AUSTIN – (July 2) – In a 5-3 decision, the Texas Supreme Court Friday ruled against an effort to remove from office a county hospital district trustee who wanted to zero out the district’s tax rate. The state not only failed to establish a case for the trustee’s removal, it might owe attorney’s fees under the state’s “anti-SLAPP” statute. The Texas Lawbook has the story.
SCOTX Delivers Blows To Xerox, Dentists in Medicaid Fraud Cases
The Texas Supreme Court Friday delivered a one-two punch to a group of dentists and a state contractor who were pointing fingers at each other over allegations of massive fraud in the state’s Medicaid orthodontic program.
SCOTX: Context Presumes Intent In Murphy Exploration Lease Case
SCOTX last week ruled in yet another dispute pitting the plain language of oil and gas leases against the variable technology of the industry. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the Fourth Court of Appeals erred when it imputed a more stringent requirement for the placement an offset well in the Eagle Ford Shale than either the actual lease or the realities of horizontal drilling allowed. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
SCOTX: New Leases End Old Leases – Unless They Don’t
(May 31) – The Texas Supreme Court tried to simplify its earlier rulings on oil and gas titles with a remarkably simple principle: a new lease supplants an old lease unless the new lease says it doesn’t. The ruling is bad news for TRO-X L.P., who sought to collect from Anadarko on a “back-in” option in a lease long-since transferred. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
Yearning For Zion: A Massive Child Custody Case Remembered 10 Years After
Ten years ago, Carmen Dusek found herself square in the middle of the largest child custody case ever litigated. The case involved charges of child abuse and rape in a remote compound run fundamentalist religious sect run by Warren Jeffs whose Biblical beliefs included a particularly strident form of polygamy. The case came to include scores of lawyers who volunteered from afar to assure adequate legal representation for some 400 children. She recalls the pride and disappointment to Janet Elliott in The Texas Lawyer.
SCOTX Tosses $416K Verdict Against Oncor
The Texas Supreme Court tossed out a $416,000 jury verdict against Oncor Electric citing the failure of the plaintiff, Chaparral Energy, to take its initial complaint to the Public Utility Commission. The court ruled that PUC’s “pervasive regulatory scheme” gives it the exclusive jurisdiction to resolve disputes over such regulated services. Janet Elliott has the details.
Yearning For Zion: A Massive Child Custody Case Remembered 10 Years After
Ten years ago, Carmen Dusek found herself square in the middle of the largest child custody case ever litigated. The case involved charges of child abuse and rape in a remote compound run fundamentalist religious sect run by Warren Jeffs whose Biblical beliefs included a particularly strident form of polygamy. The case came to include scores of lawyers who volunteered from afar to assure adequate legal representation for some 400 children. She recalls the pride and disappointment to Janet Elliott in The Texas Lawyer.
SCOTX Remands Employee Transportation Case For Trial
SCOTX reversed two lower courts and remanded for trial a lawsuit brought by the survivors of two men killed in a 2007 West Texas car crash, as well as a man injured in the accident. The case involved fees paid to their employer to assure transportation between their job site and company housing and a 1981 case both sides relied on to make their case.
SCOTX On Retained Acreage Conflicts: Lawful Contracts Rule
In two closely-watched cases decided Friday, SCOTX defended its seemingly conflicting views on state regulation of retained acreage. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht says it’s actually pretty simple: contracts mean what they say. Janet Elliott explains in The Texas Lawbook.
SCOTX: SA School Teacher Bullied, Not Sexually Harassed. Case Closed.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday invalid a complaint of same-sex sexual harassment. The behavior, which involved two female middle school teachers, was not shown the be motivated by sexual desire. Critics say the decision undermines the rights of workers at an important moment of social awareness. Janet Elliott has the details in The Texas Lawbook.