On February 7, 2025, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice James D. Blacklock asked the Supreme Court Advisory Committee (the “Committee”) to “study and make recommendations on eliminat[ing] [ ] the Court’s current practice of...more
Judges and jurists alike champion the notion that rehearings should be used sparingly and only when the conditions are just right. A lesser known concept is that sometimes a motion for rehearing is absolutely necessary to...more
It is crucial for an appellant drafting an initial brief to adequately identify and describe all claims and issues the appellant intends to raise for appellate review. Apart from the obvious advantage of providing as much...more
Although appellate courts are generally obligated to address the issues that are properly brought before them, that is not the case when it comes to issues that have been rendered moot by subsequent developments—either in the...more
Brief Summary - An intermediate appellate court in Illinois held that defendant forfeited appellate review of expert testimony admitted at trial because he failed to file a post-trial motion on the issue. However, the...more
When you hear about an appellate decision, what comes to mind? Typically, I think of a formal “opinion”—at least when the appeal has been briefed on the merits. And historically, I have thought of an “order” as a short...more
September 6, 2022 Every appellate attorney’s dream is a well-developed record on appeal without any unpreserved errors. But that is not always possible. The recent amendment to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.530(a), issued...more
AC39565 - Carvalhos Masonry, LLC v. S&L Variety Contractors, LLC - Interesting case. After the conclusion of the evidence in the case, the trial judge urged the parties to settle and even recommended the amount. The...more
Appellate attorneys (hopefully!) understand the need to preserve arguments for appeal by raising them before the trial court and in their opening briefing. But what about the difference between waiver and forfeiture of...more