Skip to content

menu

Open Legal Blog Archive logo
HomeAboutBlogsFAQsSubmit

Appellate Practice and Procedure Lesson 1: Overview and Tools of the Trade

By D. Todd Smith on February 16, 2015

This post includes the video and slidedeck for the first lecture in my Appellate Practice and Procedure course, which I introduced on this blog here and here. The presentation appears after the jump.

In this lesson, after introducing myself and going over the course syllabus, I discuss the nature of appellate work as opposed to other types of litigation, the upside of having an appellate practice, the anatomy of the appellate process, and the tools of the trade.

Although I put this lecture together several years ago, my observations about it being a good time to start a solo appellate practice generally hold true today. In 2009, technology had advanced such that one could run an appellate practice with a laptop, high-speed internet, a printer, and a legal research database subscription. Smartphones, tablets, and online practice-management platforms have since emerged as additional tools in the appellate lawyer’s toolbox.

Questions? Use the comment section below. Otherwise, we will resume on February 23 with Lesson 2: How Appellate Lawyers Bring Value at the Trial Court Level.

SPU #1 from D. Todd Smith

Image courtesy of Flickr by Cat.

  • Posted in:
    Appellate
  • Blog:
    Texas Appellate Strategy
  • Organization:
    Butler Snow LLP

Open Legal Blog Archive, Inc. logo
Seattle, Washington
Copyright © 2026, Open Legal Blog Archive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Law blog design & platform by LexBlog LexBlog Logo