As Summer Ends, a New Appellate Season Begins

Originally published by D. Todd Smith.

With the sun setting on summer, early September is shaping up to be a busy time for Texas appellate practitioners and court watchers.

Texas Supreme Court Returns from Summer Recess

Although the Texas Supreme Court will issue orders every Friday in August and hold conference late in the month, it is caught up on opinions in argued cases—for the first time ever—so we’re not likely to see the usual flurry of opinions before the fiscal year ends on August 31. However, the intermediate appellate courts can be expected to turn out more opinions in August as they try to clear older cases and avoid carrying them into another statistical period.

When the calendar turns to September, the Court will dive right in and hear oral arguments the first three days of the month. First up is the school finance case, Williams v. The Texas Taxpayer & Student Fairness Coalition, et al., which will take up an entire argument setting.

Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course

TexasBarCLE’s annual Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course will take place on September 10-11, 2015 here in Austin. The State Bar Appellate Section is once again co-sponsoring the event.

Smith Law Group is privileged to have two presenters on the program this year. Brandy Wingate Voss will speak on multi-district litigation, and I will be addressing lawyers’ and judges’ use of social media. The seminar covers a host of other timely topics related to appellate practice and is always well worth the price of admission. Discounts are available to those registering by August 27 and for attorneys licensed five years or less.

John Hemphill Dinner

The Texas Supreme Court Historical Society is holding its annual John Hemphill Dinner on September 11, 2015. Senator John Cornyn—a former Texas Supreme Court justice and Texas Attorney General—is this year’s keynote speaker. The Hemphill Dinner has typically taken place in June, so this is a pretty significant schedule change.

Texas Supreme Court Breakfast

A similar schedule change has been made for the 2015 Texas Supreme Court Briefing Attorney/Staff Attorney Breakfast, which is now set for September 12, 2015. Supreme Court alumni should watch for an invitation to this event, which I understand will be going out soon.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Peasap.

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