§ 151.013.Right to Appeal

The chapter closes by confirming that nothing about it costs a party the appellate courts.

The right to appeal is preserved. Stated flatly, in four words, at the head of the section.

The appeal is from the order of the referring judge’s court, which follows from Section 151.011: the verdict is that court’s verdict.

The ordinary rules apply, including the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure.

This is the sharpest contrast with arbitration. An arbitration award is reviewed on narrow statutory grounds; a verdict under this chapter is appealed like any other.

The record makes it work. Section 151.008 requires a qualified court reporter, so there is a transcript for the appellate court to read.

The trade-off in this chapter is a jury, not a court. Parties give up the jury under Section 151.002 and keep everything else, including review.

The appellate court reviews the verdict as the referring court’s own. That follows from Section 151.011, which makes it exactly that.

Nothing about the private setting narrows review. The standards of review, the deadlines and the record requirements are the ones that apply to any appeal from that court.