ALPHABET SOUP, MOTHER HUBBARD, AND THE (IN)FAMOUS TEXAS TRAPS
Appealing: Texas Civil Appellate Jargon
Abatement = The putting on hold (staying) of a pending appeal, typically to allow something else to happen, such as mediation, negotiations for settlement, or because of a mandatory bankruptcy stay is in effect. Abatement allows for the case to be reinstated, and therefore differs from a dismissal, which will result in the loss of jurisdiction.
AJ = Agreed Judgment (both parties sign as to form and substance, and waive right to appeal it)
ATTY = Attorney, lawyer, sometimes also ATY
Attorney in Charge = Atty who signed first pleading or is expressly designated attorney in charge under rule 8 in trial court; called Lead Attorney on appeal
Bookmarks = Required for Appendix attached to appellate brief filed as a PDF file when Appendix consists of more than one document, for ease of navigation. Note also that the Appellant's required Appendix used to be bound and filed separately as hard copy, but must now be merged into the brief and filed as a single document
BOM = Brief on the Merits (in the Texas Supreme Court, where appeals are initiated by Petition for Review. A PFR is essentially a mini-brief, i.e. a brief that is actually brief, but is label as something other than a brief. While appeals are initiated by filing a notice of appeal in the trial court (which is then forwarded to the intermediate court of appeals), petitions for review are filed directly in the supreme court. Such a filing may be preceded by a motion for extension of time file a PFR, which will give the prospective Petitioner (i.e., the appellant in the Supreme Court) a case number and more time to file the actual petition.
CJ = Chief Justice
CLE = Continuing Legal Education, also MCLE = mandatory continuing legal education. Requirement for attorneys to keep up with new developments in the law through educational coursework, now often done on-line rather than through live warm-body seminars. CLE materials may be available in county law libraries and are great source of insight provided by specialists. Some CLE materials are authored by judges.
COA = Court of Appeals or Cause of Action
COC = Certificate of Conference (certification about having contacted opposing counsel to determine if a procedural issue can be worked out without court intervention, e.g. discovery dispute, or motion for continuance, trial reset)
COS = Certificate of Service. Required part of brief to certify that brief is being served on other parties to the appeal. Must specify the method of service, which is now typically eService through the eFiling system. Pro se cases are potentially different because pro se parties are not required to use the eFiling system.
CR, also C.R. = Clerk's Record (on appeal); RR = Reporter's Record (on appeal), i.e. court reporter's transcript of the proceedings in the trial court (hearing or trial); ROA = Record on Appeal is rarely used in state appeals. Note that the CR on appeal will typically not encompass all of the documents in the trial court's file even in a simple case with few documents. Certain documents are required by rule while additional ones must be specifically requested by filing a Designation of Items to be Included in the Clerk's Record.
DJ = Default Judgment. Judgment entered without the defendant having filed an answer, or defendant having answered but not appeared for trial. Different from SJ = Summary Judgment FJ = Final Judgement (which could be DJ, SJ, or judgment after trial)
DWOJ = Dismissal for Want of Jurisdiction = jurisdictional dismissal,
DWOP = Dismissal for Want of Prosecution; at the appellate level most often when required appellate filing fee or fee for CR are not paid, or brief is not filed when due, and no extension is requested, or defective brief is struck and no compliant brief resubmitted.
EN BANC, also en banc = (re)consideration of a case by the entire court in COAs consisting of more than three members; usually based on motion for reconsideration or rehearing en banc. Used to get a second bite at the apple before filing a PFR in a bid to get more favorable treatment by the court as a whole than was received at the hands of the panel. Such motions are rely granted. Not infrequently a motion for rehearing is denied, but a new superseding opinion is nevertheless issued. The disposition typically remains the same.
Google Scholar = Free online search engine and repository of research and resources provides text of state and federal appellate court opinions converted into reader-friendly on-line display format. Allows for keyword searches, has hotlinks to cited cases, and feature to identify subsequent history (i.e. citing cases).
