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Texas Supreme Court Aggressively Quizzes Lawyers in Winter Storm Uri Litigation - The thousands of wrongful death, personal injury and property damage claims against Oncor Electric Delivery and CenterPoint Energy should be dismissed because the electric utilities were following the rules and orders of Texas regulators when they decided where to implement power blackouts, a lawyer for the electric transmission and distribution utilities argued Wednesday at the Texas Supreme Court. But the attorney for the 15,000 individuals and small businesses suing the companies told the justices that it was the companies — not regulators — that decided not to heed a decade of warnings to be better prepared for such a catastrophic storm and because they provided power to “favored customers” or communities over others — conduct that lawyers say led to the deaths of 246 people. For 45 minutes Wednesday, the state’s highest court questioned lawyers on both sides of the dispute about whether the entire litigation should be dismissed or whether it should proceed toward trial. (2021 file photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) February 19, 2025
When it Comes to Ann Saucer, Never Doth the Lady Protest Too Much - Ann Saucer will stand before the Texas Supreme Court Wednesday morning to argue the largest and possibly most important civil litigation dispute the state’s highest court has handled this decade. The Dallas appellate law expert represents 15,000 individuals and small business owners who are asking the Texas justices to allow their Winter Storm Uri-related claims for wrongful death, personal injury and property damage against the largest electric transmission and distribution utilities in Texas to move forward to trial. Combined, the plaintiffs seek billions of dollars in damages from the energy companies. February 18, 2025Expert Voices
Master your Next Mediation: Advice for Attorneys - Crowded court dockets mean the interest in, and need for, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) continues to grow throughout Texas. How can you set the stage for successful mediation? When is the right time to mediate a case? What should you do before you arrive at the mediation? And why is having a settlement range important? February 13, 2025
The Truth About the TCPA - While the law is by far the most significant safeguard of free speech rights for Texas citizens — with protections that must be jealously guarded — that fact often gets lost (or blocked) from the public discourse as powerful interests call for “reforms” that would gut the TCPA. February 6, 2025
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Winter Storm Uri — Four Years Later, Zero Jury Trials for 30,000 Victims of Historic Storm - The ground had not yet thawed four years ago when the Texas courts were slammed with an avalanche of lawsuits. More than 30,000 individuals and small businesses filed wrongful death, personal injury and property damage lawsuits against ERCOT and the energy companies accusing them of gross negligence that caused much of the power blackouts. A separate class action accused energy companies and financial institutions of using Winter Storm Uri to manipulate prices and generate billions of dollars in profits. Four years later, not a single witness deposition has been taken and not a single case has been set for trial. And a growing number of legal experts predict that none of those cases will ever be heard by a jury of Texas citizens. February 13, 2025
