Local Rules & Notices

Second Court of Appeals

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RULE 1. BRIEFS

All briefs, in both civil and criminal cases, shall conform to Rules 9 [pdf] and 38 [pdf] of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and shall also meet the following requirements, unless the court, upon motion, permits an exception to the rules:

1. Cover. The front cover of the brief shall:
   • (1) State the court of appeals case number;
   • (2) Be addressed to the Court of Appeals for the Second District of Texas;
   • (3) Name all appellants and appellees in the style of the case;
   • (4) Identify the party for whom the brief is filed and the type of brief, if other than an original brief, for example, "Appellant's Amended Brief," "Appellant's Supplemental Brief," "Appellee's Reply Brief";
   • (5) Identify the presiding judge and the trial court from which the appeal is taken, for example, "Appeal from the [number] District Court, [name] County, Texas, the Hon. [name] presiding;
   • (6) State the name, address, telephone number, facsimile number, if any, and state bar identification number of the attorney who has signed the brief; and
   • (7) State whether the party requests oral argument.
   • (8) In civil cases, the court prefers that the cover of the brief of the appellant be light blue; that of the appellee, red; that of an intervenor or amicus curiae, green; that of any reply brief, gray. In criminal cases, the court prefers that the cover of the brief of the appellant be light blue or white, and that of the State (or appellee when the State appeals under article 44.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure) yellow or white.
2. Amended Briefs. An amended brief shall replace the brief that it is amending.
3. Motions for Leave to File Briefs. The appellant's opening brief, the appellee's opening brief, and the appellant's reply brief may be filed without leave of court, if their filing is timely. After the appellant's reply brief has been timely filed, any later brief merely replying to the last brief filed will be filed without a motion, if tendered at least seven (7) days prior to the date of the scheduled oral argument or submission date. All other briefs, including amended briefs, supplemental briefs, post-submission briefs, and letter briefs must be accompanied by a motion for leave to file, unless the brief is requested by the court.
4. Letter Briefs. Letter briefs shall be addressed to the clerk and shall refer to the style and number of the case. They shall be double-spaced, except for the address to the clerk.
5. Number of Copies. The original and four (4) copies of every brief shall be filed with the clerk.
6. Signature. The original copy of the brief shall be signed by the attorney of record or by the party, if the party is not represented by an attorney.
7. Length. Absent leave of court, briefs shall not be longer than the following page limits:

   Brief		Page Limit
   Appellant's opening brief		50
   Appellee's opening brief		50
   Reply brief		25
   Letter brief		2
   All other briefs		15

   
   The aggregate number of pages of all briefs filed by a party must not exceed 90 pages, absent leave of court. An amended brief shall have the same page limit as the brief that it replaces. A party who wishes to file a brief that exceeds these page limits shall file a motion for leave and shall attach a copy of the proposed brief to that motion.
8. Summary of the Argument. The summary of the argument should seldom exceed two and never five pages.
9. Appendix. The appendix should be placed at the end of the brief, where practicable. If separately bound, the original and four (4) copies of the appendix shall be filed with the clerk.
10. Filing Dates. The court will set filing dates for appellant's and appellee's opening briefs and appellant's reply brief when the record is filed. The clerk will give the parties notice of said filing dates. Motions to extend the filing dates for briefs will not be granted except for good cause.
11. Submission of Electronic Briefing. For the convenience of the Court, the Court asks, but does not require, that briefs filed in this Court be accompanied by an electronic copy of the brief, submitted as a courtesy to the Court in compliance with the following guidelines:
    • (1) The submission of a brief in electronic format (eBrief) is not considered a filing in this Court. Electronic filings will not be considered in determining whether a brief is timely filed under the Rules of Appellate Procedure. Prior to submission of an eBrief, a printed-on-paper brief must have been filed in compliance with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure that requires a printed original of the brief and four printed copies to be filed with the Court.
    • (2) All eBriefs should be submitted either by email attachment addressed to ebrief2nd@txcourts.gov or on a CD.
      
