The general requirements for documents are in Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9. The general requirements for motions are in Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10. All communications about a case must be through the Clerk. See Tex. R. App. P. 9.6; Tex. Code Jud. Conduct Canon 3(B)(8).
A list of standard civil motions and similar documents appears below, along with citations to relevant rules and statutes and notations regarding which documents do not require filing fees. To assist the Court in promptly docketing and ruling on a motion, when possible please use the standard designation in the caption and include in the body of the motion any specific information required by rule or statute. Sample certificates of conference, compliance, and service, as well as affidavits of indigence, are available by using the links on this page.
The Court strongly discourages the filing of letters. A document containing substantive information or any kind of request should properly be filed as a brief, motion, or notice, rather than as a letter. The Clerk attaches transmittal letters to the original document presented for filing and does not treat such letters as separate documents presented for filing. For routine inquires about a pending case, the parties may telephone the Clerk at (713) 655-2700. See Tex. R. App. P. 9.6 (allowing parties to communicate with Clerk).
All documents presented to the Clerk for filing should comply with the following:
- Documents filed in parental-rights termination cases or juvenile court cases, except for the docketing statement and appellate record, must use alias names. Tex. R. App. P. 9.8.
- $10 motion filing fee, $15 motion for rehearing or motion for en banc reconsideration filing fee, or $125 original-proceeding filing fee—A $10 filing fee must accompany all civil motions (other than motions for rehearing or motions for en banc reconsideration), a $15 filing fee must accompany all civil motions for rehearing or motions for en banc reconsideration, and a $125 filing fee must accompany all civil original proceedings unless the movant or relator has filed a timely affidavit of indigence or is exempt from the advance payment of filing fees, e.g., the State or a political subdivision of the State. Tex. R. App. P. 5; Fees Civ. Cases B(1), (3); Op. Tex. Att'y Gen. No. DM-459 (1997).
- The Court treats a civil motion requesting multiple types of relief as separate motions, each requiring a $10 or $15 filing fee.
- The Court treats a civil original-proceeding petition requesting multiple writs, e.g., a petition requesting writs of mandamus and prohibition, as a separate original proceeding for each writ requested. The Court treats a civil original-proceeding petition directed at multiple respondents as a separate original proceeding for each respondent. The Court requires a $125 filing fee for each civil original proceeding, e.g., a petition requesting writs of mandamus and prohibition directed at two respondents would be filed as four separate original proceedings requiring a total of four $125 filing fees.
- Make money orders or checks payable to "Clerk, First Court of Appeals."
- Certificate of conference— Must be attached to all civil motions except motions for rehearing and motions for en banc reconsideration. Tex. R. App. P. 10.1(a)(5), 49.12. Although a certificate of conference is not required on a response to a motion, a certificate of conference is required if the response is both a response and a motion, e.g., "Appellant’s Response to Appellee’s Motion to Extend Time to File Its Brief and, in the Alternate, Motion to Dismiss." Pursuant to Texas Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 3(B)(8), do not confer with the trial judge regarding the motion in an original proceeding in which the trial judge is the respondent.
- Certificate of service—Must be attached to all documents presented for filing. Tex. R. App. P. 9.5(d), (e). This includes not only briefs and motions, but also "letter briefs," letters inquiring about a pending case, and the record in an original proceeding. Tex. R. App. P. 52.7(c). Because Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 12.6 requires only that the Clerk notify the parties of the Court’s judgments, mandates, and orders, the certificate–of–service requirement exists to ensure that all parties are notified when documents are filed in the Court. In an original proceeding, the respondent trial judge is a party who must be served. Transmittal letters accompanying other documents to be filed and containing no additional information do not require a certificate of service.
Unlike the certificate of service used in the trial court, Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.5 does not allow a party to merely state—without providing the required specific information—that the requirements of Rule 9.5(e) have been met. Cf. Tex. R. Civ. P. 21a (trial–court rule for certificate of service).
Rule 9.5(e) requires the certificate of service to state:
– the date of service
– the method of service—personal, mail, commercial delivery service, or fax
– the name of each person served, including the respondent in an original proceeding
– the address of each person served
– if the person served is a party's attorney, the name of the party represented by that attorney (see Tex. R. App. P. 6.3)
Pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.3, a party’s lead counsel must be served if the party is represented by an attorney. Service on other attorneys for that party is optional, but if other attorneys are served, their names and addresses must be listed in the certificate of service.
- Certificate of compliance—Must be attached to all motions for temporary relief in original proceedings. Tex. R. App. P. 52.10(a). The certificate of compliance must be filed in addition to a certificate of conference and certificate of service. In an original proceeding in which the trial judge is the respondent, notification to the trial judge must not violate Texas Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 3(B)(8).
- Signature—Must be on all documents and on all certificates. Tex. R. App. P. 9.1.
- Attorney properly admitted—All attorneys appearing on a document must either be members of the State Bar of Texas or have received permission from this Court to participate in the case. See R. Governing Admission to Tex. Bar XIX; see also Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 82.0361 (Vernon 2005) (requiring payment of $250 fee to Texas Board of Law Examiners for each pro hac vice admission). A non-Texas–licensed attorney who resides outside of Texas must file a motion requesting permission to participate in an appellate proceeding even though that attorney has previously received permission from the trial court to participate in the underlying proceeding.