FJ = Final Judgment
FOF or FOFs = Findings of Facts, Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law (document that should be requested after a bench trial if an appeal is pursued or may be pursued; unlike the notice of appeal for a final judgment, the deadline for this request is 20 days after the judgment is signed). Note that the deadline for accelerated appeals is 20 days also. Note that the filing of a request for FOFs does extend the appellate deadline in all circumstances.
Hon. = name prefix, title for sitting judge or justice; the Thirteenth COA also graces attorneys with it and lists them with the honorific on its online appellate dockets
IOA = Index of Authorities. Required alphabetical list of legal references in an appellate brief, with references to pages in the brief where they are cited. The IOA is usually divided into cases and statutes and rules.
J = Justice (member of court of appeals)
JD = Doctor of Law, academic degree needed to become an attorney, but not enough without law license, which requires passing the Bar exam.
JGMT = Judgment
JNOV = judgment notwithstanding the jury verdict (i.e., not following or reflecting the jury's decisions)
Lexis, LexisNexis = Proprietary subscription-based online database of court opinions and other legal resource materials (not free of charge like Google Scholar), also see Westlaw.
Mandamus (Petition for Writ of Mandamus, Writ of Mandamus) = a type of appeal in which relief is sought against a particular judge, usually while the case remains pending in the trial court, although there are exceptions. When the judge changes, the new judge must be given chance to reconsider and correct the complained-of action/order or refusal to do something that was requested. The failure or refusal of a judge to rule on a pending motion for an extended period of time is sometimes challenged by mandamus.
MFE = Motion for Extension (normally, extension to file brief in appellate court or other document; motion for continuance (MFC) is not used in appellate proceedings)
MFR=Motion for Rehearing. Motion to have the panel reconsider the disposition of a decided case, or parts of the opinion issued in connection therewith. Must be filed within 15 days of panel's opinion and judgment. Also see --> EN BANC, Motion for reconsideration en banc.
Mandate = Court of appeals final order issued to the trial court when the appeal is over and deadlines for further action have expired. References the judgment issued contemporaneously with the COA's opinion.
MNT = Motion for New Trial, one type of post-judgment motion, also MFNT
"Mother Hubbard" clause = a clause in a judgment stating that all relief not expressly granted is denied, or essentially those words.
NOA = Notice of Appeal. Document filed in the trial court to initiate an appeal. Filing does not require payment of fee, but triggers obligation to pay appellate filing fee ($205 as of 2018) when appeal forwarded to COA and docketed.
Nonsuit = Voluntary dismissal of case by the party that filed it; done by Notice of Nonsuit or Motion for Nonsuit filed in trial courts. This term is not used to discontinue an appeal, which should be done by filing a motion to dismiss in the court of appeals. If an appellant files a motion to "withdraw" a pending appeal, it will likely be construed as a motion to dismiss the appeal.
Motion for Nonsuit. Not appropriate to terminate an appeal, which should be done by Motion to Dismiss or Motion for Voluntary Dismissal.
n.o.v = non obstante veredicto, see JNOV = judgment granted in denigration of jury's verdict
OC or O.C. = Opposing Counsel, the attorney on the other side of the case, attorney of the opponent (opposing party)
OCA = Office of Court Administration
Panel = Group of three justices assigned to hear an appellate case on a court consisting of more than three members
PFR = Petition for Review (appeal to Texas Supreme Court from intermediate court)
PJ MOTION = Postjudgment Motion, of which there are several types: MNT = Motion for New Trial (sometimes MFNT); Motion to Set Aside Default or Vacate Default Judgment; Motion for Reconsideration of Summary Judgment; Motion to reinstate case dismissed for want of prosecution (DWOP); Motion to Alter/Modify the Judgment. A proper and timely filed post-judgment motion extends the deadline to file notice of appeal to 90 days after a final judgment. Some such motions may require payment of a fee, which varies by county. A postjudgment motion does not extend plenary power and deadline to appeal if it was untimely.
