here in Austin.  You can find more information about the conference and register online here.

This is a "don't miss" event for lawyers looking to stay up to speed on current trends and emerging issues in Texas and federal appellate practice.  I am particularly interested in the session entitled "Effective Use of Appellate Counsel in Federal District Court," during which we will learn "what’s effective and what’s not when appellate counsel venture into federal trial courts."

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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, March 27, 2008, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel here in Austin.  CLE credit (1.5 hours, .33 ethics) has been requested.

The event will feature a panel discussion with Chief Justice Jefferson and Justices Brister, Johnson, and Willet.  A reception with the justices will follow.

Register by mailing a $25 check payable to “State Bar of Texas Appellate Section” to Anne Johnson at Haynes and Boone, 901 Main Street, Suite 3100, Dallas, Texas 75202.  You may also reserve a space by calling Anne at (214) 340-7974 or by e-mailing her at anne.johnson@haynesboone.com, with $30 payable at the door.

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My fellow appellate lawyer Ray Ward (who writes a couple of excellent blogs, the (new) legal writer and Minor Wisdom) asked me to plug the upcoming DRI Appellate Advocacy Seminar, to be held at the J. W. Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes (that's Florida, folks) on February 28-29, 2008.  Though sponsored by "the voice of the defense bar," the brochure indicates that the seminar will benefit appellate specialists, in-house counsel who supervise appeals, civil trial lawyers, judges and law professors, and appellate court clerks alike.  Ray has posted a sneak peek at the agenda and his accolades for this program here.

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The State Bar Appellate Section and Texas Bar CLE are co-sponsoring the 21st Annual Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course, which will take place September 6-7, 2007 at the Four Seasons in Austin.  Related events are the ever-popular Appellate Boot Camp on September 5 and the Section's annual meeting on September 6, which will be followed by a cocktail reception with the judiciary.  A registration brochure is available here.

I strongly encourage any lawyer interested in appellate practice to attend this program.  The topics are always timely, and the speakers and written materials are always informative.  And if you think this group is dull, you've got another thing coming.  In connection with the annual meeting, the Appellate Section is holding its first Appellate Song Lyrics Contest, in which contestants are to alter the lyrics of a well known song to give it an "appellate" touch.  You can find the contest rules here or in the Summer issue of The Appellate Advocate, which should be hitting mailboxes now.  The submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 29.

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The State Bar Appellate Section and TexasBarCLE are offering a total of $95 off the combined registration fees for the 2007 Practice Before the Texas Supreme Court and Advanced Civil Appellate Practice courses.  To get this deal, attendees must register by telephone (800-204-2222 x1574), fax (512-427-4111), or mail by April 13, 2007.  (Unfortunately, online registration is not available, and I was unable to locate an online brochure for either seminar.)  Appellate Section and State Bar College members get an additional $25 off. 

These courses, along with the annual UT Conference on Federal and State Appeals, are some of the best and most informative CLEs around.  I would encourage anyone interested in appellate practice to attend.

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