After 12 years of litigation, a federal judge rules Susman’s client, the Dutch energy company Vitol, is entitled to keep the money it received for supplying fuel oil to Puerto Rico’s state-run electric utility between 2005 and 2009.
ERCOT to Brazos Electric: ‘I Just Do What I’m Told. Now Pay Me My $2 Billion.’
ERCOT, operator of the Texas electric grid, says it was just following orders when it charged Brazos Electric Power Coop roughly $2 billion for power and related services provided during the deadly storm in February – a staggering bill that drove Brazos, the state’s largest and oldest electric cooperative, into bankruptcy. The Texas Lawbook has the story.
Insurer Must Cover Landry’s in Credit Card Hack, Appellate Court Rules
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit says the Houston-based restaurant chain’s insurance company is required to represent its client in litigation over an Internet breach that led to disclosure of millions of customers’ personal data.
Texas Breeder of Rare Red Wagyu Cattle Wins $30M Verdict
During the trial in Fort Bend County, the plaintiff’s lawyers from McKool Smith & Yetter Coleman claimed a breeding association failed to deliver promised DNA proof of a herd’s valuable lineage. Bruce Tomaso details the case.
Fort Worth Oil Company Wins ‘Use It or Lose It’ Challenge to Permian Basin Leases
Centralia Permian, represented by Alston & Bird, prevailed in a Midland County jury trial over a Fortune 500 company’s failure to produce oil and gas ‘in paying quantities’ from a previously fruitful oilfield.
Juries Belong in Court, Not on Zoom, Rusty Hardin Contends
A Houston company sued after a tragic trucking accident says that with $100 million on the line, it has a right to look jurors in the eye. Bruce Tomaso explains the viewpoints of both sides, which pit two prominent Houston trial lawyers against each other.
Reese Marketos Lands High-Profile U.S. Prosecutor
Andrew Wirmani is leaving the U.S. Attorney’s office to become a partner at Dallas litigation boutique Reese Marketos. Wirmani was lead prosecutor in several high-profile investigations, including that of the Forest Park Medical Center.
Foes Battling Over Mexican Gold Mine Discover Rich Vein of — Litigation
In a trans-border tiff over a gold mine in Mexico, two companies — one American and one Canadian — have managed to unearth a motherlode of litigation. Experts say their grueling court battles across several international venues point up the shortcomings of binding arbitration agreements and their limited ability to compel business partners not to be jerks. The Lawbook’s Bruce Tomaso explains.
For AZA musician-turned-lawyer, the courtroom is just a different stage
Foster Johnson was only a high school freshman in Houston when his father, a workaholic corporate lawyer at a silk-stocking firm, died of a stroke. Resolved not to follow in his footsteps, Johnson and his brother Alec took the equal-and-opposite path: they formed a rock band called Vegas DeMilo.
For a decade, Johnson made a go of the rock life — with better success than most. But in the end, he found himself back on his father’s path — as a top-notch trial attorney at Houston’s AZA litigation boutique. The Lawbook’s Bruce Tomaso chronicles his transition, and the ways that being a serious rock musician and a trial attorney may not be as different as you’d expect.
Midland Jury Personal Injury Award Sets County Record
A jury in Midland on Friday returned a $5.9 million verdict against an oil field company from Glen Rose and an employee who killed four people while speeding to work in a rainstorm. The verdict is believed to be the largest ever in a personal injury case in Midland County.