For the month of March, I am going to highlight blogs that I think are interesting and useful. Some may not be directly related to personal injury or Social Security disability law, but all of us who represent injured and disabled people occasionally need help in other areas. A few have been featured here before, but they keep getting better. Today’s entry in March of the Blogs:
Austin, Texas attorney D. Todd Smith has been creating quite a buzz in Texas with his Texas Appellate Law Blog. Todd keeps Texas lawyers up-to-date with the decisions and trends of all Texas civil appellate courts. Every Texas lawyer should read this blog. Here is a list of topics from the Texas Appellate Law Blog:
- Announcements
- Appellate Practice
- Blogs & Blogging
- Briefs
- Interlocutory Appeals
- Jurisdiction
- Jury Charges
- Motions
- News & Politics
- Opinions & Judgments
- Oral Argument
- Original Proceedings
- Perfecting Appeal
- Procedure
- Rehearing
- Reversible Error
- Standards of Review
- Supreme Court Orders
- Technology
Todd has accomplished quite a lot in his career so far, and here is his bio from the blog:
D. Todd Smith is an appellate specialist based in Austin, Texas. He opened his practice in 2006 after spending nearly a decade with the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., where he was a member of the appellate and litigation practice groups. Before joining Fulbright, Todd served a two-year clerkship with Texas Supreme Court Justice Raul A. Gonzalez (ret.).
Todd is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and currently serves as editor of the State Bar Appellate Section publication, The Appellate Advocate. He has handled matters before many of the state’s fourteen intermediate appeals courts, the Texas Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Todd obtained his bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University and later attended Texas Tech University, where he received a master’s degree in public administration. He earned his J.D. cum laude from St. Mary’s University School of Law.
While in law school, Todd served as Editor-in-Chief of the St. Mary’s Law Journal, which was ranked by a recent survey of state and federal court decisions as the third most frequently cited law review in the United States. He was a member of the St. Mary’s National and State Moot Court teams, Phi Delta Phi, and the John M. Harlan Society. He also served as an intern to Fifth Circuit Judge Emilio M. Garza.
Todd is active in various state and local bar associations and is a regular author and speaker on appellate-related topics. He is admitted to practice before all Texas state courts, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas.
When not practicing law, Todd enjoys spending time with his wife and two young sons, exploring the Texas Hill Country, watching and attending sporting events, and keeping up with the ways in which he can implement new technology for his clients’ benefit.
