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Houston has two courts of appeals for the same ten counties.
The First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals both sit in Houston and hear appeals from the same ten counties, including Harris, Fort Bend, Galveston and Brazoria. Each appeal is assigned to one of them, and the two can disagree.
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
The two courts cover Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Waller and Washington Counties. Because they share a district, a brief has to account for the precedent of the court actually assigned.
In 2026 the Fourteenth Court of Appeals addressed fabricated authority by counsel under its inherent power; neither court has a local AI rule. 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
Why are there two courts of appeals in Houston?
The First and Fourteenth share the same ten counties; each appeal is assigned to one of them.
Which counties do they cover?
Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Waller and Washington.
Where do they sit?
Both in Houston.