Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Krista Torralva covers pro bono, public service, and diversity matters in the Texas legal market.
Krista Torralva covers pro bono, public service, and diversity for the Texas Lawbook Foundation and The Texas Lawbook. Previously, she covered courts for The Dallas Morning News. Krista has spent the bulk of her decade-plus-long career covering criminal courts in Texas and Florida. Her reporting includes the high profile federal terrorism trial against the Pulse nightclub shooter’s widow in Orlando, which ended in a rare acquittal. Her civil courts coverage has included the long-winding Texas voter ID lawsuit, legal battles over local Covid-19 mandates and school board disputes. Krista's work has been recognized by the State Bar of Texas' Gavel Awards, the Texas Association Press Managing Editors, the National Headliner Awards program and various local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists.
The daughter of a Naval officer, Krista grew up traveling every few years but calls Corpus Christi home and talks about the Texas Gulf Coast every chance she gets. She lives in Dallas’ North Oak Cliff with her husband, Fares Sabawi.
Krista graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington.
The Lanier Law Firm represented a mesothelioma patient who lawyers said is the first person to claim that the medical procedure talc pleurodesis led to his deadly cancer. Cimbar Performance Minerals failed to warn its buyers of the risk of asbestos in its products, which was contained in a product used in the plaintiff’s medical procedure, lawyers said.
A federal jury in Marshall found Samsung infringed on five patents obtained by California-based startup Mojo Mobility with the tech giant’s flagship smartphone Galaxy series and other products. Jurors awarded Mojo Mobility more than $192 million in damages and found that Samsung willfully infringed on at least one of the asserted claims.
A federal jury in Marshall began deliberating Thursday whether South Korean technology company Samsung Electronics infringed on cell phone wireless-charging patents obtained by California-based startup Mojo Mobility. McKool Smith lawyers asked for $303.5 million for its client. A legal team led by Paul Hastings denied Samsung infringed and asserted the patents at issue were invalid.
California-based startup company Mojo Mobility says Samsung Electronics flagship devices infringe on five of its wireless charging patents. McKool Smith lawyers representing Mojo and Samsung’s legal team led by Paul Hastings are in trial this week in Marshall.
Austin patent litigator Raghav Bajaj leaped from Haynes Boone to Latham & Watkins earlier this month. In a Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Bajaj shared why he made the move and recent trends in the world of patent law and litigation.
Litigator Don Jones joins SBSB Eastham from Porter Rogers Dahlman & Gordon. Jones focuses on commercial and construction litigation, real estate and development litigation and oil and gas.
A Sherman jury dealt federal prosecutors a rare acquittal Tuesday in the trial of a Dallas-area doctor accused in an alleged fraudulent scheme to bill insurance companies for medical services provided to injured university student athletes. Jurors deliberated about four hours before finding Dr. Kyle Carter not guilty of a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Earlier this month, Elizabeth “Liz” Ryan left Weil, Gotshal & Manges to join Gibson Dunn as a partner in its litigation and trials practice group. She recently answered some questions from The Texas Lawbook about why she made the move and what she’s looking forward to in this new chapter of her career.
Dean Omar Branham Shirley has obtained three jury verdicts this year against Johnson & Johnson over allegations its baby powder contained cancer-causing asbestos. Another trial ended early when the parties settled. Johnson & Johnson has decried the verdicts and maintained its cosmetic talc products did not cause cancer.
Five plaintiffs who were displaced from their Dallas homes after a construction crane toppled onto an apartment complex in 2019 reached a settlement with the real estate developer and the crane rental company mid-trial Thursday. The confidential settlement resolves all remaining lawsuits related to the crane collapse, lawyers told a Dallas judge.
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