      NOTE: If you are emailing the eBrief and the file size is greater than 20 MB, you will need to separate the document into different files and email each file individually. Please identify each file clearly by labeling the individual parts (e.g. Appendix Part 1, Appendix Part 2, etc.)
    • (3) Each email attachment or CD must include information or a label, that identifies the case name, the docket number, type of filing (i.e. appellant's brief, appellee's brief, appellant’s reply brief, etc.), and the word-processing software and version used to prepare the brief. If submitting by email, please attach a Certificate of Compliance. A link to the certificate can be found at the bottom of this page. If submitting an eBrief on CD, please enclose a Certificate of Compliance with the CD.
    • (4) The Court prefers eBriefs be submitted in a searchable PDF format. If this format is not available to you, please use updated Word Perfect or Word formats.
    • (5) The email attachment or CD must contain only an electronic copy of the submitted filing. The email attachment or CD must not contain any document or material that is not included in the original hard copy of the filing with the Court. The CD version of a brief may include hyperlinks to documents that could be included in an appendix but were too voluminous or impracticable to be attached to the hard copy. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(j)
    • (6) The email attachment or CD must be free of viruses, spyware, adware, rootkits, or any other similar data or files that would be disruptive to the Court’s computer system.
    • (7) By submitting your brief electronically, you are consenting to its publication through the Court’s web page.
      
      - Certificate of Compliance [pdf] –

RULE 2. ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS

Original proceedings shall be governed by Rule 52 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, Local Rule 1, and this rule.

1. Number of Copies. The original and four (4) copies of all documents in an original proceeding shall be filed with the clerk.
2. Notice. If the court is of the tentative opinion that relator is entitled to relief or that a serious question concerning the relief requires further consideration, the clerk shall send the parties notice stating (1) the date the response must be filed, if one has not been filed; (2) the date the relator's reply to the response must be filed, if permitted by the court; (3) whether the court will allow argument or will submit the case without oral argument; (4) if oral argument is permitted, the date and the time allotted for argument; and (5) the names of the members of the panel to which the case will be argued or submitted, subject to change by the court.

RULE 3. ORAL ARGUMENT

Oral argument shall be governed by Rule 39 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and this rule.

1. Request. A request for oral argument shall be printed on the outside cover of the party's brief. Oral argument must be requested at the time the brief is filed, or it will be deemed waived. Oral argument shall not be requested unless the party requesting argument intends to appear for argument on the date set for submission. Conditional requests for argument (e.g., "Appellant requests oral argument only if oral argument is requested by appellee.") are acceptable.
2. Notice.
   • (1) When Argument Requested. In the event one or more parties request argument in the manner prescribed by Rule 39 and this rule, the clerk shall send to the parties -- at least 21 days before the case is set for argument or submission without argument -- the notice required under Rule 39.8.
   • (2) When Argument Not Requested. Any party who wishes that the case be submitted without oral argument should state that argument is not requested on the cover of their brief. If all parties request that the case be submitted without oral argument, or if no party requests oral argument, and the court decides that oral argument will not significantly aid the court in determining the issues presented in the appeal, the clerk shall send the parties a notice stating the case will be submitted without oral argument and the names of the members of the panel to which the case will be submitted, subject to change by the court.
3. Time Allowed. Unless additional time is granted by the presiding justice of the panel to which the case is assigned, oral argument will be limited to fifteen (15) minutes for the appellant's opening argument, fifteen (15) minutes for the appellee's argument, and five (5) minutes for the appellant's rebuttal. Requests for additional time must be made by motion filed at least ten (10) days prior to the scheduled submission date.
4. Continuance. After a case has been set for argument, oral argument may be continued only by an order of the court for good cause. It may not be continued by agreement of the parties.
5. Waiver. A party who desires to waive an oral argument that has been previously requested or scheduled must notify the clerk and all opposing parties at least seven (7) days prior to the scheduled submission date.
6. Failure to Appear. Unless argument is continued or waived under these rules, lead counsel for each party or his or her designee scheduled for oral argument shall appear in the courtroom at the time set for oral argument. Failure to appear will be looked upon with disfavor.

RULE 4. MOTIONS

All motions shall comply with Rules 9 and 10 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and this rule.

