Texas Appellate Law Podcast

Paul Green served as an appellate justice for more than 25 years, both at the San Antonio Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court. On the eve of his retirement, Justice Paul Green joined Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to reflect on his past as a litigator in his family’s law practice, his time on the bench, and his future plans after leaving the Supreme Court. Justice Green offers a candid asses...

In 2011, Texas adopted the Texas Citizens Participation Act,  one of the broadest anti-SLAPP statutes in the nation. Since then, TCPA motions to dismiss and the resulting interlocutory appeals have proliferated, and both trial and appellate courts have struggled to reconcile the statute’s far-reaching language with just and fair results. Joining Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to talk about...

Practicing law means staying on top of the latest trends and developments to keep yourself educated and provide the best possible service to your clients. Mike Whelan Jr., the CEO of Lawyer Forward , joins Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to talk about how lawyers can thrive in a changing legal environment and institute changes in their practices that benefit the lawyers, their clients, and the legal i...

So often, trial lawyers are expected to do it all when trying a case—prepping and examining witnesses, arguing motions, making objections, and preserving the record. This translates to early mornings, late nights, and opportunities for things to get overlooked. Having another set of eyes (and a different skill set) can not only lighten trial counsel’s load, but ensure a better outcome for the clie...

Texas has adopted standards for appellate conduct that go beyond the disciplinary rules governing all licensed attorneys. Making his second appearance on the show is the resident expert on this topic,  Kevin Dubose  of  Alexander Dubose & Jefferson LLP . With his insider knowledge and insights, Kevin explains the impetus behind the aptly-named Standards for Appellate Conduct, ho...

Attorneys are skilled at painting pictures with words. But that can only get them so far. As technology has improved, so too has the opportunity to enrich briefing with visual aids—pictures, charts, videos, and animation. As courts move to electronic filings and briefs, attorneys who fail to adapt will get left behind. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders interview  Mark Trachtenberg...

Family law appeals can be tricky because the legal standards differ from ordinary civil cases. Taking us into the appellate component of family law, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders interview  Michelle O’Neil  of  O’Neil Wysocki Family Law  to answer some questions about what makes family law appeals special. Michelle dives deep into some of her cases, helping us further understand...

With a background as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk, appellate practitioner, and Justice on Texas’s Fourteenth Court of Appeals, serving on the Texas Supreme Court seems like a natural fit for Justice Brett Busby . Today, he joins Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to share his experiences transitioning from the Court of Appeals to the Texas Supreme Court, including insights learned from the bench and fr...

The Black Lives Matter Movement has opened a number of necessary conversations about racial injustice. Tapping into this timely subject, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders visit with Dr. Jack Bass , the author of nonfiction books focusing on southern politics, race relations, and law. Here, Dr. Bass takes us into his book Unlikely Heroes , which is a vivid account of the implementation of  Brown v....

The importance of professional writing skills in law practice cannot be overstated. Trends in the legal world have increased the importance of written advocacy in an unprecedented way, especially with things going virtual. Todd Smith and Jody Sanders expound on this topic with their guest,  Justice Elizabeth Kerr , from the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, Texas. As a former civil litig...

A legal career can span many decades and different types of practices. In this episode, a long-time appellate attorney, Kevin Dubose of Alexander Dubose & Jefferson , joins Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to discuss not only his experiences throughout his appellate law career, but also his life as a trial lawyer before switching to appellate practice. Kevin also shares the history of the formation...

Error preservation often determines what issues an appellate court can hear. Too often, clients, trial counsel, and even appellate counsel learn that error didn’t get preserved when it’s already too late to fix. To explore more about error preservation, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders talk with   Steve Hayes  , the error-preservation guru. Chances are, if you’ve attended a CLE speech on the...

Statistically speaking, any appellant faces an uphill battle with less than a 50% chance of success. But, with those odds, why should a client ever appeal? Todd Smith and Jody Sanders answer this question, highlighting why appeals matter even when the odds might not point to success. The discussion focuses on how standards of review impact the appellate issues and chances of success, and other con...

Discretion isn’t just for trial courts. The intermediate courts of appeals are sometimes called upon to make decisions involving judicial discretion too. On today’s show, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders are joined by  Michael Ritter , a staff attorney at the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio, to talk about how the appellate courts approach those discretionary decisions. Michael also touches...

It seems everything can be done over the internet nowadays. With the global pandemic and quarantine protocols, more and more people have relied on the world wide web when working from home. But a major threat has hindered those trying to practice appellate law recently — ransomware. On today’s show, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders talk about the recent ransomware attack on the Texas appellate court we...

Few judges have sat on a trial-court bench, a court of appeals, and the Texas Supreme Court. Our guest for this episode,  Judge Jeff Brown , has done all three and more. Today, he joins Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to talk about his time as a state trial and appellate judge and his recent transition to the federal district bench. Sharing his career background, Judge Brown touches on how a judi...

Behind a well-functioning court system is an Office of Court Administration that ensures technology and processes are rightly placed. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders interview the Administrative Director of the Texas Office of Court Administration, David Slayton, about how OCA supports Texas courts and helps streamline appellate practice. He shares with us the technology OCA uses to f...

Appellate law is not exempt from the global technological pivot we are experiencing in these strange times. Lawyers all over the nation are adopting technology in a way that they haven’t been forced to do up until now.  Raffi Melkonian  of  Wright Close & Barger  is the contemporary embodiment of the “lawyer of the future” in this age of video technology and social media. K...

Jody and Todd talk with Kent Rutter, appellate attorney and current chair of the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section. Kent talks about the State Bar Appellate Section and the numerous benefits that it offers its members. Kent also talks about an empirical study that he and other Haynes & Boone attorneys prepared analyzing reversal rates in the various Texas intermediate courts of appeals. Ple...

Jody and Todd have their first double-guest show with Kendyl Hanks and Kristen LaFreniere a/k/a KVP. They talk about their experiences with appellate practice, social media, and issues affecting women practicing law. They also discuss the #LadyLawyerDiaries phenomenon on social media and bringing the legal community together to improve the practice of law for women and other underrepresented group...

Todd and Jody talk with the first out-of-state guest, Jeff Richardson, a Louisiana appellate attorney and the person behind the website iPhone J.D. Jeff talks about integrating technology into litigation and appeals, and the many ways that an iPad can streamline appellate practice, from initial preparation to oral argument. Please contact Todd and Jody with questions, suggestions, or feedback on t...

Todd and Jody talk with Justice Ken Wise, Fourteenth Court of Appeals, the original Texas appellate podcaster. Justice Wise talks about his career on and off the bench, his Texas-history podcast, Wise About Texas, and things he has learned serving on both the trial and appellate benches. Please contact Todd and Jody with questions, suggestions, or feedback on the episodes: Todd todd@appealsplus.co...

Todd and Jody talk with Former Justice Scott Field, Third Court of Appeals, about transitioning from the bench to private practice and judicial mental health. Justice Field shares insights from the bench on effective advocacy and opens up about difficult times that judges have from some of the issues that they face. Please contact Todd and Jody with questions, suggestions, or feedback on the episo...

A fundamental shift is happening in courtrooms throughout the state in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. More and more judges have taken to allowing remote appearances to promote continued social distancing and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders speak with Judge Emily Miskel of the 470th District Court of Collin County, Texas about her experience with...

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on our institutions on a systemic level, but technology has helped bridge gaps so business and life can go on. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders interview Blake Hawthorne, the Texas Supreme Court Clerk, about the Court’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Blake discusses the emergency orders the Court has issued, access to courts, and tips for rem...