petersmythe, p.c.


Covers issues of federal appellate law, including federal criminal issues, and concentrates mostly on the decisions of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Author: Peter Smythe is a solo practitioner in Dallas.

Blawg Related Categories: Appellate Practice • Criminal Justice • 5th Circuit Court • Solo / Small Firm

Recent Posts from petersmythe, p.c.


  • Tam Trust: Unreasonably Reasonable Attorneys’ Fees

    In a recent case, Smith v. Patrick W.Y. Tam Trust, the Texas Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees of $62,438.75 were unreasonable as a matter of law, but remanded the case back to…

  • Exactness

    Exactness in the use of words is the basis in all serious thinking. You will get nowhere without it. Words are clumsy tools, and it is very easy to cut one’s finger on them, and…

  • Persuasion is the Lawyer’s Money Game

    There are only two things lawyers get paid for: writing persuasively and speaking persuasively. It’s not as if those are two important things among many. They are the only two things. That’s it. And your…

  • Trial Lawyers’ Top Ten Appellate Mistakes: Ignoring Record Preservation at the Motion Stage

    The summary judgment motion usually presents a mountain of a problem for the busy trial lawyer. The motion is often filed towards the latter half of the discovery period and the trial lawyer must draft…

  • The Impossible Cool is Impossibly Cool

    One of my favorite sites on the net is The Impossible Cool. A lot of us lawyers would do well to pick up on some of the ethos of The Impossible Cool’s subjects. Also check…

  • Appearances Count

    Recently we set out to completely re-design our website. The reason? Appearances count and we wanted our website presence to reflect how we practice law. Set in Style, a blog dealing with lawyers as authors,…

  • The Ninth’s New Abuse of Discretion Standard

    One of the most important aspects of appellate advocacy is the standard of review. Very often the appellant’s destiny will be decided solely on the basis of the applicable standard of review. The Ninth Circuit…

  • Our Firm’s Pro Bono

    A year or so ago, we hit the streets of Fort Worth and photographed many of the city’s homeless. We picked this project because we found that many of our federal criminal clients appeared to…

  • MindPrint: Boon to Lawyers Bustin’ Out

    In the case styled Kennedy v. MindPrint, the Fifth Circuit gave a bone to lawyers who leave their big firm dreams and find themselves representing a client with interests adverse to a big firm client.…

  • Supremes: Skepticism for Superior Performance Fees

    The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in Perdue v. Kenny A., a suit brought by Georgia challenging a $4.5 million fee enhancement that rewarded lawyers who had succeeded in reforming the state’s foster care system.…