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Where should I begin after receiving an order?Identify the proceeding
Start with the signed order, the court that issued it and the kind of proceeding. The route and timing depend on what you seek to review. This guide follows Texas civil appellate procedure; the rulebook also contains distinct criminal procedures.
Keep the signed order and notices together. Check the legal basis for review before choosing an ordinary, accelerated, permissive or restricted appeal. A reading path does not determine whether an order is appealable.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Am I the appellant, appellee or someone else?Know your role
The appellant takes an appeal; the appellee is a party adverse to the appellant. A party seeking review in the Supreme Court is a petitioner. A person seeking extraordinary relief in an original proceeding is generally called the relator.
Use the terminology for your proceeding. Responding to another party’s appeal and seeking a change to the judgment raise different filing questions.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What date starts the clock, and which timing rule applies?Read the clock
Identify the triggering event and the applicable type of appeal before reading a deadline. Rule 26.1 separates ordinary civil, accelerated and restricted appeals and addresses a later notice by another party. Rules 4 and 26.3 address particular timing and extension questions.
Check the signed judgment, qualifying postjudgment filings and any court order. Under Rule 28.1(b), post-trial motions do not extend the time to perfect an accelerated appeal. This guide does not calculate a filing deadline.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Does the record show my complaint and the court’s ruling?Preserve the issue
Rule 33.1 generally requires a timely, sufficiently specific request, objection or motion and a ruling, or a refusal to rule to which the complaining party objected. Preservation depends on the complaint and the applicable exceptions.
Locate the request and ruling in the record. Read the provisions on rulings by operation of law and civil nonjury sufficiency complaints; do not assume every issue needs the same step.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Where does a civil notice of appeal go?Start the appeal
Under Rule 25.1, a civil appeal is perfected by filing a written notice with the trial court clerk. The rule identifies the contents, service and treatment of a notice mistakenly filed with the appellate court.
Check the correct court, order, party names and type of appeal. Read the notice requirements together with the timing provisions and any special procedure.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Someone else appealed. What should I check first?Respond to an appeal
Read the notice, identify the relief sought and locate the appellate case. Rule 38.2 addresses the appellee’s brief. If you seek to change the trial court’s judgment, Rule 25.1(c) addresses your own notice of appeal.
Distinguish defending the judgment from seeking more favorable relief. Rule 25.1(c) contains a just-cause qualification; check the applicable notice deadline under Rule 26.1.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Where can I find the case number and court notices?Find the appellate case
Rule 12 describes the appellate clerk’s docketing, case numbers and notices. The trial court clerk and the appellate clerk have different responsibilities; identify which court holds the filing you need.
Keep the appellate case number and current court notices with your papers. Use the court’s official instructions and check the destination before filing.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What will the appellate court read from the trial court?Understand the record
The appellate record consists of the clerk’s record and, when necessary to the appeal, the reporter’s record. Rule 34 addresses their contents and alternatives, including agreed records and the civil appendix procedure in Rule 34.5a.
Identify the documents, hearings and exhibits relevant to the issues. Read the applicable procedure before choosing an alternative to the clerk’s record or requesting only part of the reporter’s record.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Who prepares the record, and what must I arrange?Arrange the record
Rules 34 and 35 address requests, preparation and filing. The trial court clerk and reporter have filing responsibilities subject to the rule’s conditions, including payment, satisfactory payment arrangements or entitlement to proceed without payment.
Check the required request, which record is needed, fees or inability-to-pay procedure, and the applicable filing time. Do not treat filing the notice as completion of every record-related task.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What if the record is incomplete, inaccurate or late?Check what is missing
Rule 34 provides procedures for supplementation and correction. Rule 37 addresses problems with filing the record. A missing item, an inaccurate record and a lost or destroyed record raise different questions.
Identify the specific item and the problem before requesting a correction. Read the relevant subsection and any court notice; do not assume attaching a document to a brief makes it part of the appellate record.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What belongs in an appellant’s brief?Write for the reviewing court
Rule 38.1 organizes the appellant’s brief around the case, issues, facts, argument and requested relief, with record references and authorities where required. The court should be able to connect each issue to the record and the ruling being challenged.
Use the full list of required sections. Check Rule 9 for document format and length, and Rule 38.6 for timing; a topic outline is not a completed brief checklist.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →How do an appellee’s brief and a reply differ?Answer the other side
Rule 38.2 governs the appellee’s brief and its permitted differences from the appellant’s brief. Rule 38.3 permits an appellant to file a reply addressing any matter in the appellee’s brief.
Read the other party’s actual arguments and distinguish a response from a request to change the judgment. Check the timing provisions and any briefing order.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Will there be oral argument?Prepare for submission
Rule 39 addresses requests for oral argument and when the court may decide argument is unnecessary. Argument should emphasize and clarify the written briefs and respond to the court’s questions.
Check the request requirement on the brief’s cover and any notice setting argument. A request does not guarantee argument. Keep the discussion tied to the issues and record.
