Texas Reports

Texas Reports is the official reporter series publishing opinions of the highest appellate tribunal in the State of Texas, the Supreme Court of Texas, and historically has been cited in decisions of the United States Supreme Court, federal Fifth Circuit, and state supreme courts such as the Supreme Court of California, New York Court of Appeals, Illinois Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and others. Covering civil jurisprudence, the series has been referenced in landmark matters involving parties and doctrines connected to entities like Galveston County, Houston, Dallas County, Travis County, Harris County and institutions including University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Texas Railroad Commission, and corporate litigants such as ExxonMobil, Texaco, AT&T, and Southwest Airlines.

History

The reporting tradition began after Texas joined the United States in 1845, coinciding with legal developments tied to the annexation of Texas and the aftermath of the Mexican–American War. Early volumes recorded opinions during eras shaped by the Civil War, Reconstruction Era, and legislative initiatives of the Texas Legislature, with participation by jurists who later influenced federal law through interactions with figures from the United States Congress, presidents like James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson, and governors such as Sam Houston and Edmund J. Davis. Decisions in the reports reflect conflicts and accommodations involving property disputes tracing back to Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, railroad charters associated with Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, and oil and gas controversies following discoveries at fields like Spindletop and regions administered by the Texas Railroad Commission.

Publication and Organization

Volumes have been compiled and published by clerks and reporters associated with the Supreme Court of Texas and private firms, mirroring practices in other reporters such as the Federal Reporter, North Western Reporter, Southern Reporter and Atlantic Reporter. Editors and reporters who prepared annotations and syllabi included legal figures connected to law schools such as University of Texas School of Law and SMU Dedman School of Law, and bar associations including the State Bar of Texas and local bodies like the Dallas Bar Association and Houston Bar Association. The organization follows a chronological arrangement by term and volume number, cross-referenced against parallel citations in the South Western Reporter and party-name indexes used by databases like West Publishing and repositories including the Library of Congress, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and university law libraries at Baylor University and Rice University.

Content and Jurisdiction

The reports publish civil opinions from the Supreme Court of Texas; criminal appeals typically appear in reports from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, while federal interlocutory rulings are found in reporters such as the Federal Supplement. Subject matter encompasses contract disputes involving corporations like National Bank of Commerce (Galveston) and American General, tort cases against insurers such as Allstate and State Farm, oil and gas litigation with parties like Occidental Petroleum and Chevron, municipal law implicating cities including San Antonio and El Paso, and administrative law reviews touching agencies like the Texas Department of Transportation and Texas Education Agency. Jurisdictional doctrines include questions antecedent to issues litigated in forums ranging from county courts in Bexar County to federal district courts such as the Southern District of Texas and Northern District of Texas.

Influence and Notable Cases

Opinions published in the series have shaped Texas common law and influenced national doctrines through citations by the United States Supreme Court in areas like regulatory takings, contract preemption, and negligence standards; cases have intersected with parties and precedents including Brown v. Board of Education-era civil rights disputes, oil litigation contemporaneous with decisions citing Standard Oil, and business litigation involving firms such as Berkshire Hathaway and ChevronTexaco. Notable opinions have been authored by justices whose careers linked to institutions like the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, appointments by presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, or later service in federal posts analogous to those held by alumni of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The reports have been used in scholarship at law reviews including the Texas Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, and by treatises such as those from American Law Reports and the Restatement (Second) of Contracts.

Access and Citation Formats

Print editions are held by repositories including the Texas State Law Library, county law libraries in Travis County and Harris County, and academic libraries at University of Houston Law Center and SMU Libraries. Digital access appears via commercial platforms like Westlaw and LexisNexis, and archival copies exist in collections at the Library of Congress and state archives. Standard citation follows jurisdictional reporter conventions with volume and page numbers paralleling citations in reporters such as the South Western Reporter; practitioners reference the series alongside parallel citations in the Federal Reporter when federal questions arise and employ citation guides like those from the Bluebook and the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Category:Texas law