These are exciting times for my firm, the Smith Law Group.

As we ring in the new year and celebrate this blog's fourth anniversary today, I am pleased to announce that Brandy Wingate (pictured) has joined the practice. With this addition, the firm has established a second office in the Rio Grande Valley.

Brandy joins us after serving four years as the senior staff attorney to Thirteenth Court of Appeals Justice Gina Benavides. Before that, Brandy was an associate in Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C.'s appellate practice group and a law clerk to former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips. She is a board-certified civil appellate specialist and also is experienced in criminal appeals. The firm will continue to focus on appellate matters and providing litigation support to trial lawyers.

Having Brandy on board and adding a presence in the Valley will enable us to better serve clients statewide.

As we reflect on 2010 and plan for 2011, here are some of my favorite posts from the past year:

Third Court's Backlog Improving; Appellate Court E-Filing Becoming a Reality; More on Appellate E-Filing; Lehrmann Appointed to Fill O'Neill's SCOTX Seat; SCOTUS Clerk Speaks to Austin Appellate Bar; In-House Attorneys & Role of Appellate Counsel; Headed to the State Bar Annual Meeting; Advertising Rules and Social Media: Texas Style; SBOT & Austin Bar Appellate Sections on Twitter; 2010 General Election Results; Hall to Update Standards of Review in Texas; and, Rose to Take Waldrop's Seat on 3rd Court.

Please see article below for links.