The 14 Texas Courts of Appeals issued almost 10,000 opinions in the FY 2018, an increase of 1.3 percent from the previous year. The number of opinions issued by each justice increased by 4.5 percent.
The majority of the appellate cases before the court are now civil cases—making up a record percentage of the docket with 54.3 percent of all cases.
“The courts of appeals continue to have challenging dockets comprised of sensitive issues like child protection cases and complex business litigation,” said Sandee Marion, chief justice of the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio and chair of the Council of Justices, in a press release. “The justices and court staff work diligently to deliver timely, well-reasoned, and consistent opinions. Texans can count on the 14 courts of appeals to continue this strong performance.”
A slight dip in filings from FY 2017 helped the court to achieve over 100 percent on the Legislature’s case-clearance measure. This resulted in the court reducing the number of cases that have been pending for over two years by 45 percent and by 63 percent for cases over one year.
Each year between 10,000 and 12,000 civil and criminal cases are appealed to the courts of appeals.
For more information about the Texas Courts of Appeals, go to txcourts.gov.