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The Fifteenth Court of Appeals, statewide, for business and State cases.

The Fifteenth Court of Appeals began hearing cases in September 2024. It sits in Austin, its district is the whole state, and it hears appeals from the Texas Business Court and most appeals in cases brought by or against the State and its agencies.

What we handle

  • Notices of appeal and the deadlines that govern them
  • Briefing an appeal, or defending a judgment
  • Restricted appeals from default judgments
  • Superseding a judgment pending appeal
  • Interlocutory and accelerated appeals
  • Mandamus

How we approach it

Because its district is statewide, an appeal from a Business Court case in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio or Austin comes here rather than to the local court of appeals.

For a large business dispute the choice to file in, or remove to, the Business Court also decides which court of appeals will hear it. civil appeals · restricted appeals · superseding a judgment.

The court’s rules on AI

Texas state courts. No statewide rule on AI is in force. In June 2026 the Supreme Court of Texas preliminarily approved a new Rule 13 under which signing a filing certifies that the signer verified it, including that its citations, quotations and holdings are not fabricated; no final order had issued. The Business Court’s Local Rule 10(c) permits AI but makes the filer independently responsible for every filing. The courts of appeals have no AI rules but sanction fabricated authority under their inherent power, as the Dallas court did in 2025, and Ethics Opinion 705 advises verifying every output, protecting confidences and supervising its use.

Checked against each court’s own rules and orders on 5 November 2026 for John Henry’s talk “AI in Modern Litigation” at the Eastern District of Texas Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference. Rules change; the full reference, with every order cited, is on the AI in litigation page.

Questions people ask

What cases does the Fifteenth Court of Appeals hear?

Appeals from the Texas Business Court and most appeals in cases brought by or against the State and its agencies.

Where does it sit?

In Austin, with a statewide district.

When did it start?

September 2024.

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