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

Today is the fourth anniversary of my firm.

When I first started, even good friends were skeptical.  Austin has far more than its share of lawyers, and a lot of them like to do appellate work.  I made sure people knew who I was and what I was doing, and the business came.  Needless to say, this blog has played a big part in my success.

Appellate practice is one of the areas in which the playing field between small and large firms is quite level, at least in terms of skill.  My work is interesting and intellectually stimulating, and I get to help clients in need.  How could I ask for more?

Related posts:

• Two Years and Counting
• Happy Anniversary

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In this post from last summer, I mentioned reverse contingent fees as a potential means of compensating appellate counsel.  Spurred by a question I asked in response to one of his recent posts, Blawgletter (a/k/a Susman Godfrey's Barry Barnett) expounded on how his firm approaches reverse contingent fees in business litigation matters.  The methodology would depend on the case, its procedural posture, and the client's financial well being/creditworthiness, but the basic idea is to assign a dollar value to the client's exposure and base the fee on the "savings" obtained by the result.  With reports of $1,000 hourly rates and in-house counsel under increasing pressure to rein in outside lawyer fees, we may see more of this approach in the future, especially from solos and small firms who have the flexibility to implement it.

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One year ago today, I departed big firm life to start my own appellate boutique—if you can call one lawyer a boutique!   The result has exceeded my expectations in almost every way.  While I am grateful for the opportunities I had at Fulbright & Jaworski and the excellent experience I obtained there, my current practice is a much better fit for my personality and work style, and it is also better for my family (although my wife would say that I don't work any less).  Special thanks to all the folks who have referred cases to me or hired me over the past year.  Without you, I wouldn't be posting this message.

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