Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The families of five girls who died in the July 4 flood while at summer camp are being represented by Arnold & Itkin. They were added to the lawsuit filed earlier this week on behalf of Ellen Elizabeth Getten, the 9-year-old daughter of Baker Botts partner Douglas Getten and Jennifer Getten.
The first bench trial for the Texas Business Court resulted in a win for Marathon Oil in Houston. Marathon filed its declaratory judgment lawsuit after Mercuria claimed Marathon owed it $17.4 million for failing to deliver natural gas during Winter Storm Uri in 2021.
Another jury trial stemming from the Watson Grinding explosion that killed three people and destroyed hundreds of homes in 2020 recently ended in Harris County. The plaintiffs were seven victims of the explosion. The two-week trial ended with a verdict against 3M Company.
The lawsuit over the franchises' shared venue space at American Airlines Center in Dallas that was filed Oct. 28 has been set for a jury trial to begin before Business Court Judge Bill Whitehill Jan. 26. Lawyers said that type of speed is what they hoped to see from the new, specialty court.
In this edition of Asked & Answered, Kirkland & Ellis partner Kasdin Mitchell talks about getting to argue in the U.S. Supreme Court, where she once clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, as well as her time before law school, working in the White House for First Lady Laura Bush. Her mother’s pursuit of a law degree inspired her own path.
A new edition of On the Jury Trial aims to provide guidance to lawyers in a post-Covid pandemic world. Coauthors Winston & Strawn partner Tom Melsheimer and Fifth Court of Appeals Justice Craig Smith celebrated the second edition of the book with a signing event in Dallas Tuesday evening.
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals heard arguments in disputes over taxes and trade secrets while at the Texas A&M School of Law in Fort Worth Thursday. One of the cases originated from the Texas Business Court.
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals held oral arguments at Texas A&M School of Law Thursday afternoon. Classes were canceled for first-year students to attend the oral arguments and watch the attorneys and justices in action.
After a three-hour hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett ruled to convert Dr. Phil McGraw’s Chapter 11 startup media bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 and will have a trustee appointed. The ruling comes after a weekslong hearing in September on the motion to dismiss or to convert.
A year into operation, the judges who preside over the Texas Business Court are getting comfortable at home and promoting the court abroad. Business Court Judge Sofia Adrogué has traveled to Argentina and Fifteenth Court of Appeals Justice Scott Field has traveled to Mexico.
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