Houston Appellate Court Undoes New Trial Order Predicated on Juror’s Talk of $1,000+ Hourly Fee

An opinion issued by a Houston appellate court this week clarified when, or on what grounds, a judge can order a new trial based on information garnered from a member of the jury after a verdict has been rendered. 

The opinion from the First Court of Appeals, issued Tuesday, came in a case where Harris County District Judge Sonya L. Aston presided over a jury trial and, post-verdict, heard a juror say she had explained to other jurors that when she worked as a paralegal at a “large, prestigious law firm” in downtown Houston the attorneys there charged more than $1,000 an hour.