@dtoddsmith

Board-Certified Civil Appellate Lawyer | Appellate counsel for trial teams | Practicing, publishing, and podcasting on appellate issues shaping trial strategy.

 Austin
texappcounsel.com
Joined August 2008
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993Media
A case that settled the weekend before voir dire revealed how the Texas Business Court is preparing to handle jury trials: early issue resolution, compressed timelines, and real trial readiness. It also showed where embedded appellate counsel can add value. #appellatetwitter texappcounsel.com/2026/01/al…

Almost Legal History: The Texas Business Court’s First Jury Trial That Wasn't

I was supposed to be in Fort Worth today for what would’ve been the Texas Business Court’s first-ever jury trial. After a final pretrial conference on

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In our latest episode, we we unpack moral injury in law practice: its roots in Dr. Jonathan Shay's work with Vietnam veterans, how it differs from PTSD, lawyer well-being data, wrongful convictions, confidential resources, and redefining success. texappcounsel.com/2026/09/e1…

E174 | Confronting Moral Injury: Winning in Law Without Losing Yourself

"In a lot of respects, the legal system is a moral ordering system," says Jody Sanders—one built on competing interests and an outcomes-based way of

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I'm filing a brief today that contains zero footnotes.
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D. Todd Smith@dtoddsmithSep 2
I got to say something in a recent podcast conversation that I've wanted to say out loud for about eight years: Rohrmoos must die. 1/
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I got to say something in a recent podcast conversation that I've wanted to say out loud for about eight years: Rohrmoos must die. 1/
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If you deal with fee-shifting in your practice, I'd like to know how you're navigating it. What does your jurisdiction do when AI is in the workflow? /end
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texappcounsel.com/2026/08/e1…

E173 | Fee Recovery, Trap Doors, and the Lodestar in the AI Age | Amy Prueger

An attorney-fee award can sometimes dwarf the underlying recovery—yet, as Amy Prueger says, a party's fee request is often an afterthought. Hosts Todd

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Under the Texas Supreme Court's new rules, I've started asking for something I rarely used to: a reversal on the petition alone. 1/
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If you've filed under the new rules, how are you approaching the ask: still writing to earn a grant, or drafting for the reversal? /end
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Full conversation and article @TexAppLawPod: E172 | Grants, GVRs, and Per Curiams: Checking in on the New Petition-for-Review Rules texappcounsel.com/2026/08/e1…
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