In an opinion column for the Dallas Morning News, LPHS attorney David Coale discusses the constitutional risks the proposed 15th Court of Appeals presents to Texas’ judicial system. The proposed legislation would give the newly established court jurisdiction over substantial commercial disputes and introduce a new intermediate court of appeals. However, according to Coale, this process undermines the state constitution, which divides Texas into separate geographical regions and gives each region’s respective court jurisdiction over all appeals originating from that area.

“The proposed 15th Court of Appeals is inconsistent with that command in two ways. First, it encompasses the entire state. A court of appeals with jurisdiction over the entire state is, by definition, not one that results from a division of the state. Second, it has jurisdiction over only one type of disputes: business cases. But consistent with the state constitution’s language, the 14 courts of appeal that we have today hear everything.”

Read the commentary here.