Yesterday afternoon, the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section hosted a seminar for in-house and counsel and appellate lawyers. There were six panels covering a wide range of topics, from when you need to seek appellate counsel to how to structure fees in a way that works for everyone.

The line of the day may belong to Judge Yeakel of the Western District of Texas, who was on a panel discussing how to use appellate counsel in district courts. He noted how much energy was spent on discovery that ultimately didn’t advance a legal issue in the case. Calling out some earlier panelists’ description of appellate counsel as “a luxury,” he said, “You’re looking at it wrong if you spend all the money on discovery and think appellate counsel is a luxury.”

I was very happy to participate in one of the panels (with Blake Hawthorne) on the subject of how technology is changing appellate practice. Someone asked during the Q&A if the slides we used to guide our discussion would be available, so I am posting them here. Those who want to see the more detailed papers and slides we prepared for the UT appellate program earlier this month can find them on this page.