Focus Groups as a Trial-Preparation Tool | Elizabeth Larrick | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Navigating Federal Tort Claims on a National Scale | Tom Jacob | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Tackling Bullying in the Legal Profession | Scott Stolley | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
A Longtime Trial Judge’s View from the Appellate Bench | Justice Gisela Triana | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Inside the Fourth Court of Appeals’ Clerk’s Office | Michael Cruz | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Senate Bill 999 has passed the Senate and been reported out of the Civil Subcommittee from the House Courts of Justice Committee. The bill, if passed by the House and signed by the Governor, would have two important...more
Trying to win cases is hard enough, but one thing to think about is that a case may not end at trial. There may be an appeal. And when there is an appeal, what happened at trial will be critical....more
The standard of review (“SOR”) is the lens through which an appellate court examines a trial court’s or agency’s decision making and often determines the outcome of an appeal. Consider the tips below to get the most out of...more
It’s not every day that the Court of Appeals spends almost 12 pages talking about the appellate rules, including why rules compliance is so important. But that’s exactly what the Court of Appeals did in Harney v. Harney. ...more
Preparation is the key to winning at trial, and focus groups are a powerful tool for ensuring that a case is trial-ready. In this episode of the Texas Appellate Law Podcast, hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders visit with...more
Suing the federal government can be a daunting task. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders sit down with Tom Jacob, a partner at National Trial Law in Austin, Texas, to discuss the intricacies of litigating cases under...more
In this episode, seasoned appellate practitioner Scott Stolley sits down with Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to confront the issue of bullying in the legal profession. Scott explores the multifaceted nature of bullying, from...more
Few Texas judges have seen the courtroom from as many perspectives as Third Court of Appeals Justice Gisela Triana. From a practitioner, to a municipal judge, to a trial court judge on various benches, Justice Triana has...more
In a world of electronic filing, fewer attorneys see appellate court clerks in person. It’s easy to forget how critical their role is to keeping the courts open, efficient, and accessible. In this episode, Michael Cruz, clerk...more
Many jurisdictions have rules that allow an appellate court to affirm a judgment for any reason supported by the record, regardless of the actual basis articulated by the trial court. This general rule, however, is not...more
We previously posted on Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(i), which is the rule governing the adoption of part or all of another’s brief. We initially looked at decisions addressing the burden on a party to...more
Most practitioners are likely happy to have limited familiarity with Rule 4(a)(6) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. The Rule allows the district court, in its discretion, to reopen for 14 days a party’s time to...more
Sometimes due to factors out of our control, we are faced with having to file an appeal from a final judgment after the appeal period has already passed. Is this allowed? Sometimes. Is all hope lost? Not necessarily. Here are...more
As an appellate lawyer with considerable experience in both state and federal appellate courts, I often receive calls from colleagues who are either in the midst of trying a case, or who have just received a decision or...more
This blog post is a mishmash of news and updates. —Remote Oral Argument in Harper v. Hall (N.C. Congressional Maps Case). After a Supreme Court remand, the trial court entered an order upholding North Carolina’s...more
Four separate groups of petitioners challenging the OSHA ETS, including a coalition of 27 states, have asked the court to hear the OSHA challenge en banc, arguing that the case involves a question of exceptional importance in...more
At Federal Circuitry, sometimes we have simple ideas that prove not so simple. What we expect will be a few hours of data collection, number crunching, and analysis actually turns into far more work. This post is one of those...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit creates a potential circuit split on personal jurisdiction in in rem proceedings, and clarifies whether a post-judgment motion for attorneys’ fees extends the time to appeal (spoiler alert: it...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit closely guarded its own jurisdiction while putting government litigants on the back foot. Read on to find out why county jailors’ qualified immunity appeal was dismissed, and how the Court handled...more
Most of us think of appeal filing deadlines as absolute. That certainly is the case under the Michigan Court Rules. But as demonstrated by a recent decision from the United States Supreme Court, Hamer v Neighborhood Housing...more
Several amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure are scheduled to take effect on December 1, and one of those amendments is causing consternation among appellate practitioners: a 1000-word reduction in the word...more