In this edition of Litigation Roundup: Uvalde police officers lawyer up in the suit over the Robb Elementary shooting; Fifth Circuit determines discussion of “The Texas Hammer,” during jury selection didn’t taint the outcome of a trial and Pappas Restaurants’ fight over losing a $470 million contract heats up.
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Harris County District Court
Baker & Hostetler, Husch Blackwell Tapped for Pappas Restaurants’ Fight with Houston
In a dispute over the city of Houston’s decision to award a 10-year, $470 million contract to operate a restaurant at Hobby Airport to Areas HOU JV rather than Pappas Restaurants, all sides have lawyered up.
Pappas, which has operated four restaurants at Hobby since 2003, lost its concessions contract last month and has alleged in a lawsuit filed April 11 against the city and Areas that the bidding process was flawed.
Harris County District Judge Beau A. Miller denied Pappas’ request for a temporary restraining order on Saturday that would have delayed the restaurant group’s ouster from Hobby. Judge Miller also ordered the parties to participate in mediation this week — either April 20 or April 22 — and set a temporary injunction hearing for April 26.
Pappas is represented by Baker & Hostetler’s Rachel Palmer Hooper, Daniella Martinez and Aidan Slavin.
Areas HOU is represented by Katharine D. David, Rich Anderson, Ben Stephens and Sandy Hellums-Gomez of Husch Blackwell.
The city of Houston is represented by its own Arturo G. Michel, Suzanne R. Chauvin, Brian A. Amis and Kenneth Soh.
The case number is 2023-22872.
Dallas County District Court
Breach of Contract Nets $37.8M Win for Energy Co.
Houston-based energy infrastructure and marketing company ARM Energy Management recently secured a $37.8 million final judgment against Medallion Pipeline Company in a lawsuit it filed in March 2021.
Dallas County District Judge Martin Hoffman, who presided over a bench trial that concluded Jan. 31, entered final judgment in favor of ARM April 11, finding Medallion had breached an agreement under which ARM was to have access to a Permian Basin pipeline.
The court found two agreements between the parties, signed in 2019, gave ARM the right to use a pipeline and terminal system to ship crude from the Permian Basin and load it at a dock in Corpus Christi.
But things went south when ARM realized “the terminal infrastructure necessary for Medallion to perform those obligations was never even built,” and it terminated the agreement, according to the lawsuit.
ARM filed suit after Medallion refused to return more than $32 million in deposits and credits.
ARM Energy Management is represented by Karl Stern, Kate Kaufmann Shih, Matthew Scheck and Brittany Ruyak of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
Medallion Pipeline is represented by Thomas W. Paterson, Johnny W. Carter, Daniel Wilson and Kevin Downs of Susman Godfrey.
The case number is DC-21-03950.
Southern District of Texas
Chevron Gets $85M Uri-Related Gas Delivery Suit Tossed
A federal judge in Texas recently tossed a lawsuit by LNG Americas against Chevron Natural Gas, alleging LNG was owed about $85 million for Chevron’s failure to deliver natural gas during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake entered final judgment granting Chevron’s motion for summary judgment April 12, bringing an end to the lawsuit that was filed in July 2021. LNG Americas had alleged Chevron breached the contract by failing to deliver the full amounts of natural gas it was required to deliver during the storm that left much of Texas without power for days amid freezing temperatures.
“At least as to Feb. 14 -19 (when spot market prices were totally disproportionate to the contract price), the court concludes Uri was unambiguously a ‘force majeure’ and that it ‘prevented or restricted’ delivery, notwithstanding the availability of some spot market gas,” Judge Lake wrote. “The court concludes that defendant’s force majeure declaration was unambiguously permitted by the contracts.”
LNG Americas is represented by Stephen Burbank and Anthony Arguijo of Scott Douglass & McConnico.
Chevron Natural Gas is represented by Brad Benoit, Stephen Crain and Drew Taggart of Bracewell.
The case number is 4:21-cv-02226.
Western District of Texas
Defense Counsel for Uvalde Police File Appearances
Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo and a handful of other officers named as defendants in the lawsuit brought by parents whose children were killed in the mass shooting have hired defense attorneys.
Appearances filed in the lawsuit April 11 and April 12 indicate Arredondo is being represented by the Dallas law firm Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin and its attorneys Thomas Phillip Brandt, Christopher D. Livingston and Laura Dahl O’Leary.
The other law enforcement officers named in the suit — Lt. Mariano Pargas, Sgt. Telesforo Coronado, Ofc. Max Dorflinger and Oft. Justin Mendoza — have retained William S. Helfand, Norman Ray Giles and Randy Edward Lopez of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith. Those officers also filed a motion to dismiss the clams brought by lead plaintiff Christina Zamora on April 11.