P/K/A or p/k/a = previously known as (used when there was a name change)
pro hac vice refers to participation of out-of-state attorney without Texas law license in a particular case upon grant of permission limited to a specific case.
pro se = for oneself, i.e. not represented by attorney, acting as one's own attorney (called "pro per" in some states), self-represented.
Restricted Appeal in Texas. This is an appeal from a default judgment (in most cases) within six months under Tex. R. App. P. 30; previously known as "writ of error" appeals. Gonzalez v. Guilbot, 315 S.W.3d 533, 537 n.12 (Tex. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 951 (2011). Legal principles that once applied to writ of error appeals now apply to restricted appeals. See Boyo v. Boyo, 196 S.W.3d 409, 417 n.2 (Tex. App.-Beaumont 2006, no pet.).
RR = Reporter's Record (Court Reporter's official transcript of the proceedings in the trial court), to be distinguished from CR = Clerk's Records, which consists of the papers filed in the TC that are needed for the appeal.
Rule 11 or Rule Eleven Agreement = Agreement by parties/attorneys in lawsuit compliant with
Rule 11 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure provides: "Unless otherwise provided in these rules, no agreement between attorneys or parties touching any suit pending will be enforced unless it be in writing, signed and filed with the papers as part of the record, or unless it be made in open court and entered of record."
The corresponding rule on appeal is TRAP 6.6, titled Agreements of Parties or Counsel, but lawyers are much more familiar with Rule 11.
SBN = State Bar Number, also TBN = Texas Bar Number, or SBOT no.
SBOT = State Bar of Texas (a "mandatory bar" and a regulatory agency, not a bar association, which is a private nonprofit with voluntary membership)
SCOTX = Unofficial acronym for Supreme Court of Texas = Texas Supreme Court; official abbreviation in in citations is Tex. Sup. Ct. or Tex.;
SCOTUS = Supreme Court of the United States (US Supreme Court)
SJ = Summary Judgment
SW3d = South Western Reporter (3rd and most recent set of appellate court opinions published in hundreds of consecutively numbered volumes that lawyers do not use any more because legal research is now done electronically. All Texas appeals courts issuer their opinions and orders on-line in PDF. S.W.3rd is a regional reporter that includes cases from Texas state courts of appeals, but covers over states also).
TOC = Table of Contents (required part of appellate brief; page number references still required although internal hyperlinks are also increasingly used.
TBC = Texas Bar Card
TBJ = Texas Bar Journal (monthly magazine published by the State Bar of Texas and mailed to all Texas attorneys. Official organ for notices, distribution of orders for rule amendments, etc.)
TBN = Texas Bar Number, also SBN, or SBOT number
TC = Trial Court, as opposed to COA = Court of Appeals
Tex. = Texas Supreme Court (abbreviation used in citing opinion from the Tex. Sup. Ct.)
Tex. Sup. Ct. = Texas Supreme Court (abbreviation used in some citations; as in Tex. Sup. Ct. J. [Texas Supreme Court Journal])
Tex.App. = Texas Court of Appeals (abbreviation in citations, usually followed by city of relevant intermediate appellate court)
The Bar = State Bar of Texas (SBOT)
TL = Texas Lawyer (previously weekly legal biz newspaper, now glossy monthly magazine published by a private company, not the State Bar of Texas, which publishes the Texas Bar Journal as its official organ)
TRAP, TRAPs = appropriately monickered Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, which are confusing and harbor many pitfalls and traps; abbreviated Tex. R. App. P. or Tex. R. App. Pro. in appellate briefs. Unlike the TRCP, they use decimal numbers to designate sub-parts, rather than merely lower-case letters.
TRCP = Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, abbreviated Tex. R. Civ. P. for citation purposes. informally TRCP.
TRE = Texas Rules of Evidence or Tex. R. Evid. in citations to specific rules
UETA = Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, commonly referred to as UETA. Texas version at TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE ANN. §§ 322.001–.021.
