Appellate 2022 Year in Review: SCOTX and the Fifth Circuit
The Fifth Circuit and Texas Supreme Court.issued important precedents in 2022. The Fifth Circuit clarified the standard for a conditional-refusal-to-deal theory under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, established that arbitration rules incorporated into an arbitration agreement control the question of whether arbitration happened and sent a clear signal that the Seventh Amendment attaches to traditionally common-law prosecutions. The Texas Supreme Court provided guidance on the scope of a waiver of claims in a settlement agreement, clarified substantial compliance with contractual notice provisions, rejected informal fiduciary duties to an individual shareholder in a closely held corporation and narrowed the availability of consequential damages. This article examines those and other rulings of significance by the appellate courts.