“I give trial lawyers a menu of options,” Andrew Gould explains to hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders about his strategic approach as head of appellate at plaintiffs’ firm Arnold & Itkin. After building their appellate practice from scratch following his years as a federal prosecutor, Andrew shares battle-tested techniques for navigating the trial

Milo Bobbitt built an appellate practice from scratch at his firm. After an internship with then-Justice Willett at the Texas Supreme Court, he successfully defended a significant oil and gas contract victory on appeal, complete with a quote from the movie “Armageddon” in the opinion. “I was writing a new brief about every month for

In this milestone episode, hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Texas Appellate Law Podcast. Reflecting on 145 episodes of conversations with judges, practitioners, and legal innovators, they discuss how the podcast has evolved alongside major shifts in legal practice—from the pandemic’s acceleration of virtual proceedings to the emergence of

Chief Justice Nathan Hecht is retiring after an extraordinary 43 years on the bench. In this special episode, he joins Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to reflect on his remarkable career as Texas’s longest-serving Chief Justice. He shares personal stories, pivotal milestones, and the transformative reforms he championed, from modernizing court technology to improving access

The highly publicized Robert Roberson case has raised critical questions about the death penalty and separation of powers. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders sit down with criminal defense attorney Doug Gladden to tackle this difficult topic. Known for his insightful legal commentary, Doug shares his career journey from serving as a prosecutor to his new

Access to justice remains a pervasive problem in the Texas legal system. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders welcome Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby and Kennon Wooten from Austin’s Scott Douglass & McConnico to discuss the latest developments on this front. The conversation focuses on new Supreme Court rules for licensing paraprofessionals

Legislative session years in Texas always bring uncertainty into legal practice. When the Legislature passes new laws impacting courts, the Texas Supreme Court has to make rules to give those laws effect. This week Todd Smith and Jody Sanders discuss several recent rule changes and additions from the Texas Supreme Court that will impact trial