UPLC = Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee
Westlaw and Westlaw Next = Proprietary research database containing case law and other legal resources and research materials (subscription required but available for free use in many law libraries).
woj = want of jurisdiction, see DWOJ
AJ = Agreed Judgment (both parties sign as to form and substance, and waive right to appeal it)
ATTY = Attorney, lawyer, sometimes also ATY
Attorney in Charge = Atty who signed first pleading or is expressly designated attorney in charge under rule 8 in trial court; called Lead Attorney on appeal
Bookmarks = Required for Appendix attached to appellate brief filed as a PDF file when Appendix consists of more than one document, for ease of navigation. Note also that the Appellant's required Appendix used to be bound and filed separately as hard copy, but must now be merged into the brief and filed as a single document
BOM = Brief on the Merits (in the Texas Supreme Court, where appeals are initiated by Petition for Review. A PFR is essentially a mini-brief, i.e. a brief that is actually brief, but is label as something other than a brief. While appeals are initiated by filing a notice of appeal in the trial court (which is then forwarded to the intermediate court of appeals), petitions for review are filed directly in the supreme court. Such a filing may be preceded by a motion for extension of time file a PFR, which will give the prospective Petitioner (i.e., the appellant in the Supreme Court) a case number and more time to file the actual petition.
CJ = Chief Justice
CLE = Continuing Legal Education, also MCLE = mandatory continuing legal education. Requirement for attorneys to keep up with new developments in the law through educational coursework, now often done on-line rather than through live warm-body seminars. CLE materials may be available in county law libraries and are great source of insight provided by specialists. Some CLE materials are authored by judges.
COA = Court of Appeals or Cause of Action
COC = Certificate of Conference (certification about having contacted opposing counsel to determine if a procedural issue can be worked out without court intervention, e.g. discovery dispute, or motion for continuance, trial reset)
COS = Certificate of Service. Required part of brief to certify that brief is being served on other parties to the appeal. Must specify the method of service, which is now typically eService through the eFiling system. Pro se cases are potentially different because pro se parties are not required to use the eFiling system.
CR, also C.R. = Clerk's Record (on appeal); RR = Reporter's Record (on appeal), i.e. court reporter's transcript of the proceedings in the trial court (hearing or trial); ROA = Record on Appeal is rarely used in state appeals. Note that the CR on appeal will typically not encompass all of the documents in the trial court's file even in a simple case with few documents. Certain documents are required by rule while additional ones must be specifically requested by filing a Designation of Items to be Included in the Clerk's Record.
DJ = Default Judgment. Judgment entered without the defendant having filed an answer, or defendant having answered but not appeared for trial. Different from SJ = Summary Judgment FJ = Final Judgement (which could be DJ, SJ, or judgment after trial)
DWOJ = Dismissal for Want of Jurisdiction = jurisdictional dismissal,
DWOP = Dismissal for Want of Prosecution; at the appellate level most often when required appellate filing fee or fee for CR are not paid, or brief is not filed when due, and no extension is requested, or defective brief is struck and no compliant brief resubmitted.
EN BANC, also en banc = (re)consideration of a case by the entire court in COAs consisting of more than three members; usually based on motion for reconsideration or rehearing en banc. Used to get a second bite at the apple before filing a PFR in a bid to get more favorable treatment by the court as a whole than was received at the hands of the panel. Such motions are rely granted. Not infrequently a motion for rehearing is denied, but a new superseding opinion is nevertheless issued. The disposition typically remains the same.
Google Scholar = Free online search engine and repository of research and resources provides text of state and federal appellate court opinions converted into reader-friendly on-line display format. Allows for keyword searches, has hotlinks to cited cases, and feature to identify subsequent history (i.e. citing cases).
FJ = Final Judgment
FOF or FOFs = Findings of Facts, Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law (document that should be requested after a bench trial if an appeal is pursued or may be pursued; unlike the notice of appeal for a final judgment, the deadline for this request is 20 days after the judgment is signed). Note that the deadline for accelerated appeals is 20 days also. Note that the filing of a request for FOFs does extend the appellate deadline in all circumstances.
