What a week, huh?
When I opened an unassuming email advisory from the Court this morning, I expected the usual kind of thing you’d see on a Wednesday. Maybe a notice that a stay had been denied or an abatement
The Supreme Court of Texas is the highest appellate court for civil matters in the state of Texas. It issues opinions and orders on a wide range of legal issues including contracts, property, state taxes, election law, and child welfare. The Court handles cases involving mandamus petitions, emergency stays, and other procedural matters. It publishes opinions, orders, and schedules for oral arguments, providing insight into ongoing appellate litigation and judicial decision-making. The Court's blog content often includes summaries of recent opinions, case dockets, and procedural updates relevant to practitioners and the public interested in Texas civil appellate law.
What a week, huh?
When I opened an unassuming email advisory from the Court this morning, I expected the usual kind of thing you’d see on a Wednesday. Maybe a notice that a stay had been denied or an abatement…
The docket is cleared of argued cases (again)
This past week’s orders list brought the final decisions in argued cases this Term. The Court has met its self-imposed deadline to issue all of those opinions by June 30th.
There were,…
More grants under the new petition rules
This week’s orders list brought eight more grants under the new petition rules. The Court has set these for argument in the November and December sittings.
Two very unusual voting splits
We are…
I saw some of you when I spoke last week at the UT State and Federal Appeals CLE. My presentation, as usual, looked at the Court through the lens of numbers. Giving this kind of talk in June is always…
A new, grid view of the Court’s argument sittings
The tl;dr is: I’ve added a new feature to the website that lets you quickly see which Justices have written opinions for each of the Court’s argument sittings this term.…
This morning’s orders list brought the first grants under the Texas Supreme Court’s new petition rules.
My website has been tracking these new petitions (more on that below), so I’ve been watching for the first grant. My hope had been…
… a mind’s inner workings are often opaque and its contents not easily partitioned.
A disqualification case with some cautions for appellate lawyers
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IOPs vs. “inferred” operating procedures
For a number of years, the Texas Supreme Court published a set of “internal operating procedures” (IOPs) on its website, with a detailed look at the internal process. The most recent update to that document…
New petition rules at the Texas Supreme Court
The big news, really, is that the Texas Supreme Court dramatically changed its petition process in January.
Under the old system, the Court’s discretionary review proceeded in two steps. First, the parties…
“What are the Odds?” updated through 2025
The state bar appellate section invited me to speak in September 2025. As has become my own little Labor Day tradition, I updated my Texas Supreme Court stats and “What are the odds?”…