An Ohio bridal shop lost its claim against Dallas Presbyterian Hospital Friday for its handling of the 2014 Ebola scare in Dallas, when the Texas Supreme Court decided unanimously that the shop’s claim failed to meet an essential requirement of the Texas Medical Liability Act. The court ruled, in effect, that when it comes to medical claims bridal shops are people, too.
Chapter 11 for Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy overnight in Delaware. The Irving-based nonprofit has reached out to a Chicago law firm to advise in the development of a trust to deal with the legal fallout from lawsuits claiming decades of sexual abuse.
First COA: Whatever they didn’t do, they didn’t do it in Texas
A $15,000 dispute involving the ill-starred Podesta Group was properly tossed from a Houston court, the First Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. The D.C. firm was accused of ignoring their client, a prominent Houston law firm, while the firm’s co-founder, Tony Podesta, was under federal scrutiny in the Paul Manafort investigation.
State Bar Discipline
Clearing out their report on disciplinary actions for 2019, the State Bar of Texas reported one disbarment, one resignation, nine suspensions and three public reprimands, including one for a South Texas county judge.
Winners, Finalists Feted at ACC-DFW Awards
GALLERY ADDED With more than 100 nominations, 27 finalists and 13 separate categories, the DFW/ACC and The Texas Lawbook hosted more than 400 corporate lawyers at the 2019 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards.
Voices: The NDTX Bench Bar
The annual Bench Bar Conference for the Northern District of Texas last week was a non-stop crush of candid judicial observations and advice litigators ignore at their risk. Here’s a sampling of what attendees heard.
Fifth Circuit Upholds $62.9M Arbitration Ruling Against Chinese Wind Farm Investor
In a sharply-worded decision, the appeals court tells a Chinese company it can’t avoid the consequences of an agreed-upon arbitration by simply ignoring it. The beneficiaries include Dallas-based alternative energy investors.
State Bar of Texas Disciplinary Actions
State Bar actions include actions against three judges, two of them from Houston, as well as a justice of the peace in Waco who is refusing to conduct same-sex marriages.
NRF Survey: Litigation To Rise in 2020
(UPDATED to include Texas responses). Litigation rose slightly in most dispute categories in 2019, but respondents in the annual Norton Rose Fulbright litigation survey say they are worried that economic turbulence in 2020 will provoke a rise in lawsuits over the coming year. The Lawbook has details.