Hon. = name prefix, title for sitting judge or justice; the Thirteenth COA also graces attorneys with it and lists them with the honorific on its online appellate dockets
IOA = Index of Authorities. Required alphabetical list of legal references in an appellate brief, with references to pages in the brief where they are cited. The IOA is usually divided into cases and statutes and rules.
J = Justice (member of court of appeals)
JD = Doctor of Law, academic degree needed to become an attorney, but not enough without law license, which requires passing the Bar exam.
JGMT = Judgment
JNOV = judgment notwithstanding the jury verdict (i.e., not following or reflecting the jury's decisions)
Lexis, LexisNexis = Proprietary subscription-based online database of court opinions and other legal resource materials (not free of charge like Google Scholar), also see Westlaw.
Mandamus (Petition for Writ of Mandamus, Writ of Mandamus) = a type of appeal in which relief is sought against a particular judge, usually while the case remains pending in the trial court, although there are exceptions. When the judge changes, the new judge must be given chance to reconsider and correct the complained-of action/order or refusal to do something that was requested. The failure or refusal of a judge to rule on a pending motion for an extended period of time is sometimes challenged by mandamus.
MFE = Motion for Extension (normally, extension to file brief in appellate court or other document; motion for continuance (MFC) is not used in appellate proceedings)
MFR=Motion for Rehearing. Motion to have the panel reconsider the disposition of a decided case, or parts of the opinion issued in connection therewith. Must be filed within 15 days of panel's opinion and judgment. Also see --> EN BANC, Motion for reconsideration en banc.
Mandate = Court of appeals final order issued to the trial court when the appeal is over and deadlines for further action have expired. References the judgment issued contemporaneously with the COA's opinion.
MNT = Motion for New Trial, one type of post-judgment motion, also MFNT
"Mother Hubbard" clause = a clause in a judgment stating that all relief not expressly granted is denied, or essentially those words.
NOA = Notice of Appeal. Document filed in the trial court to initiate an appeal. Filing does not require payment of fee, but triggers obligation to pay appellate filing fee ($205 as of 2018) when appeal forwarded to COA and docketed.
Nonsuit = Voluntary dismissal of case by the party that filed it; done by Notice of Nonsuit or Motion for Nonsuit filed in trial courts. This term is not used to discontinue an appeal, which should be done by filing a motion to dismiss in the court of appeals. If an appellant files a motion to "withdraw" a pending appeal, it will likely be construed as a motion to dismiss the appeal.
Motion for Nonsuit. Not appropriate to terminate an appeal, which should be done by Motion to Dismiss or Motion for Voluntary Dismissal.
n.o.v = non obstante veredicto, see JNOV = judgment granted in denigration of jury's verdict
OC or O.C. = Opposing Counsel, the attorney on the other side of the case, attorney of the opponent (opposing party)
OCA = Office of Court Administration
Panel = Group of three justices assigned to hear an appellate case on a court consisting of more than three members
PFR = Petition for Review (appeal to Texas Supreme Court from intermediate court)
PJ MOTION = Postjudgment Motion, of which there are several types: MNT = Motion for New Trial (sometimes MFNT); Motion to Set Aside Default or Vacate Default Judgment; Motion for Reconsideration of Summary Judgment; Motion to reinstate case dismissed for want of prosecution (DWOP); Motion to Alter/Modify the Judgment. A proper and timely filed post-judgment motion extends the deadline to file notice of appeal to 90 days after a final judgment. Some such motions may require payment of a fee, which varies by county. A postjudgment motion does not extend plenary power and deadline to appeal if it was untimely.
P/K/A or p/k/a = previously known as (used when there was a name change)
pro hac vice refers to participation of out-of-state attorney without Texas law license in a particular case upon grant of permission limited to a specific case.
pro se = for oneself, i.e. not represented by attorney, acting as one's own attorney (called "pro per" in some states), self-represented.
