I am committed to developing the Texas Appellate Law Blog and making it a resource for appellate practioners, both the purposeful (like me) and the accidental (who should consider calling someone like me). But I doubt whether I can do that and maintain two other blogs (one of which requires a considerable time investment in reading and summarizing cases). Oh, and I also need to make a living practicing my craft.

So, I’m going to focus on the Texas Appellate Law Blog and experiment with blending all of my ideas together in that format. My more personal posts will involve practice management issues, and my case-related posts—while still focused largely on the Third Court—will not go into quite as much detail as before.

As of today, this blog will no longer be updated.  I encourage you to visit and subscribe to the Texas Appellate Law Blog for tips, resources, and news relevant to Texas civil appellate practice.  Thanks for reading.

D. Todd Smith
Austin, Texas
http://www.appealsplus.com
Board Certified, Civil Appellate Law
Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Aside from my family, whom I cherish, I am most grateful for having survived four months of solo law practice.  In fact, I am not only surviving, I am starting to flourish.  So far in November, I have opened 7 new matters.  I am out of debt.  I am starting to worry about when I will find time to market my practice, as opposed to doing the work.

All in all, life is good.

My favorite?  Tip #6, "Get Outside Help":

The insights of an experienced and effective appellate practitioner can be invaluable in deciding what issues should be raised on appeal and how best to argue those issues to obtain the best possible result for the client.  No one may know the case or the governing law better than the trial lawyer, but, to win on appeal, you will need to persuade appellate judges who themselves have no preexisting knowledge about your case and often have little, if any, experience with the law governing the outcome in your case.  An experienced and effective appellate practitioner can assimilate what the trial lawyers know about the case and present even the most complicated legal and factual matters to appellate judges in the brief and at oral argument in a manner that is both easy to understand and persuasively reasoned.  Highly qualified appellate practitioners do not want to take your client from you or control the case on remand to the trial court; rather, they want to work with you to ensure that your client gets the best possible result on appeal.

Amen to that, brother!

The gist of Mr. Garcia's article is that the Democratic candidates' inability to capture more than one of four available seats, despite the national anti-Republican wave, show that Texas Democrats as a whole have a lot of work to do.  Although the Democrats did well in Travis County, he argues, rural precincts made the difference in this 24-county district.  According to Mr. Garcia, the Democrats' poor showing in rural sectors "shows the effects of a nonexistent party organization and a consequent lack of outreach."

• Justice Alan Waldrop (R) defeated Judge Jim Coronado (D), 51% to 49%.
• Diane Henson (D) defeated former judge Will Wilson (R) by less than 1 percentage point.
• Justice David Puryear (R) defeated Mina Brees (D), 52% to 48%.
• Justice Bob Pemberton (R) defeated Bree Buchanan (D), 51% to 49%.

The net result is that Diane Henson will step in for her fellow Democrat, the retiring Justice Bea Ann Smith.  Otherwise, the court's makeup will likely remain the same until 2008, when Chief Justice Kenneth Law (R) will be for re-election.  (Former Justice Woodie Jones (D) has already announced plans to run against Chief Justice Law,)  Justice Jan Patterson (D) was re-elected in 2004 and will not be on the ballot again until 2010.

I recently filed an appeal from a Dallas County judgment using my e-filing service, which provides near-immediate electronic confirmation that the clerk has received and accepted the filing.  In the old days, I would have sent the initial appeal papers by regular or overnight mail and waited a few days before receiving a file-stamped copy as confirmation.  As with other forms of technology, e-filing is helping to break down geographic barriers in the practice of law.

• Place 2:  Justice Alan Waldrop over Judge Jim Coronado.
• Place 3:  Former judge Will Wilson over Diane Henson.
• Place 5:  Mina Brees over Justice David Puryear.
• Place 6:  Justice Bob Pemberton over Bree Buchanan.

The Statesman piece stated that these were difficult choices because "the candidates are highly qualified and good people to boot."  It will be interesting to see how these races turn out.

From participating in other listservs, I have learned what a powerful tool these things can be.  If you are a solo or small firm practitioner in or around the Austin area and haven't joined the Yahoo Group (or the Section), please consider doing so.

One of my favorite things about the revamp is the new link to a PDF color-coded map showing the boundaries of all fourteen appellate court districts.  This will be a great tool in case someone calls wondering whether appeals from Comal County go to Austin or San Antonio.  The answer is just a few clicks away.

Will the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals sites get similar facelifts?  Stay tuned.