Importance of Candor to the Court
ShowDallas Court of Appeals Justices Ada Brown, Molly Francis, and Bill Whitehill spoke at a Dallas Association of Young Lawyers seminar in the Merrill Hartman Courtroom of the George Allen...
My Review of a Mexican Traffic Stop
ShowAs with all vacations, I had mixed feelings that this one was ending. I had a wonderful time, alternating between relaxing at the Cancun hotel with my extended family (including...
21 Things That Court of Appeals Justices and Staff Attorneys Want You to Know
I recently attended a continuing legal education seminar co-sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association’s appellate section and the Tarrant County Bar Association’s appellate section. At the CLE,...
Rules Related to Drafting Texas Appellate Briefs and Motions
ShowThere are many rules governing the contents of Texas appellate documents, and these rules are not necessarily intuitive. Here are some of those rules. Pursuant to the Texas Rules of...
Deadlines in a Texas Appeal
ShowHandling an appeal is deadline-intensive, and missing an appellate deadline can have serious consequences. Here are some of the deadlines to keep in mind. Request for Findings of Fact and...
Four Newest Dallas Court of Appeals Justices
ShowThe Dallas Bar Association’s appellate section recently hosted a panel of the four newest Dallas Court of Appeals justices. Justice Ada Brown joined the court in 2013, Justice Craig Stoddart...
Dallas-area Judges Agree on Advice for Practice Before Their Courts
ShowThe Mac Taylor Inn of Court recently had a lunch meeting in the courtroom of Judge Martin Hoffman’s 68th District Court. Eight judges shared tips for practicing in their courts. ...
Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett’s Thoughts on Amicus Briefs
ShowThis afternoon, Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett and Austin lawyer Don Cruse spoke at a continuing legal education seminar. Among other things, they addressed amicus briefs filed in the...
Five Judges from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Offer Pointers on Appellate Advocacy
ShowThe Dallas Bar Association Business Litigation Section recently hosted an outstanding panel discussion with five judges from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. I have been attending appellate continuing legal...
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Texas Appeals
ShowWhether you are a law student studying Texas appellate procedure or are a Texas lawyer who doesn’t regularly handle appeals, you might be in need of answers to frequently asked...
Appellate Judges Tell Dallas Lawyers How to Handle an Appeal
ShowThe Dallas Bar Association Judiciary Committee recently hosted a panel discussion with three prominent appellate judges. Catharina Haynes is the only federal appellate judge in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. After...
Dallas Lawyers on Twitter
ShowI have compiled the following list of Dallas-area lawyers on Twitter and their respective Twitter handles. The list does not include lawyers west of the Dallas-Tarrant county line. The list...
Nathan Hecht Sworn-In as Chief Justice of Texas Supreme Court
ShowYesterday, Nathan Hecht was sworn-in as chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Lawbook published an article I co-authored about Chief Justice Hecht’s tenure on the Supreme Court....
Pointers from a Dallas Court of Appeals Justice
ShowYesterday afternoon, I attended a CLE presented by Dallas Court of Appeals Justice Doug Lang. Here are some of the pointers offered by Justice Lang: 1. If the trial court...
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Offers Tips on Appellate Advocacy
ShowI recently attended a CLE presented by Catharina Haynes, the only federal appellate judge with chambers in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. Judge Haynes offered a number of valuable...
Facts in Oral Argument at the Texas Supreme Court
ShowLast week, Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann spoke in Dallas about (1) how the court decides whether to grant or deny review; (2) common mistakes seen in appellate petitions...
Common Mistakes Seen in Appellate Petitions and Briefs
ShowLast week, Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann spoke in Dallas about (1) how the court decides whether to grant or deny review; (2) common mistakes seen in appellate petitions...
How the Texas Supreme Court Decides Whether to Grant or Deny Review
ShowLast week, Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann spoke in Dallas about (1) how the court decides whether to grant or deny review; (2) common mistakes seen in appellate petitions...
Visual Aids at Appellate Oral Argument
ShowYesterday, I spoke at a State Bar of Texas Appellate Section CLE. One of the other speakers, Dallas Court of Appeals Justice Elizabeth Lang-Miers, addressed the use of visual aids...
Three Keys to Presenting a Great Appellate Oral Argument
ShowEarlier this week, I attended the annual banquet of the Patrick Higginbotham Inn of Court. The featured speaker was Seth Waxman, who served as chief appellate counsel to the U.S. government under President Clinton. Waxman said that...
Dorsaneo’s Top 5 Tips on Writing an Appellate Brief
ShowSMU Law School Professor Bill Dorsaneo spoke at today’s Dallas Bar Association Appellate Section meeting. He offered a number of tips on writing an appellate brief. Here are my five favorites:...
Texas Supreme Court justice shares thoughts about appellate advocacy
ShowI recently attended a continuing legal education seminar at which Justice Don Willett provided some tips about practice before the Texas Supreme Court. Here are the highlights of his presentation....
Court of Appeals justice shares thoughts about appellate advocacy
ShowI recently attended a continuing legal education seminar at which Justice Elizabeth Lang-Miers provided some tips about practice before the Dallas Court of Appeals. Here are the highlights of her presentation:...
Court of Appeals justice shares thoughts about e-filed appellate briefs
ShowI recently attended a continuing legal education seminar at which Justice Martin Richter spoke about e-filing in the Dallas Court of Appeals. Here are the highlights of his presentation:...
Court of Appeals justices share their preferences about appellate briefs
ShowAt two continuing legal education seminars I recently attended, court of appeals justices have expressed their preferences about appellate briefs. In no particular order, here are their preferences:...
Ruback article published in the Appellate Advocate
ShowChad Ruback wrote an article about starting an appellate law firm. The article was published in the Appellate Advocate (the journal of the State Bar of Texas appellate section)....
Texas Supreme Court oral argument
ShowDallas Appellate Lawyer Chad Ruback argues before the Texas Supreme Court...
Dunking booth
ShowLast night, I sat in a dunking booth to help the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers raise money for lung cancer research....