List of Standard Civil Motions and Similar Documents
nonmotion correspondence—no filing fee due
motion for additional time to file motion for rehearing due to no notice of appellate judgment (Tex. R. App. P. 4.5)
notice of designation of lead counsel—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 6.1(c))
notice of nonrepresentation by trial–court attorney—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 6.4)
motion to withdraw as counsel (Tex. R. App. P. 6.5)
notice of death of party—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 7.1(a)(1))
motion to substitute party (Tex. R. App. P. 7.1(b))
notice of bankruptcy—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 8.1)
motion to reinstate appeal suspended by bankruptcy (Tex. R. App. P. 8.3(a))
motion to sever appeal suspended by bankruptcy (Tex. R. App. P. 8.3(b))
response to motion—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 10.1(b))
motion to reconsider Court’s order on motion (Tex. R. App. P. 10.3(b))
motion relating to informalities in record (Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(a))
motion to extend time (Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(b))
to file notice of appeal (Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(b)(2), 26.3)
to postpone oral argument (Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(c))
to file affidavit of indigence (Tex. R. App. P. 20.1(c)(3))
to file appellant’s brief (Tex. R. App. P. 38.6(d))
to file appellee’s brief (Tex. R. App. P. 38.6(d))
to file appellant’s reply brief (Tex. R. App. P. 38.6(d))
to file motion for rehearing, further motion for rehearing, or motion for en banc reconsideration (Tex. R. App. P. 49.8)
motion to withdraw record (Tex. R. App. P. 12.4(i))
request to cover courtroom proceedings—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 14.2(a))
motion to disqualify justice (Tex. R. App. P. 16.1; TEX. R. CIV. P. 18a, 18b)
motion to recuse justice (Tex. R. App. P. 16.3(a); TEX. R. CIV. P. 18a, 18b)
motion to issue mandate (Tex. R. App. P. 18.1(c))
motion to stay issuance of mandate (Tex. R. App. P. 18.2)
motion to recall mandate (Tex. R. App. P. 18.7)
affidavit of indigence—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 20.1(c)(1))
contest to affidavit of indigence—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 20.1(e))
contest to trial court’s order sustaining contest to affidavit of indigence—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 20.1)
motion to review suspension of enforcement of judgment (Tex. R. App. P. 24.4)
notice of appeal—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(a))
motion to review trial court’s refusal to permit appellant to supercede order granting interlocutory relief (Tex. R. App. P. 29.2)
motion for temporary orders until disposition of appeal of interlocutory order (Tex. R. App. P. 29.3)
motion to review trial court’s order while appeal from interlocutory order is pending (Tex. R. App. P. 29.6)
docketing statement—no filing fee due (Tex. R. App. P. 32.1)
motion to direct trial–court clerk to send original document to court–of–appeals clerk (Tex. R. App. P. 34.5(f))
motion to correct inaccuracies in reporter’s record (Tex. R. App. P. 34.6(e)(3))
motion to direct trial–court clerk to send original exhibit to court–of–appeals clerk (Tex. R. App. P. 34.6(g)(2))
motion to dismiss appeal if no clerk’s appeal filed due to appellant’s fault (Tex. R. App. P. 37.3(b))
motion to permit brief in excess of page limitations (Tex. R. App. P. 38.4)
motion to settle dispute regarding electronically recorded or transcribed record (Tex. R. App. P. 38.5(e)(2))
motion to amend or supplement brief (Tex. R. App. P. 38.7)
motion for leave to allow more than two counsel to argue for a side (Tex. R. App. P. 39.4)
motion for leave to allow amicus curiae to argue (Tex. R. App. P. 39.5)
motion to set aside waiver of oral argument (Tex. R. App. P. 39.7)
motion to voluntarily dismiss appeal (Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(a))
motion to involuntarily dismiss appeal (Tex. R. App. P. 42.3)
motion for damages for frivolous appeal (Tex. R. App. P. 45)
motion to change designation of opinion (Tex. R. App. P. 47.4, 47.6)
motion for rehearing (Tex. R. App. P. 49.1)
further motion for rehearing (Tex. R. App. P. 49.5)
motion for en banc reconsideration (Tex. R. App. P. 49.7)
petition for writ of habeas corpus (Tex. R. App. P. 52.1)
petition for writ of mandamus (Tex. R. App. P. 52.1)
petition for writ of prohibition (Tex. R. App. P. 52.1)
petition for writ of injunction (Tex. R. App. P. 52.1)
petition for writ of quo warranto (Tex. R. App. P. 52.1)
motion to permit longer petition in excess of page limitations (Tex. R. App. P. 52.6)
motion for rehearing of final order on petition (Tex. R. App. P. 52.9)
motion for temporary relief pending court’s action on petition (Tex. R. App. P. 52.10(a))
motion to reconsider grant of temporary relief pending court’s action on petition (Tex. R. App. P. 52.10(a))
motion for sanctions on party or attorney who is not acting in good faith (Tex. R. App. P. 52.11)
motion by non-Texas–licensed attorney who resides outside of Texas for permission to participate in appellate proceeding (R. Governing Admission to Tex. Bar XIX; see Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 82.0361 (Vernon 2005)
motion by resident Texas–licensed attorney in support of motion by non-Texas–licensed attorney who resides outside of Texas for permission to participate in appellate proceeding (R. Governing Admission to Tex. Bar XIX; see Tex. Gov't Code Ann XIX; see Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 82.0361 (Vernon 2005)
motion to approve appearance of qualified law student or qualified unlicensed law school graduate (R. & Regulations Governing Participation of Qualified L. Students & Qualified Unlicensed L. Sch. Graduates in Trial of Cases in Tex. IV(A))
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Updated: 12-Dec-2008