“Indeed, beyond plaintiffs’ glaring failure to state a claim by failing to allege facts to identify unconstitutional conduct by any — let alone each — individual movant, plaintiffs fail to allege facts which show [any of the defendants] engaged in any conduct that could plausibly show violated constitutional rights that were clearly established by law; both of which are plaintiffs’ pleading burden to avoid the presumption of these movants’ immunity from suit,” the motion argues.
The case has been assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses.
The plaintiffs are represented by Antonio M. Romanucci and Sarah M. Raisch of Romanucci & Blandin, Molly Thomas-Jensen and Laura Keeley of Everytown Law and Blas Hernandez Delgado Jr. of San Antonio.
The case number is 2:23-cv-00017.
Fifth Court of Appeals
Lack of Specificity Dooms TRO in Lawyer’s Client File Fight
A trial court’s order granting a request from former Dugas & Circelli attorney Lyndsey Cheek that she be given access to client files that were locked after she left the firm failed to specify how Cheek was suffering any irreparable injury that would merit the relief.
An appellate panel sided with the law firm in a unanimous April 11 ruling.
“Without such an explanation the restrained party is unable to understand the basis for the ruling and evaluate the propriety of a challenge to the injunction, and we are without an adequate basis for appellate review,” the panel wrote.
Cheek decided to leave Dugas & Circelli, where she represented property owners in ad valorem tax disputes, in 2022 to join Ryan Law Firm where she would be doing the same type of work. Soon after she notified the firm she’d be leaving, according to the opinion, her access to the firm’s computer system, which included client files, was terminated.
The firm denied Cheek’s request that she be granted access to client files in cases where she’s identified as the attorney of record so each client could decide “what they desire for their particular case” as far as continued representation. This lawsuit and a request for a temporary restraining order followed.
Cheek filed this suit in Dallas County district court in December and it has been assigned to Judge Dale Tillery.
Justices Amanda L. Reichek, Erin A. Nowell and Emily Miskel sat on the panel.
Cheek is represented by Jeff Tillotson and J. Austen Irrobali of Tillotson Johnson & Patton.
Dugas & Circelli are represented by Philip Vickers and John Kash of Cantey Hanger.
The case number is 05-23-00012-CV.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Discussion of ‘Texas Hammer’ Doesn’t Merit New Trial
In a trucking crash suit where the jury awarded only $37,500 in damages instead of the $2.1 million requested by Travis Heckman, a Fifth Circuit panel recently held a new trial isn’t warranted, rejecting arguments that mentions of the “Texas Hammer” during trial tainted the outcome.
Heckman sued Raynols Gonzalez-Caballero and his employer, Cuba Trucking, after an accident that happened on Interstate 20 in March 2019. A jury found Caballero, the driver of the 18-wheeler that crashed with Heckman, was solely liable but awarded a fraction of the damages sought.
On appeal, Heckman raised two issues: Caballero’s striking of the only two Black people on the venire panel constituted a Batson violation; and that the defense counsel in closing arguments had improperly tried to insert plaintiff’s attorney Jim Adler and his television marketing efforts, which was prejudicial.
During jury selection, according to the opinion, defense counsel asked the panel “How many people think there’s way too many personal injury lawsuits filed today?” Many on the panel agreed with the statement, with some mentioning to Adler’s “Texas Hammer” TV commercials to explain their belief.
In the commercials, Adler speaks loudly while carrying a large sledgehammer, jumps on 18-wheelers as they speed down highways and boasts of his multimillion-dollar verdicts recovered for injured plaintiffs.
“Call me right now!” he demands.
Defense counsel never mentioned Adler by name, but during closing arguments, Heckman alleges the defense attorney placed emphasis on using the word “hammer,” purportedly referencing the voir dire discussions.
On both points on appeal, the panel determined in its April 13 opinion it was appropriate to defer to the trial court’s rulings that no new trial was merited.
“While defense counsel’s references — in statements or slides — may have been inappropriate, they do not warrant a new trial,” the court held. “We lack the trial judge’s advantage of courtroom context in determining the extent of the jury’s perceived connection between the comments and Adler, and the able trial judge concluded that defense counsel’s statements did not constitute an ‘attempt to insert Mr. Adler and his marketing efforts into the trial.’ Moreover, though some members of the venire spoke of Adler in a negative or disparaging way, others spoke positively of him and his commercials, mitigating the prejudicial impact of such a connection if it did indeed exist.”
Judges Patrick E. Higginbotham, Jerry E. Smith and Kurt D. Engelhardt sat on the panel.
Heckman is represented by Fort Worth attorney Jason Smith.
Gonzalez-Caballero is represented by Susan Kidwell of Locke Lord and Henri Dussault of Brackett & Ellis.
The case number is 22-10415.