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Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What does the court of appeals’ decision mean?Read the result
Read the judgment and the opinion together. Rule 43 lists forms of disposition, including affirmance, modification, reversal and remand, reversal and rendition, vacatur and dismissal. The actual judgment controls what the court has ordered.
Identify which parties and issues the disposition covers, what remains to be done and when the decision was rendered. Keep rehearing, further review and mandate questions distinct.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →How do I read the rehearing options?Consider rehearing
Rule 49 addresses rehearing and en banc reconsideration in the court of appeals. These are distinct requests with requirements and timing provisions. Supreme Court rehearing is addressed separately in Rule 64.
Identify which court made the decision, the requested change and the applicable deadline. Check whether a later court action changes the relevant timing.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →How does a petition for review differ from an appeal?Seek Supreme Court review
Rule 53 governs a petition asking the Supreme Court of Texas to review a court of appeals’ final judgment. Rule 56 addresses the Court’s action on a petition; review is not automatic. A petition and a later requested merits brief serve different purposes.
Read the petition’s contents, response and reply provisions and Rule 53.7 timing. Check whether the Court has requested a response or merits briefing rather than assuming every filing is required immediately.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Do I need to respond to a petition for review?Respond in the Supreme Court
Rule 53.3 permits a response but provides that it need not be filed unless the Court requests one. Rule 53.7 addresses timing; Rule 55 concerns merits briefs requested by the Court.
Read any request from the Court and identify whether it asks for a petition response or merits briefing. A response to a petition is not the same document as an appellee’s brief in the court of appeals.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What is the mandate, and how does it relate to the judgment?Understand what follows
Rule 18 governs issuance and related mandate procedures. Rule 51 addresses enforcement of the appellate judgment. These questions are separate from whether a rehearing motion or petition for review should be filed.
Read the judgment, any later orders and the mandate provisions together. Check the actual status of the case before assuming that a decision is ready for enforcement.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Can an order be reviewed before the case ends?Review before final judgment
Rule 28 addresses accelerated and permissive civil appeals, and Rule 29 addresses orders pending interlocutory appeal. The existence of an adverse interim ruling alone does not identify the available review route.
Check the statute or other authority allowing review and the type of order. A permissive appeal has its own permission procedure; an original proceeding is a separate route.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What is different about a mandamus proceeding?Understand original proceedings
Rule 52 governs original proceedings seeking extraordinary relief. It addresses the petition, parties, appendix, record and responses. A petition is filed with the appropriate appellate clerk; this is a separate procedure from a notice of appeal.
Identify the substantive authority and standards for the relief sought, as well as the proper court. Meeting the document requirements alone does not establish entitlement to extraordinary relief.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What if action is needed before the court decides?Find the right urgent-relief procedure
The applicable procedure depends on the proceeding. Rule 24 addresses suspension of enforcement of a civil judgment; Rule 29 addresses interlocutory appeals; Rule 52.10 addresses temporary relief in an original proceeding.
Identify the action to be stayed and the court with authority. Read notice, certificate, security and motion requirements for the applicable route. Do not assume a filing itself grants the requested stay.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Does filing an appeal stop enforcement of the judgment?Separate appeal from enforcement
Read Rule 24 separately from the notice-of-appeal rules. It provides methods for superseding a civil judgment, subject to its conditions and exceptions, and addresses security and review of related trial-court orders.
Identify the kind of judgment and applicable security or other procedure. Do not assume that filing a notice of appeal by itself suspends enforcement.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What should I check before filing a document?File, serve and protect information
Rule 9 addresses signing, filing, format, service and privacy. Filing a document with the court and serving other parties are separate requirements. The applicable privacy rules differ by proceeding and document.
Check the correct clerk, electronic-filing provisions, service, certification and any required redaction. Retain the filing receipt and read any notice identifying a defect.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →How do I request a procedural ruling?Ask the appellate court to act
Rule 10 addresses motions in appellate courts, their contents, responses and supporting evidence. Its specific provisions include motions to extend time.
Identify the relief, grounds and required support. Check conference, service and certificate requirements for the particular motion; submitting a request does not mean it has been granted.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →Can I ask for more time?Check extension requirements
Different filings have different extension procedures. Rule 10.5 addresses particular motions; Rule 26.3 addresses an extension for the notice of appeal. Other provisions address record filing, briefing and petitions for review.
Read the provision for the exact filing. Rule 26.3 requires both the notice in the trial court and a complying motion in the appellate court within its specified extension period. Rule 2 does not permit altering the time to perfect a civil appeal.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
Back to the appeal guide →What if I cannot afford appellate costs?Understand costs
Rule 20.1 addresses proceeding without advance payment of costs in civil cases, including how trial-court status carries forward and procedures when no statement was filed there. Rule 5 addresses appellate fees.
Identify the type of cost and any applicable statement, contest or court order. Review record-preparation costs alongside Rule 35 rather than assuming that every expense is treated alike.
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Related questions
Source: Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, February 6, 2026 edition. Check applicable amendments and court orders.
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