1. Number of Copies. Only the original of a motion shall be filed.
2. Signatures and Certificates. In both civil and criminal cases, all motions shall contain an original signature, a certificate of service, and, except motions for rehearing, a certificate of conference stating substantially one of the following:
   • i. A conference was held on [date] with the opposing party on the merits of this motion, and the opposing party [does] [does not] oppose the motion.
   • ii. A conference was not held with the opposing party because [explanation].
3. Motions for Extension of Time in Criminal Cases. In addition to complying with Rule 10 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, all motions for extension of time in criminal cases shall state whether the defendant is incarcerated.

RULE 5. REPORTER'S RECORD. 

Each volume of the reporter's record shall comply with the requisites established by the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Local Rules for the Second Court of Appeals, and the Uniform Format Manual of Texas Court Reporters. In addition, except by permission of this court for good cause shown, the printed record filed with this court shall contain the record on computer diskette, CD, or DVD form in ASCII format or other computer readable format preapproved by this court. Said diskette, CD, or DVD shall be affixed to the inside of the back cover of the final volume of the printed reporter's record of testimony in such manner as to be secure but easily removable for use.

RULE 6. WITHDRAWAL OF RECORD ON APPEAL. 

In addition to the conditions contained in Rule 12.4 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the clerk may permit the record or file to be taken from the clerk's office on the following conditions:

1. Civil Cases. In civil cases, attorneys may check out the record from the clerk at any time up to three days before the date on which the case is scheduled to be submitted to the court. After that time, attorneys may not check out the court of appeals' record except on the leave of the court. An attorney who checks out the record shall return it promptly to the clerk on demand. Pro se parties may inspect the record only on the premises of this court.
2. Criminal Cases. In criminal cases, the court will not allow the record to be checked out. Records must be checked out through the district clerk's office or county clerk's office in the county from which the appeal arose.

RULE 7. FAX FILING OF DOCUMENTS. 

1. By the Court. Except as specifically required by the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, any notices issued by the clerk of the court or any orders issued by the court may be made by fax, at the discretion of the court. Fax notification shall be made to the fax number provided by the attorney of record for each party to the appeal.
2. By the Parties.
   • (1) Permissible Fax Filings. In accordance with Rule 9.2(c) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the clerk will accept for filing any document that is a total of ten transmitted pages or less, excluding the cover sheet. Documents may be faxed to the court (fax number: 817-884-1932) both during and after normal working hours, but document received after 4:45 p.m. will be considered filed the next day the court is open to the public.
   • (2) Cover Sheet. A cover sheet shall accompany all documents transmitted by fax and shall clearly identify: 1) the name, address, telephone number, and fax number of the sender; 2) the name of the party the sender represents; 3) the document being transmitted; 4) the cause number; 5) the number of pages being transmitted; 6) an the name of the clerk or deputy clerk, if any, to whose attention the document is directed.
   • (3) Receipt of Transmission. The quality of the original shall be clear and dark enough to be transmitted legibly by fax. The clerk will be responsible for events that disrupt, impair, or render impossible the receipt of documents transmitted by fax. The sender is obligated to ensure that documents transmitted by fax have been received legibly and completely by the clerk. Although the clerk's office will verify by telephone that a document has been received legibly and completely, it will not initiate the telephone call. If a document transmitted by fax is not complete or is otherwise illegible, the clerk will nonetheless file it and bring it to the attention of the court. However, the incompleteness or illegibility of a document may be grounds for striking or denying a motion.
   • (4) Service on Parties. The party transmitting a document by fax must serve a copy of the document on all parties to the appeal by fax or other expedited means.
   • (5) Fees. The sender must deposit any applicable fees in the U.S. mail on the days the fax is transmitted. Failure of the clerk to receive the fees within seven days after the day the fax is filed may result in the striking of the filing transmitted by fax.
   • (6) Signature on Original. The sender shall maintain the original of any document transmitted by fax, with the original signature affixed, as required by section 51.806 of the Texas Government Code.

RULE 8. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.

On a party's motion, or on the court's own initiative, the court may refer a civil case to alternative dispute resolution.