The Texas Supreme Court is taking comments on its rewritten summary judgment Rule 166a before the rule goes into effect on March 1. To help practitioners understand its implications, hosts Jody Sanders and Todd Smith provide context for the rewrite and take a deep dive into the rule’s requirements. Tune in as they break down
On October 1, 2025, Texas launched automatic case notifications for attorneys statewide, finally solving a problem that had tripped up even diligent lawyers. If you’ve noticed new messages from no-reply@researchtx.com, those are Case Notices, the automatic notification system now built into re:SearchTX, the state’s online case records and alerts platform.
If you’re an attorney of
I had the opportunity a while back to join Dallas trial lawyer Mike Bassett on his podcast, Legal Grounds: Conversations on Life, Leadership, and Law. I’ve long been a fan of Mike’s show and his thoughtful approach to law practice, so I was honored when he invited me to appear as a guest.
We
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
Hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders welcome Adam Shniderman of Alexander Dubose & Jefferson to discuss his unique journey through academia, clerkships, and private practice. Adam shares how his academic background in criminology and forensic evidence provided a solid foundation for his legal career. He compares clerking at the Texas Supreme Court and the Ninth
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
The Texas Supreme Court has directed the Supreme Court Advisory Committee (known as SCAC) to study and propose rules that would eliminate pre-grant merits briefing and prohibit central dockets like those used in Travis and Bexar Counties.
The Court has signaled its interest in the first potential change for a while now, but the second
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