The Texas Appellate Law Podcast will soon celebrate five years on the air. What began as an idea between two appellate lawyers hoping to demystify our practice area has evolved into a platform for candid conversations with judges, court staff, and fellow attorneys.
When Jody Sanders and I recorded our first episode, we had no
For Chris Dove, it started when he came upon articles in Above the Law about the saga of then-95-year-old federal Judge Pauline Newman. A giant in IP law, Judge Newman faced allegations of poor health and declining cognitive abilities in 2023. Those allegations led to a council’s recommendation that the judge be suspended and
Like every Texas lawyer licensed since 1988, I’d never known a Texas Supreme Court without Chief Justice Nathan Hecht.
That changed on January 1, 2025.
As widely reported in Texas legal news, Chief Justice Hecht retired from the Court on
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
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
In this episode, Jody Sanders and Todd Smith chat with Colin Levy, Director of Legal and Evangelist at Malbek, about his journey from being a traditional in-house lawyer to a leading voice in legal technology. Colin shares his insights on the evolving landscape of the legal industry, emphasizing the importance of bridging the gap between
Jury charge practice in Texas trials just got a shakeup thanks to the recent Horton v. Kansas City Railway Co. decision. In today’s episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders delve into the Texas Supreme Court’s recent pivot on Casteel error in jury charges. They analyze the implications for appellate practice, sparked by the Court’s revised
The Texas legal landscape will change significantly on September 1, 2024, with the launch of the Business Court and the 15th Court of Appeals. While the start date is set, many details are still uncertain. In this episode, Tyler Talbert, a board-certified civil appellate lawyer from Waco, joins hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders
Judges represent not only their judicial office, but also the legitimacy of the judicial branch as a whole. For many Americans, their only interaction with the legal system may come from a single trip to the courthouse. This makes it imperative for judges to leave participants in the system feeling that they have been treated fairly
Preparation is the key to winning at trial, and focus groups are a powerful tool for ensuring that a case is trial-ready. In this episode of the Texas Appellate Law Podcast, hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders visit with Austin-based trial lawyer and consultant Elizabeth Larrick of the Larrick Law Firm. Elizabeth shares her