Texas Appeals in the Data Age
State Bar Advanced Appellate Course ()This presentation explored the question of what we can learn about practicing in Texas’s 14 intermediate appellate courts from the new electronic court data (the TAMES system).
To prepare this talk, I adapted my docket-tracking software that has been following the Texas Supreme Court to be able to process data about Texas’s intermediate courts.
The talk included:
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an analysis of how quickly the courts of appeals issue decisions after the submission date – and what a delay means for your chances of getting a reversal;
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how the common “memorandum opinion” designation – which by rule is supposed to have no bearing on the substantive weight of a decision – affects the odds of interesting the Texas Supreme Court in a case; and
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which subject areas are being appealed, and how the reversal rate (and time to decision) varies by subject area.