Restricted Appeal in Texas. This is an appeal from a default judgment (in most cases) within six months under Tex. R. App. P. 30; previously known as "writ of error" appeals. Gonzalez v. Guilbot, 315 S.W.3d 533, 537 n.12 (Tex. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 951 (2011). Legal principles that once applied to writ of error appeals now apply to restricted appeals. See Boyo v. Boyo, 196 S.W.3d 409, 417 n.2 (Tex. App.-Beaumont 2006, no pet.).
RR = Reporter's Record (Court Reporter's official transcript of the proceedings in the trial court), to be distinguished from CR = Clerk's Records, which consists of the papers filed in the TC that are needed for the appeal.
Rule 11 or Rule Eleven Agreement = Agreement by parties/attorneys in lawsuit compliant with
Rule 11 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure provides: "Unless otherwise provided in these rules, no agreement between attorneys or parties touching any suit pending will be enforced unless it be in writing, signed and filed with the papers as part of the record, or unless it be made in open court and entered of record."
The corresponding rule on appeal is TRAP 6.6, titled Agreements of Parties or Counsel, but lawyers are much more familiar with Rule 11.
SBN = State Bar Number, also TBN = Texas Bar Number, or SBOT no.
SBOT = State Bar of Texas (a "mandatory bar" and a regulatory agency, not a bar association, which is a private nonprofit with voluntary membership)
SCOTX = Unofficial acronym for Supreme Court of Texas = Texas Supreme Court; official abbreviation in in citations is Tex. Sup. Ct. or Tex.;
SCOTUS = Supreme Court of the United States (US Supreme Court)
SJ = Summary Judgment
SW3d = South Western Reporter (3rd and most recent set of appellate court opinions published in hundreds of consecutively numbered volumes that lawyers do not use any more because legal research is now done electronically. All Texas appeals courts issuer their opinions and orders on-line in PDF. S.W.3rd is a regional reporter that includes cases from Texas state courts of appeals, but covers over states also).
TOC = Table of Contents (required part of appellate brief; page number references still required although internal hyperlinks are also increasingly used.
TBC = Texas Bar Card
TBJ = Texas Bar Journal (monthly magazine published by the State Bar of Texas and mailed to all Texas attorneys. Official organ for notices, distribution of orders for rule amendments, etc.)
TBN = Texas Bar Number, also SBN, or SBOT number
TC = Trial Court, as opposed to COA = Court of Appeals
Tex. = Texas Supreme Court (abbreviation used in citing opinion from the Tex. Sup. Ct.)
Tex. Sup. Ct. = Texas Supreme Court (abbreviation used in some citations; as in Tex. Sup. Ct. J. [Texas Supreme Court Journal])
Tex.App. = Texas Court of Appeals (abbreviation in citations, usually followed by city of relevant intermediate appellate court)
The Bar = State Bar of Texas (SBOT)
TL = Texas Lawyer (previously weekly legal biz newspaper, now glossy monthly magazine published by a private company, not the State Bar of Texas, which publishes the Texas Bar Journal as its official organ)
TRAP, TRAPs = appropriately monickered Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, which are confusing and harbor many pitfalls and traps; abbreviated Tex. R. App. P. or Tex. R. App. Pro. in appellate briefs. Unlike the TRCP, they use decimal numbers to designate sub-parts, rather than merely lower-case letters.
TRCP = Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, abbreviated Tex. R. Civ. P. for citation purposes. informally TRCP.
TRE = Texas Rules of Evidence or Tex. R. Evid. in citations to specific rules
UETA = Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, commonly referred to as UETA. Texas version at TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE ANN. §§ 322.001–.021.
UPLC = Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee
Westlaw and Westlaw Next = Proprietary research database containing case law and other legal resources and research materials (subscription required but available for free use in many law libraries).
woj = want of jurisdiction, see DWOJ
Date of last revision/update of this glossary: 1/18/2019
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