Texas Appellate Law Podcast

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 topic, Steve gave it. In this episode, he shares his wisdom and insights and discusses error-preservation trends in appellate courts. In particular, Steve talks about the importance of using checklists to preserve error for appeal. Steve shares his experiences on this topic and the lessons he learned, so that, hopefully, you’ll have some clear error-preservation strategies laid out before you file your first pleading.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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 considerations to raise when counseling clients about the reasons to appeal (or not) a particular case. Whether for error correction, principle, or seeking new precedent, Todd and Jody discuss preliminary questions and issues that might affect how a court reviews a case or how an appellate strategy might change the way a case is prepared. Dive deep into this episode to understand the motivations behind these appeals and ways to help clients make these difficult decisions.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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 on the proper use of en banc review, as well as the technology the Fourth Court has applied to respond nimbly and continue its operations during these times.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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 websites and how it’s affecting their practices. Don’t let the dangers of malware cripple you or your firm. Listen to this episode to learn what the courts are doing to combat the ransomware attack and keep things going.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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 judicial clerkship helps new lawyers understand how the court operates and makes decisions. Judge Brown also offers his take on advocacy in the courts where he has served and highlights similarities between the skill sets involved in federal trial courts and state appellate courts.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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 facilitate the courts’ work and provide a statewide platform for searching and monitoring cases. Addressing the current COVID-19 situation, David then shares how OCA has implemented remote technology to keep courts open and help maintain certainty in these uncertain times.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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. Known as the Dean of #AppellateTwitter among his followers, he has made significant inroads in turning the popular social media platform into a positive venue for fruitful collegial discussions. Listen in as he joins Todd Smith and Jody Sanders on the show to talk about his experiences in the practice, social media influencing, and advocating in the U.S. Supreme Court. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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. Please contact Todd and Jody with questions, suggestions, or feedback on the episodes: Todd todd@appealsplus.com Jody jody.sanders@kellyhart.com Information on items discussed: Kent Rutter: https://www.haynesboone.com/people/r/rutter-kent Twitter: @kentrutter Lynne Liberato: https://www.haynesboone.com/people/l/liberato-lynne Texas Bar Appellate Section: http://www.tex-app.org/,which includes the Appellate Advocate that both Jody and Todd edited. Kent’s and Natasha Breaux’s article on Reasons for Reversal: https://houstonlawreview.org/article/12201-reasons-for-reversal-in-the-texas-courts-of-appeals Natasha Breaux, Kent’s co-author: https://www.haynesboone.com/people/b/breaux%20natasha Justice Elizabeth Kerr, Second Court of Appeals: http://www.txcourts.gov/2ndcoa/about-the-court/justices/justice-elizabeth-kerr/ Pam Baron, Statistical guru of SCOTX: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-stanton-baron-b2156b29 Please follow us on Twitter (@dtoddsmith @jodyssanders @texapplawpod) and Facebook (@texapplawpod), subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, and reach out—we’d love to hear from you! Check us out on texapplawpod.buzzsprout.com and texapplawpod.com.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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 groups. Please contact Todd and Jody with questions, suggestions, or feedback on the episodes: Todd todd@appealsplus.com Jody jody.sanders@kellyhart.com Information on items discussed: Kendyl Hanks: https://www.gtlaw.com/en/professionals/h/hanks-kendyl-t Twitter: @hankskendyl Kristen LaFreniere: https://davidsonsheen.com/lubbock-attorneys/kristen-vander-plas-esq/ Twitter: @KVPTexas Judge Don Willett: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Willett Lady Lawyer Diaries on Twitter: #LadyLawyerDiaries @LadyLawyerDiary Professor Rachel Gurvich: https://law.unc.edu/people/rachel-i-gurvich/ Twitter: @RachelGurvich Jamie Santos: https://www.goodwinlaw.com/professionals/s/santos-jaime Twitter: @Jaime_ASantos Alyssa Leader: Twitter @alittleleader Please follow us on Twitter (@dtoddsmith @jodyssanders @texapplawpod) and Facebook (@texapplawpod), subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, and reach out—we’d love to hear from you! Check us out on texapplawpod.buzzsprout.com and texapplawpod.com.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube

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 the episodes: Todd todd@appealsplus.com Jody jody.sanders@kellyhart.com Information on items discussed: Jeff Richardson: https://www.adamsandreese.com/people/jeffrey-richardson Jeff’s website, a great resource for integrating Apple technology into your practice: https://www.iphonejd.com/ The Texas and Louisiana Board Certification programs: https://www.lsba.org/Specialization/AppellatePractice.aspx?Area=Standards https://www.tbls.org/specialtyarea/AP PdfExpert: https://pdfexpert.com/ Goodnotes: https://www.goodnotes.com/ TrialPad: https://www.litsoftware.com/trialpad/ TranscriptPad: https://www.litsoftware.com/transcriptpad/ The new Apple Keyboard that Todd is coveting: https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/18/21184929/apple-magic-keyboard-ipad-pro-trackpad-hinge-price-release-date Please follow us on Twitter (@dtoddsmith @jodyssanders @texapplawpod) and Facebook (@texapplawpod), subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, and reach out—we’d love to hear from you! Check us out on texapplawpod.buzzsprout.com and texapplawpod.com.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Texas Appellate Law Podcast Community today:appealsplus.comTwitterFacebookLinkedInYouTube